Blog Posts: you do it
Using PHOTOSHOP LASSO TOOL!
The LASSO TOOL. My indispensable photoshop favorite. Use it for everything from clipping vintage illustrations, hacking photographic figures from out of their normal and boring surroundings, and lately: drawing wierd mod 70's looking linework.
Yes, you heard me correctly: Draw with the Lasso.
HOW TO -- 1. Draw any image, making sure it ends up as a closed shape (connect end point with beginning point. If you can't find the original start, due to a lot going on in the picture, hit 'RETURN' and it will automatically make the nearest beeline to the start, from wherever it's at.)
2. If you are drawing a sun or a cloud, this is a one-step process. Anything else -- just drag the lasso shape off-stage and come back around however you like. Anything off-frame will not show up....if there are still unwanted parts, just use the eraser after, to get rid of the closed-shape part that you didn't want. (This was the case for my horizon-lines & building skylines, etc)
Make sense? I hope. I didn't really bother with taking screen shot of a step-by-step process. I acknowledge that would've really been going the extra mile.
Here's some clips of my components: Above - scan of 1950's children's book on insects. Next - historic photo of building. Then - my inspiration, page outta Anthropologie catalogue from a half-year ago. Also - vintage postcard with cute animal paper dolls. Lastly -- collaging all elements into one landscape, adding moldy paper aging texture (from a scanned old book) and using lasso-tool-generated grey linework to sort of tie it all in and expand the perspective beyond original photo of historic building.
Sneaky Stencilling in Public! a must-try...
So I'm re-posting this. (I think this was swiped off the 'ReadyMade' site last year sometime? Stuck it in my 'must-do-in-next-decade' file) Brilliantly illustrated. Looks like a very user-friendly technique, and as I'm a bit shy about public art, I have to try this method. Lookout Taos!
Designing with LEGOES!
Finally, the proper forum for visioning my dream vehicles that I wish were populating the roads. Alas. We have such boring standards for our machines these days. But with legoes, one can dream. First up: my GirlieGo-Go Machine. Complete with torso-only servant-minion in back and chlorophyll headress. Second: the Pompous-Mobile, with adjustable ego inflating laser disk (in turquoise, at very back. It swings up to hover over the head of tiny lego guy...) Lastly, a shot of all the masterpieces on dining room table. (Eli is responsible for the Lego RV that comes with a 53 page booklet of step-by-step instructions. Impressive)
Sun prints .... overlaid with drawing
So I've had these packets of sun-print paper laying around in the closet for a bit too long, and as I live in the sunny southwest...any day is a perfectly good day for this process. Directions on the package are fairly simple - lay objects on the paper, expose in the sunlight for around 2 minutes, dunk in fresh water for a minute & then let dry. I love the shade of cyan blue that develops! I tried scanning some in and overlaying drawings in photoshop. The sheet on the right is made from cut paper snowflakes & bits of antique lace.
CUSTOMIZE YOUR OWN CAR! Takes spray paint, contact paper & guts.
Amateur car customizers unite! I want to hold a series of D.I.Y. workshops here in Taos so eventually, the roads will be covered in personalized vehicles...just driving around will become an event, once again! To hell with resale values...i say, if yer doing it right, the end result should send that number upward!
Here's my work-in-progress, on my previously-boring white honda civic that sported the occasional rust spot:
Eggs. Easter. I don't need much of an excuse to get crafty, these days, so a nationally-sanctioned calendar moment can really get me going of course.
First, it helps if you shamelessly pilfer the green & other interestingly-colored ones from several egg carts at the grocery store before buying...(each dozen had one fancy colored with the rest of 'em brown...by the time I had shuffled them around, I had about 6 of each color in mine) The tricky part: blowing the eggs. Ugg. (Step-by-step tips HERE)
Then, using gold/silver paint pens (it best replicates the look of foil-leafing, & takes way less time)...create fake 'drips' or fun cloud/bubble shapes over part of the egg, leaving plenty of the interesting egg color that the hen cleverly came up with.
Afterwards, knot a string in a loop & sort of stuff it into the bigger of the 2 holes with a chopstick, coaxing a bunch of glue into the hole around the edges...& dry overnite. Alternately, if your blow-hole got too large, or a chunk of shell sort of fell out, leaving a biggish hole, use needle and knotted thread to stick thru the center of a small square of paper...dab paper swatch with glue and stuff it into the hole, pulling the thread so that it fans-out into the hole and covers it. Then, if you're into perfectionism & all that (I am) dab matching paint on the paper that's showing in the hole, so that it just blends in.
Now hang 'em up all yea!. Easter is too brief a time period for fabulous craft possibilities, although it's handy for giving oneself a deadline. (Mine all got hung on a chandelier that has been accumulating painted gourds & other various things for some time now)
HOW TO: Mystery-Ink-Faux-Ancient-Manuscript-Style-Handwriting
Materials needed: pointy stick, lemon juice, one of the following: toaster / toaster-oven / electric stovetop burner, and some ordinary/thin paper (as opposed t
Steps: dip your branch into the juice, write your script on the paper, let dry, hold over heat source of choice (try to judge a non-burnable distance) and watch your script slowly appear in darkening tones of brown. Experiment with different toasting times to get lighter/darker script & yellow to dark-brown hues. Endless fun.
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