Brushing up - with Watercolour

It's been so long since I painted with watercolour that I felt quite nervous opening my ancient box of paints (which I've had since I was a child) and starting a new painting for 'The Hidden World'.

Still... I need to brush up and create some new artwork for this project so I forced myself to knuckle down at the weekend. This painting is going to be of a magical tree - an Oracle from 'The Hidden World' but this particular image wont make it in... it's a warm-up. I used reference photos of trees and bluebells (some taken in my Grandfather's garden in England this May) as a guide.

I'll share the finished painting in a day or two. Criticism and advice always well received. :)

Along for the Ride?

Who wants to drive an SUV when you can have a ride like this?

The fact that I can write things like that just shows how many glue and resin fumes I undoubtedly breathe in a day. Rather reluctant to open workshop windows when it's 88 degrees outside though...

I made these brooms weeks ago but only just got around to taking some photos yesterday. Some are for 'Myrtle the Witch', some for private collectors. I made them using willow, silver birch, dark stained woods, dried grasses and horse hair bound with silk threads. I put a dinner fork in a couple of the photos so that you can see the scale. They're approx 5 inches in height.

As for the thatched cottage you see in the background - you've seen posts about that on here before. Well I finally finished it last month and in the process of re-building it as 3D model in Maya. I'm also working on the base (wire mesh, foam etc) and you'll see more about all this soon. Oh, and yes - it is a set for 'Myrtle the Witch', but no - it isn't her house. ;)

Past post about broomsticks is here. 

Who Needs a Fairy Godmother Anyway?

The annual Labyrinth of Jareth Masquerade Ball was looming and I didn't have a dress. Sitting by the fireplace and sighing loudly didn't attract any kind of Fairy Godmother  -well sitting by the air-con and sighing loudly to be exact-  so I was forced to sort something out for myself.

The day before the ball I tore myself away from a miniature set build and got myself organised. A run to a local thrift store turned up one marvellous used costume ballgown made from some sort of tenting material with stains and dodgy seams. Plus it was 8 dress sizes too large. Still... it was 20 bucks so I bought it and hurried home.

Here it is through its stages of meagre transformation. Bear in mind that I only had one day to fix it and it took 2 hours just making it fit my size 0 frame. I made it off-the-shoulder and backless, adding yellow-gold lace around this new back seam. The 'roses' on the bodice were made by cutting circles out of polyester blend off-cuts, snipping petal shapes into them, burning / melting the edges over a candle so that they curled up like flower petals, layering them and finally sewing a diamante bead into the center. I then super-glued my fingers together in a futile attempt to attach them to the dress before deciding to stitch them on. Genius.

Below is my quick sketch of how I wanted the final dress to look, alongside me in the dress shortly before heading off in my pumpkin carriage / convertible... Scroll past these images to read more about the ball itself.

For those of you unaware... this ball is for fans of the 1986 film 'The Labyrinth' or fantasy in general. It's attended by fairies, goblins and oddballs from all over the world and takes place in different venues here in LA. I've attended three times since 2009.

Here are some of my photos of the event from 2009, 2010 and this month.