bloowabbit: DIY House

Wednesday, 21 March 2018

Teeny tiny art...pt 2

Pt 2 of personalising the dollhouse kit 'Ada's Studio'...and filling it with bloowabbit art.

The tiny art I made for the mini studio turned out better than I'd hoped although I needed to draw and re-draw them to get the scale right within the frames. I like the vividness of the studio hung with vibrantly coloured art.

I was so pleased with the canvas on the easel and it's how I imagine translating February's doodles into full-size paint-on-canvas. I made a tiny black A4 sketchbook which is what I tend to use, complete with some little sketches. A maulstick sits beside it and a paint rag hangs over the top of the easel. Much of this detail mightn't be obvious when the parts are glued in situ...but I'll know they're there.

The Greco-Roman statue would have been so out of place (as would green plants which I'm really bad at looking after) so I painted it in colours that I frequently use.

On the floor are tiny copies of art I drew when I was small - 2 images my parents kept over the years. Apparently I was asked what the amorphous drawing was of and 3 year old me replied 'It's a Snud'. The red drawing was of 'Tankgirl' after my sister suggested I draw what I saw out the window. I began to draw a concrete tank near the hen house but 7 year old me soon got bored and instead doodled with the red biro. Those two drawings are now lost but are part of my personal art history.

To finish the studio I wanted to do something with the exterior walls. A quick learning curve of YT tutorials and looking at exaggerated letter fonts before writing my bloowabbit name graffiti-style. There'll be a follow-up blog about making that.

And here are the images of Ada's studio transformed into blowabbit's studio...

I loved most of the kit, especially the paint splattered floor and the industrial feel of the room. There were plants, vases and ornaments which I chose not to use. I've had great fun completing this project and I'm hoping to upload a short video.
Meanwhile...there's a Robotime bookshop I've my eye on...

Teeny tiny art - pt 1

Robotime website

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Wednesday, 14 March 2018

Teeny tiny art....pt 1.

Back in November, during the Black Friday sales, I bought myself a DIY Dollhouse kit - 'Ada's Studio'. I've assembled some smaller scenes inside tins before but have been wanting to try a larger kit for a while.

When I opened it I saw that the box contains images of Old Masters, modern art and a Greco-Roman sculpture. (Perhaps Ada's an art forger?) My version of the studio will display tiny examples of bloowabbit art.

I cut out the printed art that came with the kit, measured it and began to draw copies of art I'd already done. I picked pieces I liked and also drew new images. I did think about printing miniature versions of my work but part of the fun with this project was to create actual tiny art.

I flicked through the instruction leaflet to find the step-by-steps on how to assemble the easel - this was what had caught my eye in the kit. Making it was straightforward. It reminded me of days in the life room at college and even the drawer on this tiny replica works.

I 'stretched' the little canvas but had to insert a piece of card under the fabric as the frame outline was visible (no ¼ beading included). After painting the surface white (priming) I drew an image with a 0.05 black fine liner similar to the doodles from last month's #februdoodle.

Using a permanent marker I changed the colour of the brown frames to black.

One of the best things was setting the scene, adding paint marks, drips and graffiti to the table. I changed some things along the way and added sticks of charcoal.

Instead of bags of erasers I created bags of pigment and size. I love that wonky table.

Discovered there were no batteries included so the light/LED had to wait until I bought some. Maybe this was why the kit was reduced for Black Friday. I find this happens from seller to seller - sometimes the glue is missing.

I've had to split this blog into 2 parts as the battery on my iphone, which is my camera, stopped working...new battery on the way. As soon as it arrives I'll take the rest of the photos and post pt 2.