(no subject)

[galadhir]

Painted the seed library box and half painted the 'Roots and Shoots' shop frontage today, and I'm not very satisfied with either of them. Painting something shaped, where the wood grain texture is uneven and the paint coverage is also uneven, is a lot harder than doing the smooth plastic bins. The paint had a tendency to flow along the lines of the wood grain, which meant I kept having to expand the letters to cover all the runs.

Also I mistook the line I'd written to mark where the space went, for the line I'd written to mark where the end of the second 'E' went. Resulting in one E being bigger than the other. I've slightly stretched the first E to try to make it less obvious. But it's not ideal, and the S is just plain ugly.

The script I chose for 'library' is also slightly less than legible. So basically it's a learning experience all around!

The main problem with the shop sign is that I've painted one of the S's wider than all the other letters. I have a plan for rescuing that (which involved painting over it with the background colour.) But the seed library will have to be resigned to being rustic.

Eh, it's only going to go in the local (defunct) post box to be a seed library for the neighbourhood, and the one it's replacing is a plastic tub that used to contain birdseed, so the standards are not high, and it will be good enough for the purpose for which it is intended.

Sigh. I know it's going to take at least a year of practice, and that it's important to practice on lots of different types of things, and that I've learned quite a lot by doing this badly which will lead to me doing it better later, but I want to be good *right now*

Comments

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>As you say, it's hard for me to see anything but the flaws. I imagine if I had not painted it, I would like it a lot more.<<

It takes practice to learn how to shift filters, but that's an essential skill for writers, artists, and other creative folks.

While creating, revising, or critiqueing your work: This is a piece of crap and needs so many fixes.

While selling or otherwise presenting your work to others: This thing is so awesome and here is why you should love it too.

>> I definitely want to learn how to paint well on uneven surfaces, and I mean to do a lot more on wood, <<

You might look for tips in the upcycling field. That involves a lot of painting on uneven surfaces, and people have interesting ideas to try. Different brushes, or other tools, can have very different effects. Stains are typically applied with a sponge. You can make a brush out of a frayed twig. Very thick traditional paints are often applied with a bone applicator.

>> if only because that kind of thing looks really good as ornaments and wall art etc, particularly when only partially rubbed down and stained. <<

I'm a big fan of wood, both polished and weathered. You can see one of my wood-related projects here:
https://ysabetwordsmith.livejournal.com/6069203.html

>> I do have a wooden pallet in the back garden which will do for practice when I've chopped it up and sanded it down a little.<<

That is an excellent plan.

>> I am trying to practice every day - Mr Man who runs the course has given us lots of practice exercises, as well as a couple of sheets of brush stroke practice we can do when we can't think of anything else. As always the problem is finding enough hours in the day.<<

Good idea. Anything that breaks down a complex skill into individual steps, like brush strokes, is very helpful in the beginning. I've done a lot of that. It's much easier to focus on one thing at a time, then string them together, than it is trying to learn a bunch of things all mashed into each other.

You might try comparing different types of brush or applicator, different types of paint, or different consistencies of paint to see what is comfortable for you. Some things like milk paint or earth paint can be purchased as powder, then you mix it to the consistency you want -- and both of those work great for rustic woodcrafts. You can even get artist pigments.

https://www.thisoldhouse.com/painting/21528976/all-about-milk-paint

https://naturalearthpaint.com/earth-mineral-pigments/

https://www.artnews.com/art-news/product-recommendations/best-pigment-powders-1202688380/

https://naturalearthpaint.com/blognatural-binders-for-natural-pigments-top-9-mediums-for-ecofriendly-painting/

>> So far my main problems seem to be

Script - can't stand script writing (probably because I never learned joined up writing at school) <<

Readily addressed with practice pages. These are available for calligraphy (in many fonts) and for basic cursive handwriting (in a few fonts). If you are a logical learner rather than a manual learner, you may find it helpful to examine how fonts are made, because they talk about different ways of joining letters in script. Knowing how something is done can make it easier to do, but this method doesn't work for manual learners.

https://thepostmansknock.com/all-of-tpks-free-calligraphy-worksheets-a-master-list/

https://www.k5learning.com/cursive-writing-worksheets

>> Tend to draw my letters too tall and thin <<

Practice and worksheets will help. You might consider using multi-lined paper that helps learn proportions for letters. Consider a broader tool, or one that allows you to vary the width, to deal with the thin issue.

>> Don't leave enough space around either letters or words <<

That's a kerning problem. Kerning is a super important aspect of font design, signwriting, calligraphy, and related crafts. It can be studied technically by examining geometry, measurements, and design theory; or intuitively by examining and copying many different examples of written things to see which are more legible.

https://www.adobe.com/creativecloud/design/discover/kerning.html

https://www.canva.com/learn/kerning/

https://www.thesignchef.com/article/how-to-design-a-sign-secrets-to-kerning

The easiest thing to work on first: spaces between letters should be narrower than those between words, which should be narrower than those between sentences. Getting the spacing between letters to look good is finicky and takes a lot longer to learn, because of how all the different shapes fit together. Or not.

>> and of course
Shaky hands.<<

That sucks, and is challenging to compensate for.

>> I hope that they will all get better over time, <<

Good practice makes good progress.

>> but for the moment I'm confined to practice pieces and painting my own stuff.<<

That's a good place to start.

>> I'll think again about maybe painting something public in another six months :)

You'll certainly make a lot of progress in six. You might make enough in three, so check then and compare current work to past work.

>>Posting my project photos here sounds like a great idea! I like the idea of having them somewhere easily accessible where I only have to scroll to see whether I'm improving or not. Thank you!<<

Useful tags might be "crafts," "woodworking," "signwriting," "photos," etc. Think about how you'd like to sort things, and especially, what you think you'll want to view in a sequence later on.

It will be fun to watch this over time!

Re: Thoughts

[galadhir]

Oh that's a lovely window hanger! I like the rainbow of colours. It must be very sparkly on a sunny day :)

Thanks so much for the calligraphy practice sheets. I'd been wondering if calligraphy might be a useful practice that I could do in front of the TV when it's too inconvenient to bring out the paints. And it would at least get me more used to script and what it was supposed to look like. My handwriting could use all the help it can get.

(Amusingly, since I've started the signwriting my handwriting has improved. An unexpected bonus.)

I'll definitely have to acquire better kerning by instinct and practice. I'm definitely not a maths person!

Re: Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>>Oh that's a lovely window hanger! I like the rainbow of colours. It must be very sparkly on a sunny day :)

It is very sparkly indeed. It is hanging in the east window of a bay window. That space is partly filled by a large planter. All three windows have many sparkly things hanging in and around them. Several others are things I've also made, like the strand of bells and clear crystals and the long double wind spinner held together with beaded strands.

>>Thanks so much for the calligraphy practice sheets.<<

You're welcome!

>> I'd been wondering if calligraphy might be a useful practice that I could do in front of the TV when it's too inconvenient to bring out the paints. And it would at least get me more used to script and what it was supposed to look like. My handwriting could use all the help it can get.<<

Calligraphy is a very useful practice for improving handwriting or dexterity in general. There are extensive resources for it, free or paid. Also, if people get good enough, it pays.

>> (Amusingly, since I've started the signwriting my handwriting has improved. An unexpected bonus.) <<

Sure, that makes sense. Any kind of writing will carry over. So will certain types of art, like geometric art; and anything with a pen, pencil, or small paintbrush.

>> I'll definitely have to acquire better kerning by instinct and practice. I'm definitely not a maths person! <<

Okay, then try geometry. That's based on shapes instead of numbers. (I am less worse with geometry than with more numeric math.) So then, look at examples in nature, like the Golden Spiral. That will help your eyes learn how things fit together in relation to each other. Good geometry "looks beautiful" to most people. Examine the shapes of letters and how they fit together, or not. If you like fidgets, consider getting a set of play letters, like the kind for sticking on a refrigerator, that don't have a square background but are exact letter shapes. You can move them around to feel with your hands how they fit, as well as looking with your eyes. A very fun exercise for word art is to take any two letters, or later on words, and fit them together in as many ways as possible to find what looks interesting. Kerning is just an odd sort of jigsaw puzzle with letters.