Illustration Friday’s Gone to the Animals

 

This week I’ve decided to upload a few more from Webster.  The copyright free this week are animals.  Like last week,  all the illustrations are in color.  They are large (I hate waiting for uploads!), so I’m only uploading 3 freebie images this week.

 The public domain book is Webster’s New Illustrated Dictionary Based on Noah Webster’s dictionary, revised and edited by Edward T. Roe and Charles Leonard-Stuart.  The book was published by Syndicate Publishing Company of New York in 1911.

The first image illustrates breeds of cats.  It is titled “Cute Kittens”.  The copyright is 1911 by F.E. Wright.

 

The second image illustrates breeds of dogs.  Titled “Leading Breeds of Dogs”, this is a two page spread with a copyright of 1910 by F.E. Wright.

 

The last image illustrates the breeds of cows.  The illustration is titled “Standard Cattle.  The copyright is 1910 by F.E. Wright.

The illustrations are from a pre-1923 copyright book.  The images should be copyright-free.  All the images have been uploaded to my flickr page.  They have been attributed to Creative Commons.   They are a freebie.  If you click on the image, you will be taken to the image on my flickr page where you can chose the size of image to download for free.

Slowly Putting Together Some Altered Domino Necklaces

I’ve been so busy lately. I really felt like I needed to get a little more art into my routine. I had created some altered dominoes for a “how to” demo on this blog. I really wanted to get some of the necklaces finished.

When I pulled out scraps of mulberry paper and I saw the light blue, I went ahead and pulled out some delicate blue beads. The beads were a pleasant surprise I discovered in a sewing basket filled with buttons. Someone else had already taken a necklace apart and saved these little blue beads. How do I know that they came from a recycled necklace? They had little bits of string inside a few of them.

I liked this little green parrot and I thought he would do well on the blue background. I saw some of this birds while I was in Central America. Although they were often among the trees, the skies were so blue and clear…when it wasn’t raining. Close-up you can see the fibers inside the paper.  You can also see how closely the parrot is cut out of the paper.  I like my images to blend right into the background.

Wire-wrapping is a very time-consuming activity. Usually when I use such fine wire, I don’t wire-wrap an entire necklace. The blue was such a delicate color that I thought it was appropriate to make a very simple and fine necklace to go with the beads and green parrot domino pendant.

You get a very intimate view of your beads when you wire-wrap.  It’s sort of “Zen” experience.  I really fell in love with these delicate light blue re-purposed glass beads.  The color is really quite lovely.  What a wonderful frame for this beautiful green parrot!

Wishing You A Very Spooky Halloween

I wish you a very wonderful Halloween filled with plenty of ghosts and goblins!

Illustration Friday ~ Salvaging Beautiful Images from a Dilapidated Public Domain Book

 

This week I looked over in my bookcase and saw a deteriorating vintage book.   I knew the book would not last long.  It is hard to hold all the pages in place, so this week I’m going to publish some copyright free images without the page numbers.  All the illustrations are in color.  They are large, so I’m only uploading 4 freebie images this week.

 The public domain book is Webster’s New Illustrated Dictionary Based on Noah Webster’s dictionary, revised and edited by Edward T. Roe and Charles Leonard-Stuart.  The book was published by Syndicate Publishing Company of New York in 1911.

The top image is titled Badges and Decorations of Honor, Plate I.  The illustration has a copyright date of 1910 by F.E. Wright.

 

The image above is another illustration with a copyright of 1910 by F.E. Wright.  The birds are “1. Blue and Red Macaw; 2. Incomparable Bird of Paradise; 3.  Golden Bird of Paradise; 4. Resplendent Trogon; 5.  King Bird of Paradise; 6.  Fire Weaver; 7. Paradise Flycatcher; 8. Broad-Shafted Whidah-Bird; 9.  Marsh Hawk; 10. Bald Eagle; 11. Barred Owl; 12. Golden Pheasant.”

 

The image above is another color bird  illustration.  This time it’s chickens.  The title is Types of Leading Breeds of American Pure Bred Fowl.  The image has a copyright of 1910 by F.E. Wright.

 

The last illustration also has a copyright of 1910 by F.E. Wright.  The title is Ceramic and Decorative Art.

The illustrations are from a pre-1923 copyright book.  The images should be copyright-free.  All the images have been uploaded to my flickr page.  They have been attributed to Creative Commons.   They are a freebie.  If you click on the image, you will be taken to the image on my flickr page where you can chose the size of image to download for free.

Finally The Last Child’s Halloween Costume Done!

Have you ever fiddled with something so long that you began to wonder if you were overdoing it a bit?  That’s how I feel about this dress!  It took me way too long.  PHEW! I’m finally done with my youngest child’s Halloween costume!

This dress is made with 2 slips and a t-shirt.  I cut off the collar and sleeves on the t-shirt.  I cut away the satin fabric on the top part of the full slip to reveal a black mesh.  I hemmed up the bottom so that it didn’t extend below the half-slip on top.  I sewed the tulle half slip onto the bottom of the full slip.

 

The dress looked too plain on top with only the mesh with the red t-shirt underneath.  I decided a web and spider would be good.  I looked for crochet patterns.  I couldn’t find any that would work, so I invented my own.

 

I made the spider a black widow by putting a little hour-glass on her back.  I sewed both the web and the spider onto the dress.

 

My daughter wanted skulls on her shoes.  I took a public domain image of a skull and printed two of them on paper.  I did a bit of decoupage on the shoe.  Then I painted the skulls red and sealed the paper.

I AM DONE!  I feel like doing a happy dance!

Lazy Mom’s Halloween Flapper Costume For Daughter

 

I’m a lazy mom.  I don’t “do” Halloween costumes.  Every year my daughters want some elaborate horribly expensive costume.  Every year I slowly whittle their costume down to something I can just go out and buy, generally on sale.  I know some other mothers spend a lot of time planning and sewing their child’s costume.  When my kids were younger I would feel guilty.  Once I even bought a few sewing patterns.  They remained unopened and in like new condition when I gave them to the local thrift store.

This year I took both of my daughters to Goodwill to try and piece together something for Halloween.  My oldest found a red and gold 20’s flapper costume.  I’m sure the fringe and sequins attracted her to this particular dress.  For $6.99, I agreed to buy it.  I already had one red and one black boa at home.

 

We looked all over the thrift store, but could not find a pair of shoes that fit and were red.  I knew I had a small amount of red spray paint at home, so we found some white shoes which were the right style for $3.99.  I covered up the parts I didn’t want painted.  I wasn’t too worried about it.  The outfit would only be worn once or twice.

 

The red spray paint can was almost empty, I was surprised that I managed to completely cover the shoes with red.  They look pretty good!

 

We looked up 20’s flapper outfits on the internet.  We found that they usually included a head piece.  I had a silver sequined trim that I decided to spray gold to match the sequins on the dress.  I also had some feather poinsettia flowers.   They were free.  I cut the backing, glued a clip on the back and three jewels (from my stash) on the front.

 

You can see that the flower had a paper backing.  I just tore off part of the paper with the feathers attached.

I only had to put in about an hours worth of work, excluding the shopping.  With a pair of black nylons, I think this outfit will look outstanding…way better than usual.

 

Now on to the next daughter’s Halloween costume.  I’m painting another pair of shoes.  Fingers crossed that I can pull off another good costume.  Two good Halloween costume in one year…I should win an award for that! 

A Timid Painter’s Strategies to Begin Painting

 

My husband would love for me to paint more than I do.  I know he loves my paintings.  I know that I can paint fairly well.   Still I get very intimated and I’m reluctant to start.  Even without a blank sheet of paper staring at me I struggle to begin.

It would help if I could or would paint in the style of the day, loose and verging on abstract.  I’m just not that kind of painter.  When others are producing watercolors in a matter of hours, mine are taking weeks and sometimes months.  I’m detailed oriented.  I concentrate on every bit of the painting.  I would probably make a better botanical illustrator than a landscape painter.  Yet my husband loves my landscapes.

Because I do love to paint, I decided to come up with a few strategies to get me painting.  Here’s what I decided. 

First, I promised to paint  a watercolor landscape for two of my brothers.  I took a lot of photos while I was on vacation because I know they prefer the desert over the scenery we have around here.  I’m pretty sure I can finish one of them by Christmas.

 

Second I try to boost my confidence by making a few drawings and putting in some detail.  I’m not going to finish any of the drawings and they can look pretty bad.  I’m not trying to make everything perfect, just one small piece, an eye, a nose.  I’ll draw until I know that my hand can match what my eye is seeing.

Third, I would ignore the quick and fast painters.  I would soak my watercolor paper and stretch it.   I would staple my paper than tape it to my board and wait for it to dry.  The process of stretching the paper is soothing to me.

Fourth, I promised myself to at least look at the paintings every day.  I have an easel in my studio.  If I look, I know I will feel motivated to pick up a pencil or paintbrush and work on it a little.

Last, I told myself that if I finished two landscapes, I could work on two portraits.   It’s been a long time since I did figure drawing.  I want to try my hand at some paintings.  I found two wonderful subjects while I was on vacation.  I begged them to allow me to take their photo and both agreed.

I made my promise.  I did some drawings.  I have my paper stretched and drying.  My paper is out where I can see it.  I’m ready to begin.  Let’s see if this works.

Public Domain Images from Science History of the Universe

 

Stuff Happens!  I’ve had a child with the flu and a busy weekend.  The freebie illustrations that normally are delivered on Friday are getting delivered today.  The selection of copyright free images is from the public domain book titled “The Science-History of the Universe” by Francis Rolt-Wheeler, Copyright 1910, The Current Literature Publishing Company, New York.

From page 254 is an illustration of the Arabic Astrolabe.   The illustration shows a mechanism for studying the stars, astronomy.

 

The illustration above from page 51 seems to add a little bit of humor to galley division  (math which I know nothing about).

 

From page 112, this drawing shows how Kepler took Pythagoras theory of “the five bodies in the sphere” and compared them to the orbit of 5 worlds.

 

The illustration above is from page 113.  It shows the inside of Kepler’s Cosmographicum.  The previous illustration was the entire machine.

 

This illustration from page 209 shows Heron’s Eolipile.  The machine is from the 2nd century B.C.  It may have been the beginning of the steam engine.  Water inside the hallow ball is heated so that steam is forced out of the narrow opening at the top.

The illustrations are from a pre-1923 copyright book.  The images should be copyright-free.  All the images have been uploaded to my flickr page.  They have been attributed to Creative Commons.  If you click on the image, you will be taken to the image on my flickr page where you can chose the size of image to download for free.

Domino Pendant Collage with Mulberry Paper Background

I decided to do another step by step tutorial for making wood domino pendants.  I will tell you some of the products I use.  No one is paying me to endorse their products.  I try to find the most cost-effective product that performs well.  Recently I did a tutorial on sanding and priming the dominoes, so I’m going to start with primed wood dominoes, see Altering a Wood Domino, Part 1 Sanding , Part 2 Prepping.

Above you can see that I’ve resized some public domain images and printed them out on my printer.  I always print them on thin paper and use the “Best” quality setting on my printer.

Some of the primer has leaked onto the number side of my domino.  I’m going to be finishing this side, so I sand off all the primer.  I want a clean surface to paint.

Before I even begin, I want to get a general idea of how I’m going to lay out my little domino collage.

After I know the basic design of my collage, I can drill the holes.  Sometimes the holes will be small, sometimes large.  If the design is in landscape mode, I’ll have to drill two holes.  Notice that the dominoes are not perfectly square.  I don’t care.  To me the beauty of working with recycled or reused items is that they aren’t necessarily perfect.

I’m using a Krylon® paint that look like gold plate.  Krylon paint can be hard to find, but it is my favorite all purpose spray paint.

The background of my domino collage is going to be mulberry paper.  Mulberry paper, like tissue paper, is very forgiving.  The texture hides a lot.  The paper soaks up the gel medium well.  I put a generous amount down on the smooth side of the domino and lay the paper on top.

Since I coat both sides of the paper with gel medium, if some of the gel medium leaks to the front all is well.  If I were using a different paper, I would still coat the front of the paper to seal it.  I use my finger to smooth out the top while the gel medium is still wet.

Just to show you how easy it is to work with mulberry paper, I tore off a few pieces of paper and added them on top of the previous layer.  The new pieces just blend right in.

When the glue is dry, I use a toothpick to poke the paper through the hole.  If the hole is large, I add a little gel medium to the inside of the hole to hold the paper in place.

I place the embellishments in place before I finish sealing the domino.  I want to make sure that I don’t want to add more paper images.   Above you can see I’m adding beads, broken jewelry, vintage findings and crystals.

I pull the embellishments off and seal all of the papers with a few coats of lacquer.  If I can find it, I use Deft® Clear Wood Finish.  Another very good choice is American Accent® Clear Top Coat by Rust-oleum®.

After the lacquer has dried and the pendants can be handled, I start adding embellishments.  I use Gem-Tac® or Aleene’s® Jewel-It® to glue down the embellishment on top of my domino.  I use wire to wire-wrap my beads and create the bail for my pendant.

Sometimes I have a complete idea when I start altering.  In this case, I knew I was going to make a leather necklace with the cord going through the pendant.  I wanted that little red bead to sit flat against the copper lily pad finding.

I never know which directions the other pendants might take me.  They may be a centerpiece or they may be another component on a larger piece.  I’ll just put them away and wait for some inspiration.

Illustration Friday: Public Domain Images of Our Beautiful Bodies

 

This week I uploaded more images from the book, The Human Body and Health Revised by Alvin Davison, published in 1908 by Alvin Davison.  This book has a copyright of 1908 by Alvin Davison and one in 1924 by American Book Company.  The first copyright was pre-1923 and the copyright was never renewed; therefore, the book should be in the public domain.  I’ll keep my descriptions brief, since I have 9 new freebie images to show you.

Above is an illustration of a human skeleton from page 192.

 

The illustration of the thigh muscles above is from page 206

 

The illustration above is from page 206.  It shows the muscles in our arm, specifically our forearm.

 

Above is an early X-ray of an adult hand from page 197.

 

Above is a xray of a child’s hand from page 196.

 

Above is an illustration of the bones in our arms and legs.  This image appears on page 194.

 

Above is a partial skeleton from page 192.  The illustration shows our skull and spine.

 

The illustration above from page 203 shows the muscles and tendons in our arm.

 

This last illustration from page 226 is my favorite.  They have cut away the skull to reveal our brain.  I like the “thinking thinking” written on the brain. 

The illustrations are from a pre-1923 copyright book.  The images should be copyright-free.  All the images have been uploaded to my flickr page.  They have been attributed to Creative Commons.  If you click on the image, you will be taken to the image on my flickr page where you can chose the size of image to download for free.