BEANIE MASK - PART 1 (*SPOILERS* if you watch the anime Bleach)

I'm starting this project as a birthday gift for one of my friends, who happens to be a major Bleach fan (and also doesn't know I have this blog...allowing me to document it thusly without ruining the surprise). 

By "Bleach," I refer to the popular, top-ranking manga-based anime, and not the chemical agent used to whiten everything in its path.

[WARNING! POSSIBLE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THOSE CURRENTLY WATCHING THE SHOW!]

So I took inspiration from Ichigo's (the main character) hollow form.  It's a pretty epic piece of face wear, and since my friend is such a fan of the show, I thought he'd appreciate something Ichigo-esque to wear for himself.  Clearly, wearing a creepy half-mask isn't done now-a-days, but beanies are.  My conclusion: PUT THE MASK ON THE HAT.  

For those of you who didn't pick it up from previous posts of mine, I don't believe in spending money if I can scrounge up my sources from my immediate surroundings.  So naturally, rather than checking out Amazon or eBay for a Bleach themed beanie, I went the harder route - but one I think would be more appreciated - and decided to make this baby from almost-scratch.  

Step 1) Find the nearest pair of old shoes and beat the crap out of them until they surrender unto you their souls.  I mean soles.  

This is not an easy task.  It requires cunning, patience, strength, a sharp knife, and a great deal of inner rage.  Also, kitchen shears, if you have access to them.  

A wise person would suggest that you do not attempt this at home.  But seeing as the whole point of this operation is TO FIND YOUR SOURCES AT HOME, disregard that warning and DO WHAT YOU MUST.  So I removed the sole of both shoes and took some of my handy-dandy spackling and filled in the ridges and grooves in the sole, so that the texture wouldn't show through, and painted over them with my home made white primer (see "BEGINNING PROJECTS - HOW TO MAKE PRIMER"). 
Next, I sketched out a rough image of what I wanted the mask to look like, and cut up the pieces of the sole into the general shapes I would need. This turned out a lot better than I was expecting because frankly, at this point in time, I was beginning to think I was getting getting a little in over my head with this concept.  Fortunately, the pieces didn't look too terrible, and I was able to replicate the general shape the way I wanted it, using several Google images of Ichigo in the mask as a reference.

I'm going to let the paint dry now, and collect other necessary items to finish it.  I still need to buy a beanie to mount this thing on (somehow...!!!) and some clear enamel to coat it with so it doesn't melt and flake under weather conditions.  

And I've decided, hats are way too complicated.  

Goodnight.

-Chimmy

MUSIC FOR YOUR MUSE

Music. 

Now, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm a die-hard rock and roll fan, and if you're not, then I'm sorry, but we can't be friends.

Fortunately, we don't have to be friends for me to give you good advise for music when it comes to tuning into your creativity.  And everyone's jam is different, so this is going to be as across-the-board as I can make it.

Really, the key is to find music that put you into your zen mode. Not something you want to sing along to.  Not something that makes you want to jump up and head bang it out.  Absolutely NO air guitars are allowed in your creative zen sessions.  You want something that makes your mind wander.  Something that doesn't catch your attention, but sends it way beyond the realms of reality.  

If you're me (I highly doubt it, but let's play along, shall we?) and you're having one of those days when the Symphony No. 9 in E Minor is just running through your head with no relief, and you would give your kingdom for some of Antonin Dvorak's finest, there's only one thing for it: you just gotta make like Ingrid Bergman and, "Play it, Sam."  YouTube works well, I have found.  That, and Pandora.  If you can fine-tune a station specifically for your creative moments, you can flip that baby on and get lost in your work while it plays all the best music for you. 

Alternatively, have a audio book or a tv show that you can listen to  while you work is also a really good option.  Dialogue often allows the mind to preoccupy itself while your creative instincts take over.

And be prepared.  There's always that one song that you can't resist jamming/waltzing/air-guitaring/opera-harmonizing to, so be free. 

-Chimmy

LIQUID CREATIVITY

Inspiration comes in all shapes and sizes. And tastes.  

Sometimes you're looking for that little spark that will let you finally put your brush to canvas and make that first stroke of color, but you want to be sure it's just right.  After all, the first stroke is the most important, right?

WRONG. 

The first stroke is just that.  Step one. The beginning.  A draft. Nothing more insignificant has ever been made than the first stroke of the painting.  It's not magical; it won't foretell the worth of the painting-to-be.  It will, however, keep you from painting it. See, while it's not the most important, it IS the most difficult. Realize that any mark can be altered or erased.  It isn't forever. Allow yourself to make that first mark for its own sake.  Because you can't skip step one.  You'll never be able to create a masterpiece if you're afraid of yourself.  

Make the mark.  Let it be imperfect. 

But I'm getting away from myself.  

Inspiration.

Sometimes, to make that first mark, we need a little inspiration. More than Shia Labeouf's deep, motivational verbal explosions. I mean real, serious, hard-core inspiration.  

I speak of tea.

Want to know just why so much of British literature is so grotesquely phenomenal?  It's because those people across the pond are sucking down great pots of the stuff!  Just think of how far we would be, word-wise, if instead of chucking all that tea into the harbor, we'd cooked it up and downed it, allowing it to feed our souls and creative spirits. Not that I disagree with the men who hosted the delightful Boston Tea Party, I just think at least a few of them might have hunkered down and taken a few sips before splitting.

My point.  Liquid creativity can be found in many herbal forms, my particular favorite being earl grey tea with a spoonful of sugar, or a nice Chamomile with cream and honey. Hot or cold, weak or strong, black or light, so long as it's the virgin strain of the deep-steeped dehydrated leaves of the beloved camellia, you can be sure the tea gods will lend you their power for your next creative endeavor.  

-Chimmy

BEGINNING PROJECTS - HOW TO MAKE PRIMER

So, I'm starting a series of painting projects as gifts (wedding and anniversary), and I thought I'd document the process for those out there who aren't quite sure where or how to start these kind of things on their own.  Which is cool.  I had to figure it out for myself, and seeing as this world is vastly unfair, I'm going to show you how to do it the way I did, only without all the mistakes and crap in between.  You're welcome.

I'm a penny-pincher. Always have been.  And thank goodness, cause I'd be broke by now, otherwise.  (I owe my monetary status to my mother, by the way.) So when I'm planning a project, craft stores like Michaels or Jo-Ann's, or even any of those mom-and-pop owned art studios are the last places I go.  They're gonna charge you an arm and a leg and your first born child for a canvas that could fit in your sock drawer.  My go-to?  Goodwill.  Somewhere amongst their dusty Gogo boots and pencil-cut high-waters are some pre-painted canvasses just waiting to be up-cycled.  So, five bucks spent, and I have nearly $50 worth of canvas. Also known as Christmas.

Now, some will tell you to just cover those suckers with white paint and call it a day.  DON'T.  You will regret it.  Sure, it'll cover it well enough, but the texture of the previous images will show through, and it'll make your work look like you bought a canvas from Goodwill and decided to throw white paint on it, and let's be honest, art is all about deception. So here's my recipe for home-made canvas primer.

What you see above is: 
1) two parts AMERICANA Acrylic Paint in Snow (Titanium) White [or, if you're like me and don't feel like buying anything if I don't have to, you can also use some pre-opened can of white ceiling paint from your garage].  
2) 1 part RED DEVIL's One Time Lightweight Spackling 
3) 1/4 part ELMER'S Glue
4) and a little water
Adjust measurements as you like to get the consistency you're comfortable with. Mix together in a bucket and store in some sort of glass jar with a lid.  Pour a little of this into a painting tray and, with a painting roller, prime your up-cycled canvas with your new super-affordable home made primer.  You're welcome.

[If you're feeling exceptionally adventurous, you can always go out and find a cotton or muslin sheet really cheep, prime it, build yourself a frame, stretch the primed fabric over the frame, staple it, and have a 3D canvas with proportions of your choosing. You could also stretch it over a regular piece of flat plywood to create a flat canvas. A lazy way of doing the same thing is to simply prime the sheet and hot-glue the edges down, creating a sort of banner rather than a firm canvas.  Just depends what you're going for...and how much sweat you're willing to put into it.]

So here's what I've got. 

The small canvas on the left (an old 6th grade art project of mine, up-cycled) will be a calligraphy project, a with hand-painted phrase.  The small one on the right (an ugly snowy landscape from Goodwill, up-cycled)..I have no idea.  And the big one (a very ugly painting of a sunset, up-cycled) is going to be a large-scale collection of five panels, based on a five-phrase poem authored by my oldest brother. 

Here's a sneak-peek of what it's gonna look like. I'm excited!

I'm going to be keeping documentation as I progress with these projects.  Hope whoever's keeping up with me will find some sort of inspiration (or at least some entertainment) in these posts as they show up.  

Remember, whenever you're starting a new project, always check to see first if whatever you're doing can be made on your own.  Rather than bee-lining for the shrink-wrapped, machine-made, or pressure-sealed, check your own resourcefulness.  Google it.  Pinterest it.  Freaking Rambo it!  Sometimes the best stuff happens when you decide to throw a whole bunch of crap into a bucket and go "Let's see what happens!" 

And never forget, rules are the prisons of the unimaginative. Color outside the lines. Have faith in yourself.

-Chimmy