It's been a while since my last post (wich was right after Halloween), so I thought I might bring you all a bit up to date. I've posted some stuff on my Instagram page in the meantime to show some of the stuff I'm working on, so here's an overview of what I've been up to the last few months.
Workshop upgrade
The most important thing: I finally cleaned out the garage and did some necessary renovations and upgrades. Patched up holes in the walls and ceiling, painted everything, installed new lighting and extra power outlets and sorted my tools and supplies a bit (actually, I'm still in the process of doing that... It's a never ending story!).
I hope to keep everything more or less clean and tidy from now on, and especially avoid dust as much as possible. Before the upgrade, there was dust everywhere, and it was almost impossible to clean out! Besides dust from sanding and cutting, the bare plaster walls had holes in them everywhere and contributed their share to the mess.
And finally, the lighting and electricity were insufficient. An old fluorescent light, and only a single power outlet and lots of extension cables. The fluorescent light got replaced with LED light bars, and I installed a series of new power outlets, with their own circuit breaker. Bye bye fire hazard!
Etsy shop on hold
For now, I have put my Etsy shop on hold. This summer, I will attend three art markets, and I want to have enough stuff to put on display. Last year, I did one art market, and it was quite succesfull. I'll attend the same one this year, and two markets at fantasy events, both in the Netherlands. In August, my shop will reopen.
Books!
Those who follow me on Facebook or Instagram already know this, I'm working on more sketchbooks. I'm always trying to come up with new ideas, concepts and color combinations, and I'm trying to expand my themes beyond the Necronomicon/Lovecraft universe. For my faux leather technique, not all color combinations work, and it's a lot of trial and error. Although I made small test pieces to test something out, it still might turn out entirely different on a complete book.
Props!
Last year, when I did my first art market, I had one prop weapon on display, but it wasn't for sale. Some people were a bit disappointed, so I decided to build some prop weapons to sell. At the moment, I'm building a few maces, a hammers and a flail.
I did intend to do full build logs, with pictures and video, but the problem is, I always tend to underestimate how much time a project takes. You'd think I would have learned by now, but I didn't. I've got a lot of photos and video footage on my pc that needs processing, but I simply don't have the time.
So here's the plan. I won't be able to finish the build logs I had in mind. Sorry, not gonna happen. It would take me too much time to process all the images and video footage, and then write blog posts. After the hectic period I'm in right now is over, I'll post an overview of some of the stuff I built over the past few months, with some pictures, and I hope I'll be able to resume writing proper build logs after that.
New tools
A while ago, I bought a 3D printer, a Prusa I3 MK3. I've already got some videos of the assembly up on my Youtube channel, I hope to complete the remaining chapters soon. I'm glad I bought the kit; not only did I save 200 euros, it's very useful to know how to take it apart and put it together again. I've already had some issues with the extruder, and it's much easier to fix if you built it yourself.
In the future, I plan to build a simple laser cutter, partially with 3D printed parts. This will come in handy for cutting cardboard and thin craft foam. This won't be a tool that can cut acrylic or plywood, perhaps one day if I win the lottery...
Follow me
I know I'm not as active as I want to be on this blog, but writing posts and editing photos takes time, wich is something I'm already short on. If you want to keep up with my work, here's where you can follow me:
The next events ahead are Elfia Arcen and, of course, Halloween. I do have some cool new things in mind to build, and I hope to find the time to do complete build logs again.
Workshop upgrade
The most important thing: I finally cleaned out the garage and did some necessary renovations and upgrades. Patched up holes in the walls and ceiling, painted everything, installed new lighting and extra power outlets and sorted my tools and supplies a bit (actually, I'm still in the process of doing that... It's a never ending story!).
I hope to keep everything more or less clean and tidy from now on, and especially avoid dust as much as possible. Before the upgrade, there was dust everywhere, and it was almost impossible to clean out! Besides dust from sanding and cutting, the bare plaster walls had holes in them everywhere and contributed their share to the mess.
And finally, the lighting and electricity were insufficient. An old fluorescent light, and only a single power outlet and lots of extension cables. The fluorescent light got replaced with LED light bars, and I installed a series of new power outlets, with their own circuit breaker. Bye bye fire hazard!
Etsy shop on hold
For now, I have put my Etsy shop on hold. This summer, I will attend three art markets, and I want to have enough stuff to put on display. Last year, I did one art market, and it was quite succesfull. I'll attend the same one this year, and two markets at fantasy events, both in the Netherlands. In August, my shop will reopen.
Books!
Those who follow me on Facebook or Instagram already know this, I'm working on more sketchbooks. I'm always trying to come up with new ideas, concepts and color combinations, and I'm trying to expand my themes beyond the Necronomicon/Lovecraft universe. For my faux leather technique, not all color combinations work, and it's a lot of trial and error. Although I made small test pieces to test something out, it still might turn out entirely different on a complete book.
Props!
Last year, when I did my first art market, I had one prop weapon on display, but it wasn't for sale. Some people were a bit disappointed, so I decided to build some prop weapons to sell. At the moment, I'm building a few maces, a hammers and a flail.
I did intend to do full build logs, with pictures and video, but the problem is, I always tend to underestimate how much time a project takes. You'd think I would have learned by now, but I didn't. I've got a lot of photos and video footage on my pc that needs processing, but I simply don't have the time.
So here's the plan. I won't be able to finish the build logs I had in mind. Sorry, not gonna happen. It would take me too much time to process all the images and video footage, and then write blog posts. After the hectic period I'm in right now is over, I'll post an overview of some of the stuff I built over the past few months, with some pictures, and I hope I'll be able to resume writing proper build logs after that.
New tools
A while ago, I bought a 3D printer, a Prusa I3 MK3. I've already got some videos of the assembly up on my Youtube channel, I hope to complete the remaining chapters soon. I'm glad I bought the kit; not only did I save 200 euros, it's very useful to know how to take it apart and put it together again. I've already had some issues with the extruder, and it's much easier to fix if you built it yourself.
In the future, I plan to build a simple laser cutter, partially with 3D printed parts. This will come in handy for cutting cardboard and thin craft foam. This won't be a tool that can cut acrylic or plywood, perhaps one day if I win the lottery...
Follow me
I know I'm not as active as I want to be on this blog, but writing posts and editing photos takes time, wich is something I'm already short on. If you want to keep up with my work, here's where you can follow me:
The next events ahead are Elfia Arcen and, of course, Halloween. I do have some cool new things in mind to build, and I hope to find the time to do complete build logs again.
