Gloss Coat Failures

or why medium is not the same as varnish.

When I paint dolls I gloss the lips as well as the eyes (I wish I could remember who I picked up this tip from, but it makes the dolls look so much more life like). I picked up this Liquitex gloss medium to use and I liked the result (though you have to be careful because it kind of melts paint similar to nail polish top coat on nail polish). A unit of time later I made some polymer clay items. I looked up what sealants I could use (here, it's a good resource if you actually read it). I read "Liquitex" and I have Liquitex so I went ahead and painted all my pieces and then waited for them to dry. Then waited. And waited... They never dried. I gently touched the eye of a doll I painted over a year ago. It wasn't dry. D: I then actually read the website and discovered that you should not use the medium (green label) but the varnish (orange/red label). Woops. So I've ordered the varnish and eventually I'll update on how it works.

Collage Bookmarks

     Today I am presenting a "tutorial" of collage bookmarks.

     So first you should gather materials. I have card stock cut into an unofficial bookmark size, mod podge, a glue stick, and a whole pile of magazine cutouts I've been hoarding.

     Collage-ing is inherently random and unique every time. My plan involves just cutting random rectangles and glueing them to the bookmark, wrapping the shapes around to the other side.

      This is part of the way through. As you can see I still have some blank patches because all by shapes were cut by random. I collage both sides, But I like to have one side as the front.

     This is the almost done one. I love the sea slug most of all, and I pre-planned to put it in the foreground.

     Once I finish glue-ing I cover the bookmark with tape. I'm still working on the best process for it, but I suggest lying the tape on the table and smoothing the bookmark down length wise.

    Here is the back. I decoupaged a pattern paper which makes me feel like a pro. (and yes that is the Wonder Girls at the top)
    If any one reads this I may make a better tutorial in the future.

Some Sort of 'Interstellar' Review

     Now that's a title that inspires confidence. Yeah, it's no secret that I don't really know how to write reviews, so this is just my usual collection of thoughts related to the item, in this instance Nolan's latest "Interstellar".
     This morning I randomly happened to be looking through my bookmarks and rediscovered Kevin Dart's art blog. A couple of posts down he mentions that if you saw "Interstellar" on opening day (Friday) you could have gotten a free poster he designed. I was so bummed I missed it because obviously I like him. I went to his store and he sells prints for like $100. But then after the movie there were ushers handing out posters. At first I thought they were handing out random space photography for some reason, but I took one any way. Then I stepped out into the daylight and was able to behold the poster:

Oh man I was so (and still am) so happy.
    As for the movie; I liked it. I'm not sure what other people thought of it, but I liked it, it may turn out to be something like "The Giver" idk. This is a movie that I make have to see again because I have a lot of questions still.
     I really liked the robots in this movie. Really unique design.
     I read a blog post complaining about the audio and some people have reported different quality in different theaters. There were some scenes where the sound effects were louder than the dialogue, so I missed some parts, but those were action scenes and I think they added to the chaotic feel. There was one part where there was peaceful music playing and it was really too loud and it was buzzing. Related: I'm not sure if I would want to see this movie outside of IMAX. There were parts, like during the rocket launch where there was so much bass that my seat started vibrating, which was really immersive. I also really enjoyed that when they cut to shots in space there was total silence.
     Matthew McConaughey's acting was really good in this movie, though I'll admit I'm not the best at judging things like that. I thought he was convincingly emotional.
     One of the themes was parenting and missing your child's life and I admit I didn't really appreciate that part because I don't have kids. Not like it bogged the movie down, like some people complain about.
     All in all I really appreciated that this was a smart, meaningful, plot driven movie. Movies that come to mind that lack this would be Thor 2, The Hobbit or The Avengers; all of which I saw in the theater.
4/5

Losing Interest in Art and What is Next

    I'm sure I mentioned it on here that I was becoming re-interested in art and I was trying to become better at drawing. I guess I'm over that faze now. Its due to several reasons, one being an interesting point that I read, it explained that even if you are not perusing art as an occupation, to get as good as the pros you're going to have to draw full time any way. And that's not really what I want to do. Also, ironically what has put me off art is The Art Assignment on YouTube. They focus on modern art and I know it makes me old fashioned, but I don't like it. I don't hate it like some people, but its really not my thing. I don't think nontraditional performance art is very interesting, I don't really care about how art is made. There is one video about how to visit an art museum. That really frustrated me (for lack of a better term). The hostess suggested  reading the cards next to the work to get context, but many people in the comments section said they didn't like this. That it was irrelevant, it disconnected them from the art and it made it like a history museum. That last part interested me. I like the cards exactly because of that. I like context. I like to know where thing fit in. I like history.
    In college it doubtful that I will ever take a history class, even thought I like it. Recently I signed up for The Big History Project. I've only done one unit so far, but I do like it. It seems as though there is a lot of focus on the origin of life (6 out of 8 units) rather than human history, which is what I'm really interested in, but its important so I'll see it through. I'm also looking for "readable history books" aka not textbooks.

Drawing…

I’m trying to make my way through Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain. I was kind of doing okay until I got to the traced hand transfer. I didn’t really understand the instructions, and as you can see my preliminary sketches suck. I’m trying not to take it so hard. Not everything can turn out well on the first try. That’s what I tell myself as I skip this exercise.