Little Flower Details
October 13, 2014
Inspirational Art
I just got back from nearly 3 weeks in California taking care of family matters and have 4 days before I am off again to the Racine Art Museum polymer symposium, so I will be looking towards the fine examples and ingenuous ideas of others this week to keep you inspired in case my words fail me. I have noticed a number of very clever tutorials and tips roaming about the online waves. Most are, after you see them, very obvious little tricks and ideas, but it’s so often only obvious after you see it!
Take this flower petal texturing method. I have seen many examples of lines in canes to create the visual look, but the actual tactile look of lines running across petals is far less common. Here is a very simple way to get those tactile lines into the petals: just scratch a series of lines into a soft but sturdy material and press your petals into the texture. I think texture was created on foam of some sort, but you could, of course, use polymer and bake it. It adds a wonderfully realistic quality to the petals. Here is the full visual tutorial.
Are there other items you tend to texture with hand tools that you could create a basic texture form to press or stamp with instead? It’d be worth a try if you think of something.
All I know about the creator of this tutorial is that he or she is going by Lufy, or did, on Livemaster.ru, but the Livemaster link for Lufy is not working, and this tutorial is spread all over on various sites without credit. Maybe we can correct that? Does anyone know who the craft artist is? Let me know if you d,o and I’ll dig up more about this clever clayer.
Note added on Oct 14th: Thanks Natalja for solving the mystery! It is not Lufy, but -Luly and the artist’s name is Julia Kotselova. Here is the link to her Livemaster shop.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
Giving Way to Intricate Lines
February 20, 2014
Inspirational Art
With just black and silver and a subdued navy blue, these lentil beads would not easily be carried by the palette alone. However, the textured lines and floral transfers along with the break in the larger lentils create an intricate serenity. The positive and negative space of the large beads and the oval links in the oversized chain add a feeling of Art Deco style, while the size and design elements bring it back into modern art imagery.
This is the work of French artist, Olga Nicolas, who enjoys creating in limited color palettes, embellishing with intricate textures using transfers and foils. There is a richness in the colors chosen and the baroque textural designs on some of the beads give this modern piece some old world charm.
You can see more of Olga’s designs using limited palettes on her Flickr pages. Olga teaches workshops in France and has some online tutorials on YouTube.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
I just got back from nearly 3 weeks in California taking care of family matters and have 4 days before I am off again to the Racine Art Museum polymer symposium, so I will be looking towards the fine examples and ingenuous ideas of others this week to keep you inspired in case my words fail me. I have noticed a number of very clever tutorials and tips roaming about the online waves. Most are, after you see them, very obvious little tricks and ideas, but it’s so often only obvious after you see it!
Take this flower petal texturing method. I have seen many examples of lines in canes to create the visual look, but the actual tactile look of lines running across petals is far less common. Here is a very simple way to get those tactile lines into the petals: just scratch a series of lines into a soft but sturdy material and press your petals into the texture. I think texture was created on foam of some sort, but you could, of course, use polymer and bake it. It adds a wonderfully realistic quality to the petals. Here is the full visual tutorial.
Are there other items you tend to texture with hand tools that you could create a basic texture form to press or stamp with instead? It’d be worth a try if you think of something.
All I know about the creator of this tutorial is that he or she is going by Lufy, or did, on Livemaster.ru, but the Livemaster link for Lufy is not working, and this tutorial is spread all over on various sites without credit. Maybe we can correct that? Does anyone know who the craft artist is? Let me know if you d,o and I’ll dig up more about this clever clayer.
Note added on Oct 14th: Thanks Natalja for solving the mystery! It is not Lufy, but -Luly and the artist’s name is Julia Kotselova. Here is the link to her Livemaster shop.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
With just black and silver and a subdued navy blue, these lentil beads would not easily be carried by the palette alone. However, the textured lines and floral transfers along with the break in the larger lentils create an intricate serenity. The positive and negative space of the large beads and the oval links in the oversized chain add a feeling of Art Deco style, while the size and design elements bring it back into modern art imagery.
This is the work of French artist, Olga Nicolas, who enjoys creating in limited color palettes, embellishing with intricate textures using transfers and foils. There is a richness in the colors chosen and the baroque textural designs on some of the beads give this modern piece some old world charm.
You can see more of Olga’s designs using limited palettes on her Flickr pages. Olga teaches workshops in France and has some online tutorials on YouTube.
If you like this blog, support The Polymer Arts projects with a subscription or issue of The Polymer Arts magazine as well as supporting our advertising partners.
