(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

[mistressofmuses]

The learning curve for any new thing is such a struggle! I'm always the same - it's great that I'm learning from the process, but can I just fast forward to being good at it, please!

I'm sorry you aren't delighted with either of them, but I hope the one is fixable and the other one sounds like it's still an upgrade from what was there previously!

[sunlit_stone]

It sounds like it's going to be a definite improvement over the previous seedbin! I'm sure the neighbourhood will enjoy it :)

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> 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. <<

I think it looks beautiful. Rustic things don't always look good if made "too slick."

>>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.<<

True. Possible solutions include:

* Thicker paint compensates better for rough surfaces.

* Sand before painting.

* Apply primer or gesso before painting.

* Paint something flat and screw it onto the rough background.

>> 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.<<

Possible solutions include:

* Use thicker paint throughout.

* Outline in thicker paint, fill with thinner paint.

* Outline with something else, like thick clear craft glue.

>>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.<<

Okay, I can see the flaws now that you have pointed them out. But when I saw the picture, I thought, "Wow, that looks cool!"

When people see it, they will almost certainly think, "Yay a seed library I wonder what's inside!" and not "The S looks wonky."

There's a big shear in making crafts. Most of us who make things will focus on flaws. But looking at crafts -- even crafters looking at someone else's work, let alone noncrafters -- are much more inclined to see the positive instead.

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

I agree that it's less than legible, and a different font would be better in future projects. Here you can simply take advantage of the human brain's resilience. The legible portion "SEED Lib----" is enough for most folks to fill in the end of that word.

>>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.<<

A sensible approach.

>> 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*<<

Totally understandable.

If you want to practice writing in general, I recommend calligraphy worksheets or exercises on paper.

If you want to practice on different surfaces, use trash (e.g. cardboard boxes, styrofoam).

If you want to practice on wood, you may be able to find scraps for free at a lumberyard, home improvement store, or anywhere that gives away pallets.

Not all practice has to be done on projects. It's less frustrating when it's literally just practice. I wound up with the best Cyrillic handwriting in Russian class, because I was writing the vocabulary words in the back of my notebook, over and over. Don't underestimate the benefits of sheer mass in practice. It's boring but it really works.

Also, it's helpful to keep a record of your work, like posting project photos here. Then you can see the progress over time, which will make the year or so less frustrating.