Noodle Mask

I love Noodle's mask in the video for On Melancholy Hill and wanted to make one for my girlfriend's Halloween costume.  It was my first time trying to make a mask and I think it turned out pretty well!

I used a wire mesh to create the basic structure and then used strips of cloth to give it bulk (adhered through a mix of flour and water).  I was hoping that once it dried I could sand down the edges but it turned out to be too fragile.

I used painter's tape to smooth over the rough edges and to provide a better surface to paint.  The ridges of the cloth still showed through but I only wanted to use one layer in case this idea didn't work.

This is the preliminary sketch of the fox emblem for the mask.

And here's the stencil.

This is the finished product.  Still a bit rough but the paint turned out pretty well.  I need to attach a strap so it can be worn - hopefully the rest of the costume will turn out awesome.  More to come after Halloween :)

Really?

Saw this in front of work.  Who would use this ATM?  The photo doesn't show the cable from the ATM snaked through a crack in the door behind it.  Is this a scam?

Splash experiment

I've been wanting to try painting a water splash ever since seeing so many captured in photos.  I decided to try two methods of shading, hence the bottom doesn't have as many edges in the shading as the actual splash.

I'm going to try more variations on this theme as I develop my skills.  Splash 2 will come soon!

A beautiful morning

Eye experiment

Decided to try something new but it didn't work out as well as I'd hoped.  I was planning on doing a full face on a flame but unfortunately don't have the skills yet.  Thought it was a good time to try out some different techniques in shading and just had fun mixing colors.  First time using hard board as a surface and I like it.

I think I'm going to keep experimenting with this theme until I come up with something that I'd like to commit to canvas.

Gorillaz - On Melancholy Hill (HD)

I (heart) The Gorillaz.

The triplets

I grabbed a new set of Montana Gold paint and decided to try putting my first stencil on canvas. I think the silver came out pretty well although I was expecting a more metallic finish then what came out. When you name it silver chrome, I expect chrome!

The halo was created using a picture of a gear I grabbed from a Google image search. I was planning on adding more flourishes to make it obviously a gear but decided a halo effect would be better.

Still haven't really got the hang of effective spraying - too much paint seems to escape the stencil.

A clown and a unicorn

My buddy Dustin came up with an idea for a tattoo a few years ago of a clown riding a unicorn. He's always had a thing against unicorns so I wondered, why? Why would he want to get a unicorn on his back? Besides the obvious.

His rationale for doing so is that he's always loved clowns and thought the idea of a clown subduing a unicorn would be awesome. I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

The first is the initial outline and then the color job was done a couple weeks later. Not too bad!

Second Stencil

This time around I tried a more artistic shot using a photo I took with my gf through Photo Booth on my Mac. The photo was taken using the Comic Book effect and I cut out what I wanted using my trusty box cutter.

I lost part of the stencil (it blew over the side of the roof) - that's why the left eye on the face came out a bit rounder (and without an eyebrow). This was my first time trying free spraying without a stencil. Doesn't look too bad but definitely have a lot of room for improvement.

First Stencil

This is a test stencil of a picture of me when I was 6 years old. I converted the image to black and white and cut out the pieces using a box cutter.

Since this was my first attempt at spray painting, I wasn't sure of the best way to hold the stencil (I was also spraying at a downward angle). The end result has a nice smoke effect around the edges but my next one will have cleaner lines.