July 2015 ATCs
I "fake-joined" the Ongoing ATC (Artist Trading Card) Swap - July 2015 at Craftster, which simply means that, while you still have to follow the rules for said event, instead of actually exchanging the item(s) that you made with another member, you're creating it for yourself. The "Fake Swap Craftalong" is intended for people that really want to participate in a particular challenge, but, for whatever reason, can't (lack of funds for shipping, having already reached their quota limit for active swaps, wanting to make a certain object/thing but their partner(s) aren't interested in the subject matter, etc.) In my case, I've just been so lazy about producing any kind of artwork lately that I figured having some deadlines hanging over my head would force me to get to work on something, anything, and, thus far, that motivational strategy is working. Since ATCs are relatively small/simple projects, I committed to make three of them (and ended up doing four).
I think ATCs that are "more" than just a card are cool, so, while brainstorming ideas, I came up with making one that's also a jigsaw puzzle. To the surprise of absolutely no one, I went for the obvious pun and titled the resulting work "Women are Puzzling".
This is what the front and back of the card looked like prior to gluing the two halves together and cutting the puzzle pieces apart. I drew her entirely with No. 2 pencil, using a photograph of a real woman, from a Wig Company catalog, as a still-life model (and, no, I don't wear wigs--said catalog is strictly for educational purposes). The striped background was my addition. I feel that I made her hand too big, but, otherwise, the illustration turned out okay. I had originally planned to do her in full color, however, once I had the woman roughed-out in pencil, she looked good to me in black & white, so, I decided to leave her that way and finished her off in gray scale.
Here's the finished card, both assembled and unassembled. The pieces got a bit warped from the cutting process (I had to bend the cardboard a bit to get the blades of my scissors around the projecting "knobs"), so the edges of some of them stick up a little, and the fit isn't quite as tight as I'd like, but, for my first attempt at making a jigsaw puzzle from scratch, it's decent enough I suppose. While a twelve-piece (3 x 4) project isn't very difficult to put together, I'm glad that I didn't ratchet it up one more notch and try to make it a twenty-piece (4 x 5) puzzle, as cutting this thing apart wasn't easy and upping the number of parts would have only made things more difficult. Likewise, making it 2-ply cardboard would probably have helped the pieces stay together better, but that also would have been tougher to cut.
Materials:
White paper, white glue, brown paper from a grocery bag, cardboard from a potato chip box, No. 2 graphite pencil, and ink.
Dimensions:
6.4 cm (2.5") wide x 8.9 cm (3.5") high.
Time:
A couple of hours-or-so on July 21st, 2015.
My next idea for an ATC was one that I'd been wanting to do for quite some time: a MOC (mint-on-card) action figure!
At first, I had my heart set on making the Craftster Cork Guy, but then I noticed the little Cork Horse up at the top of their web page and I cursed myself for my foolishness. What sane person would ever want an action figure of a man when they could have an awesome equine toy instead, am I right? Rainbow Dash only had to kick me in the head five times to convince me of the wisdom of the previous sentence, but, once the world swam back into focus again, I could finally see that my entire life up until that point had been a complete and utter waste, and that her "All ponies, all the time" mantra was the one true path to everlasting happiness and enlightenment.
The cork horse is made out of neither cork nor toothpicks, because that would be truth in advertising, and a slipshod operation like the one that I run can't be held to such high standards. Instead it's constructed out of newsprint, white glue, and bendable wire. As the figure is nothing but a bunch of hollow cylinders, it was relatively quick and easy to fabricate.
Here are the painted Cork Horse action figure, the plastic bubble that will soon encase it forever (made from a toy package, appropriately enough), and the partially-completed cardback illustration/text.
I kind of forgot that white glue has a tendency to smear the pigment from markers when I use it at as a sealant. Okay, that's a lie: I didn't forget at all and I mentally warned myself not to do it right before I did it. It was late at night and I just didn't care anymore at that point (the irritating voice in my head is wrong just as often as it's right, so I don't pay it much attention anyway).
This is what the finished, carded figure looks like. And I'm never letting the Cork House out again either, mwahahaha! (I took the other photos just prior to sealing the animal inside.)
Materials:
White paper, newsprint, cardboard from a cereal box, wire twist ties, ink, white glue, hot glue, transparent plastic from a toy package, marker, colored pencil, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
6.4 cm (2.5") wide x 8.9 cm (3.5") high x 1.6 cm (0.6") deep.
Time:
Two days: July 25th & 26th, 2015.
I completed the horse and cardback art on the 25th and did the final assembly work the following morning.
The next card depicts Nebiros (more-commonly-known as "Naberius"), one of the many demons described in The Lesser Key of Solomon. In particular, my illustration is based on Atlus' rendition of the entity from their Shin Megami Tensei/Persona series of video games. Like the Cork Horse, my white glue top coat caused the marker pigment, especially the red, to bleed all over the place, damaging my illustration. I'm stubborn and a slow learner, what can I say? I was going to take a photo of the card before I applied the white glue to seal it (I knew it was going to mess things up even before I did it, and yet I went ahead anyway), but, alas, I didn't.
Materials:
White paper, cardboard from a cereal box, ink, white glue, marker, colored pencil, and acrylic paint.
Dimensions:
6.4 cm (2.5") wide x 8.9 cm (3.5") tall.
Time:
A couple of hours-or-so on July 26th, 2015.
Finally, I christened this last card "Sleeping Whompus isn't Sleeping". It's a collage made out of clippings from a magazine (a combination of various meats and facial features). Compared to the other three, this was a pretty quick and simple card to put together, but I like the result.
Materials:
Clippings from a Woman's Day magazine, cardboard from a cereal box, and white glue.
Dimensions:
6.4 cm (2.5") wide x 8.9 cm (3.5") tall.
Time:
Less-than-an-hour on July 27th, 2015.
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