Fuzzydragons

Finally finished the seals, and there are things I would change but can't due to the nature of the medium, but over all I am happy with it. I think the rock texture became the main focus of the work, and it probably should have been the seals. I did learn a lot trying to get the rock to look like actual rock, so I am glad I tried this. I could always etch it again in the far future and "fix" what I think I messed up. And two close up images of the rock texture. I am very happy about the way the bottom piece of rock turned out, probably because it was the last area I worked on, so had a few months of practice behind me.

One Seal pretty much done and another one started on. The seal didn't take that long to get to this stage, that bloody rock is what took so long lol A test piece to see how a multi-tool would work on a piece of plexi glass. It would work to create different textures, but would need practice to control properly. I need a press to see exactly what it would look like printed, but this gives a general idea of what it would look like printed. I am looking into getting a small printing press I don't usually etch any bigger than A3 so the bed doesn't have to be huge. Its just a matter of doing a bit (a lot) of research to see what is the best in my price range. 

Sat in the sun in the backyard and worked on the seal etching. The end is in sight now, well at least with the rock. But the seals shouldn't take anywhere near as long to finish as the rock has. The rock still needs shading to make it look more 3D, but that is just a case of darkening some areas the sun wouldn't be hitting. Sketch #130. If I can't think of anything to sketch, a tool or DIY supply is easy enough to find in this house to sketch for the challenge.

I managed to work a bit more on the rock part of the seal etching before my hand went numb and I had to stop. Not really a good idea to use a very, very sharp pointy tool when your hand is numb. The thing could do enough damage to need stitches.

Half done the rock that is. And to show the progress, have a gif Really can't wait until I start on the seals lol

I realized that as I was working on the rock that I cannot work on some parts of it without having the other seal outlined to help where some of the rock lines and shading go. Needed to lightly outline the other seal and the lines can be scratchy, its not perfect. I just needed a rough idea of where he was laying down.

Can you still call 2 seals a pod of seals? A group of seals can be called a pod or herd or rookery. More useless knowledge to know. I would either kick ass in a pub quiz with all the pointless facts in my head, or bomb horribly. Slow going with this etching, because my back is killing me every time I try to work on it. Going to have to figure out a different way to work, might have to get the table easel out and see if that helps.

Finally finished this little Goat, Its A5 in size, so shouldn't have probably taken as long as it did lol. Now on to the metal plates and to finish the digital dragons.

I really wanted to get this finished today, but I punched a wall accidentally today (don't ask lol), so hurt a few fingers. Got a bit more done on the horn before my fingers started to go numb, so will probably not get this finished now for a few days. I have other stuff I can work on until then tho, so should get some art done.

Started on the goat's horn. Shading on this type of plate is a lot harder than shading on the plexi-glass. You don't get as good of a gradient in the tones but there is less chance of the plate cracking or splitting because it is more flexible. So while you lose a bit of detail, you gain on a bit more flexibility, plate longevity.

Almost done the fur/fleece, what do you call goat fur? (wool it seems). Still needs shading, but going to get the horn finished first.

Slow progress on the small goat etching.Need to finish the basic fur texture, shading and the horns. And then its one more thing I can cross off my ever growing list of things to do.

Finished! I could darken the wing more but I like the way it looks here. I have more Barn Owl photos  so will probably end up etching more owls in the future :)

I just need to darken the wing a bit and add some shading to the body and then this will be done and I can start experimenting. Not with this plate, but with a smaller one and a lino cut to see what etching and lino will look like together. Going to keep it simple at first since I don't know if the idea will work and don't want to waster paper lol

Still working on the Barn Owl etching, I just need to get a smaller etching done so I can possibly print it at uni. Might not be able to print until after the break but the guy in charge of etching said it wouldn't be a problem, but to just keep an ear out for when the next etching workshop is. Had to show him bunch of the plates I etched, and it felt like I was going to a job interview lol

Almost done the wing and then its time to properly shade it. So probably at least 8-12 hours work but thats not too bad for something this size.

Small update on the Barn Owl. Started to fill in the wing feathers and add more of the chest feathers. Still need to shade the top of the head more but will probably wait until more is finished, before I do that, just so it doesn't go too dark. Hopefully eye surgery helps my vision because I can only work on this for about an hour before my eyes go cross eyed lol

Starting to look better, still needs a bit more shading to the top of the head but not looking so flat anymore. Started to etch the body feathers, which should look fluffy when done, but that can sometimes be tricky to pull off with etchings. I had wanted to get this done so I could try to get a print off of it and try to enter it in a show, but thats probably not going to happen due to time. So I am going to try to print off of a different plate and try to enter some of my eagles instead.

A lot of art techniques have an ugly stage. The moment where work is progressing but things just don't look right lol This, is that stage. The top of the head is filled in, but still needs shading, so looks very odd. This is also the stage where things can go very. very wrong but hopefully not. *crosses fingers*

I need to think of a title for this and as usual I am drawing a blank.Thought about Tyto alba, which is the Scientific name for Barn Owls, but maybe its a bit too cryptic. If I can't think of anything else I will probably use it.