Resistance is good!

I've been having fun with a new toy...liquid masking fluid in a fine tipped applicator. I got it at Jerry's Artarama. Here is the link: http://www.jerrysartarama.com/discount-art-supplies/watercolor-paints-and-mediums/masking-tapes-and-fluids/artist-masking-fluid-pen.htm

I used it to make Batik-style beads (see pictures below). Instructions for batik process are below. Super easy and fun.

1. Start with plain white beads. I use Ultralight because i like the surface and I make big beads.

2. Put a few dots or other simple pattern on the bead and let the masking fluid dry (20 min or so). It turns slightly greenish when it's dry.

3. Cover the bead with the lightest color of alcohol ink. I just use my fingers and a paper towel to dab it. As soon as the alcohol is dry put a new design on the bead with the masking fluid.

4. When the masking fluid is dry cover the bead with the next darkest color.

5. Repeat the masking / alcohol steps until you're happy with your design. Don't go nuts... it's easy to overdo it and end up with a mess. 3-4 colors gives a good variety without muddying it up.

6. After you're happy with your design and the ink is dry, rub off the masking fluid and marvel at the pretty colors! 

I embellished with a silver metallic Uni ball gel pen on some of the items. It's a really nice pen. 

I also sprayed the beads with PYM II when I was finished with them.

More colored pencil on clay

All were sprayed with PYM II to protect the surface.

My other love...colored pencil

What be this bee?
Read all the way to the bottom to find out about two giveaways.

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And welcome to Colored Pencil Magazine Readers, if you have landed here by way of the "Paper or Plastic" article in the latest issue. Here's how the article came about and why I decided on the project I chose...

A few weeks ago I received an email from Sally Ford at Colored Pencil Magazine asking me if I would be interested in contributing an article about using colored pencil on polymer clay. She had seen a few of my photos on flickr and my blog and thought her readers would be interested in learning more about the process.

So, of course, I jumped at the opportunity to share the love of clay with a whole new gang! I knew that colored pencil users wouldn't necessarily want to start making beads or sculptures or jewelry the way most of us clay folks do. But, they could replace their paper with clay for a different surface that has interesting qualities paper doesn't have.

I also wanted to introduce clay in a way that would complement pencil art and not require anyone to buy a bunch of tools to get started. I opted to feature Ultralight instead of "regular" clay for two reasons:
1) No pasta machine is required
2) The matte Ultralight surface works really well with soft colored pencils (Prismacolors, for example).

The digital copy of the magazine is available for subscribers today and the print copy comes out next week. It was a fun experience and I hope some of the readers give it a shot!

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If you're on Facebook, I would like to mention that I have an Artybecca Facebook page. Go on and Like my page if you want to follow along on my clay, and now, clay and colored pencil adventures. (There might also be an occasional appearance of pencil on Shrinky-Dink plastic and balsa wood shapes!)

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I came up with an easy project with instructions for the readers to try.
Here are photos of the pieces I made, before and after coloring:

I used an organza bag before curing to texturize the surface of this one. It looks nice but I found the colored pencils works best on a completely smooth surface. Before I tried it, I didn't think that would be the case, but it was.
The dark outlines on this one were made with liquid polymer, added after the first curing. I think it left a very slight residue on the surface that also caused the pencil to not lay down as dark as I wanted.

I couldn't leave out a turtleneck fish, could I? We'll call this one a flounder because he only has one side! I used acrylic paint to fill the lines on the fishie. I added it after the first curing and waited until it was totally dry to add the colored pencil. I sprayed the fish and the flower pieces with PYM II to protect the pencil.

No texturing on this surface, just a smooth, unsanded finish.

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I included links to Ginger Allman Davis's The Blue Bottle Tree blog where she has great information. I thought her posts about curing and finishing would make the readers feel more confident about trying the project.

• For questions about curing: http://thebluebottletree.com/bake-polymer-clay-oven/

• Polymer-safe finishes: http://thebluebottletree.com/pym-ii-polymer-clay-spray-sealer/

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Colored Pencil Magazine is sold as a digital download or hard copy by mail subscription.

You can subscribe to it here.

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GIVEAWAY!

To celebrate, I'll do a giveaway of two cute little bees I made using this technique. One is a fridge magnet, one is a lapel pin. Put a comment on the blog and you'll be entered in a drawing for one or the other. Please include if a pin, a magnet, is your first choice.

Here's one of the little bee dudes!

And wait...there's more! 

Hold still there, little fishies

While wandering through the craft store yesterday I hit upon a solution to hold my beads and little fishies still while I take photos of them.

Neutral colored decorative sand in a glass dish! You can position the items any way you wish and they stay in place.

You don't want grains of sand that are too small or they will stick to your items. But at the size shown here, the grains easily brush off when you need to reposition the item for the next picture.

Coloring with abandon

My friend told me about art abandonment (google it) and I've been making items to give away ever since. My weapon of choice has been colored pencils on balsa wood cutouts for the last few weeks.

Bike ride today

Pics from the East End Brewery's Pedal Pale Ale Keg Ride ride today.
We were out on the bikes from 11 am to 6 pm. Rode all over the East End, ending up in the Strip for the end of the "official" ride. Had a quesadilla lunch from Edgar's,  Peace, Love & doughnuts (maple bacon!), and Presto George coffee. Rode the jail trail out of town and came up Panther Hollow to Squirrel Hill and home on Forbes. I did pretty good up small hills in the morning but had to walk the bike up any incline by late afternoon.
I took a ton of photos along the way. Here are my favorites...