#not with these two colours of acrylic

[bluebellhairpin]

my parents have been put under the illusion that i am a good painter, and while I do enjoy painting i don't think I'm actually as good as they think i am.

[isbergillustration]

Fuse

[serenvde-art]

[uncanny-tranny]

Crochet update: guess who has two thumbs and went through a skein he just bought in three hours and still isn't finished yet (totally not me)

[graff-aganda]

My sample pins arrived!! 🤩👽🐰

The other three in the Summer Blubbin' set are drying bc the pinbacks came off with their rear protective sheets and I had to glue them back on. 😭 I'm pretty happy with their sizes overall! Bogos binted came out kind of large and the raygun came out kind of small by comparison though, so I'll probably see what I can do to fix them. And with the Blubby pins, I might lower the opacity of her blush, it printed kinda dark.

In addition to these I got a few extra designs for funsies. Some TMBG pins based off the Hotel Detective MV for my friends and I who are going to see them this year!! 🤩 One with that WTTH photo I did a redraw of, just for me. And two JFKs (Clone High) bc I thought they'd make funny collar pins hehe. I keep meaning to watch the new season but I want to watch the original again first... hard to find the time!!

[midonamiqui]

I did something!!!

[cthulhubrain]

colour experimentation wips and sketches concerning my elf.

[zwugnei]

Some odd ones out that also deserves attention

After awhile of taking pics of every pretty colour it starts to add up

(sorry for bad quality my phone is not the best sometimes)

[cosmos-kitty]

Do you have any tips for painting with gouache? like how do you get it to stay a nice solid color over a large swath of paper? and how do you blend it so seamlessly?

Of course, here's a few pointers off the top of my head:

1. I've used gouache for this in the past so it's possible, but the flat backdrop on my latest WIP is actually acrylic! A nifty thing I've found about putting a layer of acrylic down, is that it creates a barrier once dried and essentially makes the paper waterproof. This means you can work in gouache on top without it mixing with the background, and you can wet a section and completely wipe it clean with a cloth/tissue and it won't disturb the acrylic layer underneath. It also makes the paper more resilient, and you don't get as much pilling/tearing from the moisture

To get an even wash it's mostly getting the right consistency, I add just a little water - enough that the paint is less "tacky" as you drag your brush along paper, but not so much that it's runny or translucent. It takes a couple of attempts sometimes!

2. Also for the current WIP that I posted earlier, like the vast majority of my traditional pieces, keep in mind that it's mixed media. So I assume you're referring to the blue-green gradient on the bird and wondering how I got the gouache to blend like that - it's actually colouring pencils! I'll often switch between dry and wet media, even layer them back and forth, whatever makes the most sense to get the effect I want 😁

3. On that note, when you're working with paint, or any medium really, I can't recommend enough having a "test" sheet that you do both before and during a traditional piece. It allows you try out different medium combos, see what shade your gouache will dry into, and catch any issues before it ends up on your artwork. I often see artists being encouraged to just Bob Ross their way through a piece, the idea being that you'll just have happy little accidents that you'll naturally work into the piece - maybe, but you'll also possibly irreversibly wreck your hard work and have to start again. I don't know, I'm just a methodical person I guess, but seeing someone just directly apply something to the page when they're not sure what it's going to do makes me wince - no two art supplies are the same! All of those paints and pens have different chemical makeups, there's an unlimited number of ways what you're using could interact, good or bad.

Since it's already there, I usually reuse one of the leftover failsons from the process of making the wash background, then test everything on top of that. That way you can see exactly what shade the paint will dry on top of whatever colour the background is:

Doesn't need to look good, nobody sees it (usually) and you can also test the thickness of your brushstrokes while you're at it.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[princemick]

I have a massive fucking headache

[rubiehart]

when leopard!reader realises what a mess the twinkie is, she decides to give it a little spritz-up.

she runs a black acrylic tipped finger along the bumper of the twinkie, a streak of colour trailing through the dull coat of dirt that had built up as she grimaces, the van swaying as the rest of the gang hop out of the rustbucket. she wipes the grub on her denim shorts casually and turns towards him.

“jesus, john b. when was the last time you cleaned this?” she calls to him, hand shielding her eyes as she squints towards the sun, watching as john b and jj continue towards the chateau, stomping the dead grass as kie and pope follow not too far behind.

“ew.” kie comments off handedly, face scrunching up in disgust as she notices the state of it. “uh, few months back?” john b calls back nonchalantly, ignoring jj’s comment of “dude, more like a ‘few years’.”

“haven’t had time to get ‘round to it yet.” he shrugs, spinning back around and traipsing up the wooden steps with the two other pogue boys on his trail. she rolls her eyes, plan already forming in her head as she slings her backpack over her shoulder and jogs to catch up with kie.

half an hour or so later, the boys are lounging on the porch with some beers, the early evening sunset casting a comfortable and calm energy over the group, so mellow they hadn’t even really noticed the absence of the girls until now.

the sloshing of water and grunts of struggle are heard before they’re seen, emerging from around the back of the chateau with buckets filled with water, adorned in the tiniest bikini the boys had possibly ever seen.

“this is gonna be a job n’ a half.” she sighs, panting as she places two heavy buckets on the ground next to the van, kie nodding along with her, hands on her hips as she catches her breath.

“oh my god john b, how do you even let it get this bad?” kie mumbles as she unravels the hose from the tap at the side of the house, both girls not picking up on all three boys stunned expressions.

“what’s goin’ on here?” john b drawls with a lazy smirk, eyes shamelessly trained on the both of them as the other two ogle in silence.

“what’s it look like, douchebag?” she sighs, grabbing the hose from kie and beginning to hose down the roof as kie goes for the sponges and soap.

“looks like you’re washing the twinkie.” pope answers for you dumbly, eyes wide and cheeks noticeably flushed as he stares straight ahead at the van. both of your eyebrows furrow in confusion but neither of you comment, focusing on sudding up the sponges in your grip.

jj chuckles dryly, taking a long swig of his beer, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind head. “sit back and enjoy the show, bro.” he grins, giving pope a brotherly pat on the shoulder, a silent plea to get him to ease up a little, eyes still ogling your ass as you scrub at a particularly stubborn spot.

“see the shit we do for you, john b?” you sigh, walking around to the bonnet as you dip your sponge into the bucket of water, tits almost spilling out of the thin material as you scrub at the volkswagen symbol until you can see your face in it.

“actively seein’ it.” he nods flirting, causing you to look at him with a sideways smirk, flipping all three boys off collectively when jj playfully lets out a low whistle. “you’re such pervs.” kie sighs, crouched down as she scrubs at the metal above the wheels, eyes flicking from your smooth thighs to the van.

of course you knew they were loving it, but you loved the chase, even if you’d never admit it. so of course you continued, noticing every little look from kiara, every time jj adjusted the way he was sitting, every time pope cleared his throat nervously, and every time you caught john b shamelessly ogling when he thought you weren’t looking.

so, yeah. sudding up your tits and shaking your body a little exaggeratedly to get a rise out of them wasn’t exactly accidental. after all, little teasing never hurt nobody.

[isbergillustration]

Powered Up

[luvsupa]

a/n: writing this bc uni just started for me and I hope this happens to me in class </3 (minus the embarrassing part)

choso sat in the back of the lecture hall, his oversized headphones blasting music so loud you could hear the faint beat, despite being seated right next to him. you tried to focus on the professor up front, but the heavy metal practically vibrated through your brain. with a huff, you paused your typing, your long acrylic nails hovering above the keys, and turned to look at him—now admiring his looks.

his head bobbed along with the music, thick fingers scribbling notes on his large ipad. his hands were adorned with chrome heart rings, matching perfectly with his facial piercings, and every time you saw him, he had on new jewelry that just made him… more attractive. this time, instead of his usual two buns, his hair was down, cascading past his shoulders. god, he looked good like that. you really wanted to tell him to keep his hair down more often, but just being near him made your heart race too fast to even speak.

he was all dressed in black, chunky doc martens completing his look, and you hadn’t realized how long you’d been staring at him until he paused his music, sliding one side of his headphones off to look at you. your heart stopped.

“is my music too loud?” he asked softly, his voice catching you completely off guard. it was… sweet? you blinked, your laptop screen dimming as it fell asleep, just like your focus.

“just a bit,” you mumbled, watching as he grabbed his phone, sliding down the volume with a smile that made your body melt.

“i like you…” the words slipped out before you could stop them.

choso froze, one hand halfway to his headphones, looking at you like you’d just confessed. which… you basically did.

“i-i mean, i like your outfit!” you squeaked, heat flooding your body as your hands became sweaty as you mentally slapped yourself. choso just stared, eyebrows raised.

“n-not that i wouldn’t like you!” you scrambled to explain, your voice lowering to avoid the stares from the people sitting nearby. “i-it just slipped out, i swear!”

choso’s lips twitched, his amusement barely contained as he fully took off his headphones, leaning in slightly as if to hear you better. why not tease her, he thinks

“ohh, i see. so, you wouldn’t like me, huh? that’s a little harsh.” his voice took on a mock-hurt tone, but the teasing glint in his eyes was undeniable.

you gasped, totally falling for it. “no! i didn’t mean it like that! cho’, i’m so—”

wait.

you froze. did you just call him “cho’”? you definitely had never exchanged names, much less nicknames! your face drained of colour as choso smirked, clearly enjoying your panic.

“cho’?” he raised a brow, his lip piercing catching the light. “didn’t know we were close like that.” he chuckled, low and teasing. “but i don’t mind. it’s cute.”

you wanted to melt into the floor. the secondhand embarrassment from the other students was evident, and your heart was pounding too hard to think straight. you shot up from your seat, nearly knocking over your bag in your rush to escape. all eyes were on you as you bolted out the back of the classroom, face burning with mortification.

you sprinted to the nearest bathroom, slamming the door behind you as you leaned against the sink. “oh my gosh,” you groaned, covering your face with your hands. he was totally going to think you were a stalker now. you’d found his instagram before it went private, and you’d seen his younger brother yuji calling him “cho’” in the comments. you were doomed.

meanwhile, back in the classroom, choso couldn’t help the grin spreading across his face. he found your flustered state adorable—he didn’t think you were creepy at all. in fact, he wished you’d stayed a little longer so he could keep teasing you. with a soft chuckle, he tore a piece of paper from his artbook from his bag and scribbled down his number quickly as he placed the torn paper on your laptop.

“you can always call me cho’ ;)”

[jabbage]

The Secret of Sherlock Holmes bookbinding project!

I've really wanted a hard copy for a while of 'The Secret of Sherlock Holmes' play by Jeremy Paul, which was performed by Jeremy Brett and Edward Hardwicke (and is very high on my list of things to go and see if I get a time machine, because there aren't any video recordings of it.)

ANYWAY it's long out of print and very expensive to buy so I figured... I can just make one myself!

First I bound the text block. It's so slim, at a grand total of 75 pages.

I bound the cover in honey-coloured book cloth, and then set about creating a cover design.

I wanted to use the official logo of the play and this amazing publicity photo, so I went into my paint package of choice (clip studio) and tweaked the photograph until I was happy I'd got a likeness of the actors only using black and white. I think Jeremy Brett lost a little of his handsomeness, alas.

A while ago I bought a cutting machine, a Silhouette Portrait, which comes with some great software which can automatically convert an image like this into a path for the cutting machine to follow, although I usually tweak it manually too.

For example, I figured the weave on Hardwicke's tie was too intricate so I removed it.

Then I set the cutting machine to work!

For a while I tried using self-adhesive vinyl to make covers, but I found that it wasn't very hard-wearing and would start peeling off. These days I use self-adhesive vinyl to make a stencil, and then paint onto the book cloth in acrylic. The fact that the stencil is self-adhesive reduces the chances of any paint sneaking in underneath!

(The stencil is gold just because I have a lot of spare gold vinyl - it's probably not the best colour to use.)

For this project I did something I've never done before, which is doing two layered stencils, a white layer underneath, and then a black layer on top.

I kind of regret not painting all of the figures in white because if you squint you can see the line where the white stops on the final piece.

And now for the really satisfying bit - peeling of the stencil when everything has dried!

I'm really pleased with the finished book, and it's so fun to possibly have the only hardback version of this play... ever...???

[devoutekuna]

Stupid things their child does

Includes- Toji, Sukuna, Nanami, Gojo, Geto

Sukuna-

Sukuna slept whenever he was bored, even if it meant in the middle of the vacant room. Soon his daughter would take advantage of his large body by playing on him. "Would you like more tea?" Nodding as she poured the tea into the cup. You and your daughter were having a tea party on her father as he slept, taking advantage of how still he always was and how broad his body was. Laying down next to your husband as you checked if he was actually asleep, poking at his cheek before sitting back up. He was a heavy sleeper most days. Feeling the traces of your clothes getting wet as you realize that it was your daughter's doing, spilling the cup of tea all over the blanket which rested on him. "Oh no" rushing out of the room to find some tissues, whilst you sat all the cutlery up properly.

Coming back with a roll of paper towels, starting to dab them on his clothes. "Hurry before he wakes up" giggling to yourself. Only to stop as soon as you heard your husband starting to shuffle about, rolling over onto his back as he saw his two loved ones sat beside him. A cheeky grin plastered on both of your faces.

Nanami-

His daughter had a thing for art, always drawing something or glueing something down. So when she wandered into her father's office whilst he was working, she realized that he had two copies of most books, some of them having a really pretty front cover. Taking into consideration that he was still reading them, she only took one off each shelf that she could reach which was about 4 in total. Bringing them towards the living room as she already started with her art. Placing her painted hand on the first page as she carried it on, marks of her fingerprints adorning the pages.

"I'm home" it had been a few hours since she had found the books and started her massacre of them, walking into the living room to find the copies laying on the floor with stickers, drawings or paint all over them, fortunately only 2 had been touched whilst the others were kept in their original condition. "Do you like it daddy?" Holding the book up to his face.

Geto-

Leaving his daughter alone with paint would be one of the worst mistakes, most of the time she never acted on her curiosity after learning that the hard way. But when she gets left alone with a set of paint, she can't hold back. Sticking her hand onto the plate as she placed it on the table, unfortunately it was acrylic paint too, so it would be nearly impossible to get off. Placing her hand all along the table, a mixture of colours like pink, purple, blue and red, decorating the table with her small hand. Only stopping when she hears the footsteps of her father, unfortunately for her he was quicker and saw all the mess before she could put the paper back on. "Oh.." realising that she may actually get in trouble. Only sighing in defeat, he wanted to get annoyed at her but he knew it was his fault for leaving her alone.

Gojo-

It was his son's birthday and they had a bunch of balloons out, making sure they were filled with helium for his plan. Attaching a few strings onto his son's clothing. "Don't tell your mother about this, she'll kill me" blowing the balloons up with helium, noticing how he already started to lift off the ground. "Ahh! I'm going to fly" wrapping some more balloons on his small body. Body already leaving the ground. Putting his hand over his mouth as he tried to stop giggling, he was so excited to fly, just like his father. Head hitting the ceiling as he got to high. "Take me outside!" Dragging the boy by the strings towards the outside, this was a really stupid idea, already noticing how high he would get if he wasn't holding on. "Satoru!" His wife's voice made him jump as he dropped the string. "Are you stupid?" Running towards your son. He had completely forgotten about his son when he saw you. "Hi mummy!" Saving down as he got higher and higher.

Toji-

"Help daddy!" Legs wailing in the air as she was laid down on the floor, she wanted to go on the mission with her father but he'd never allow that, but she really wanted to go so she did her last resort, trying to fit inside his worm. "What the-" refraining from swearing as he walked up towards the girl. Grabbing her by the legs as he dragged her out, tears streaming down her face, she thought she was going to get eaten by the thing. "I just wanted to come with you, b-b" crying her eyes out as she gripped onto his shirt, "But it started to eat me!" Getting it all out in one sentence before crying, getting his shirt all wet. It was stupid but he had to bring her on a mission after such dedication? "Your fine" leaving the worm alone, he didn't know if someone could survive inside of the worm since he never tried it before.

[plor-bindery]

Bound: Our Objective Remains Unchanged

This is a collab with @kissmypoets-hp!!! They did the cover art and also collaborated with me on the typeset using their mad InDesign skills. I did the printing and binding.

The book copy I sent to Kiss just arrived, so I can share. (I’ve promised a copy to the author too, but we’ve also been chatting collabs so we’ve agreed it will come a little later…yay!)

The fic is, of course, the amazing Oxford rowing AU by @citrusses, Our Objective Remains Unchanged.

Kiss has been making all these beautiful digital covers in the Penguin Classics style and using classic artworks for the cover image. I asked whether we could collab on making one of these into a real paperback as I was learning how to do paperback binding, and they said yes! We settled on this fic because we both love it to pieces. Harry’s characterization is so sharp and real and yet so faithful to canon even in a muggle AU. Citrusses’ world-building is rich and delicious. And her Draco is heartbreaking and perfect.

The photos!

Process and materials under the cut.

Materials:

This was not my first attempt at a paperback with a colour printed cover — the actual first is still in the mail, so remains secret — but I was definitely still working out a technique here. I wound up using a heavier print paper and having Staples do the printing, then sealing with matte Mod Podge spray acrylic.

The text block was more straightforward — just ledger quarto paper 24#, double fan bind. I printed using my home laser black printer which has some pretty big margins, so I had to set up the typeset to accommodate some bigger trims to make Kiss’s full bleed artwork work properly.

Process:

The cover was the struggle. Staples does colour prints with toner, not ink, and the toner likes to crack and flake where the paper is scored/bent. The Mod Podge helps a bit. I still had to touch up with a sharpie in places, lol. I am also still figuring out how to score and fold neatly so the spine is centered. Add to this the headache and cost and wait to get stuff printed by them, and it wound up being quite high-stakes to get the covers done this way.

I also have been following Das’s method where you clamp the glued spine of the block (pre-cover) using two strips of wood, and I think I am over-clamping because the spine is often concave when dry. Next go, I will try no clamping and see how it goes.

But! I have recently acquired a colour inkjet printer! That does wide format and borderless! And has ink tanks!!! So more paperbacks are coming for sure. Also probably some hardcovers with wraps.

All told, it was a delightful process collaborating with Kiss and I would 💯 do it again in a heartbeat. I learned so much working with them!