Did I just ruin the project?

 

I will first start by saying, drawing a butterfly is harder then expected. I wanted the heart to be included for the inspiration of the piece. I will relieve that later. I came up with the design and of course butterflies are symmetrical which again "drawing difficult. Especially when you have curves are involved.

Now the tricky question is. What option are you going to use? Or well, how are you going to make the art come to life. The options that I have in my arsenal is to "paint it" (not my ideal option, and still need alot of practice.) Painting for me is a fun way to mix things up, especially if I am not sure "how to." The second option is to wood burn it. It am getting better at this but I still have plenty to learn. Especially when it comes to different wood types. I was away that different kinds of woods burn differently. "yes some are toxic so do your research and stay staff." I can attest after this project, hard wood with straight ish grain  (I think and Im not an expert in this part.) Not ideal. I think this wood was a piece of oak which I had from another project.   

Things to consider when choice which way to make your art

1- What is your primary way / choice?

   My way is wood carving

2- What is the amount of time you have to work with?

Each way has there pro's and con's for the amount of time required. The amount of skill. But also the amount of detail that is possible.

If you are on a time crunch. That is when I have found problems or "not ideal choices." Are easy to make. The choices can be rushed and may not result what you envision the project to be. It also may not be your best work that your capable of.

I will be fair and acknowledge that things can be made in a timely manner. However, that usually results in different kind of work. It also is probably mass produced work. But my primarily focus is making unique one of a kind treasures. I create work that needs to come alive at the right moment, so that at the right time it will go to the right people.

Art is very selective and person dependent. Which is a monkey wrench for artists. Especially because you are working either by "a hope and a pray" someone will buy your work you decided to make. Or your working a commission to the customer and there specification. Not a bad things but can hinder creativity and control. It also would put a limit on the amount of time you can invest on a project. Usually people who sell full time, dont have time to mix things up or "be brave and try new things."  

Burning was good choice. However, I was not able to create the depth and dimension that I have hoping for. I guess. There was a few things that are obvious to me know, that weren't in the moment. The first is that I wasn't able to get the burn depth and color that I was liking. The different burn darkness is how dimension is created. The other obvious is my execution of the curve lines on the wings. 

I wanted to add color and character to the piece. Gliding (gold leaf) is an interesting thing to use in art. I will say its one of the hardest things to master. I haven't come even close "yet."

I didn't personally like the color balance. I also didn't like my execution of the wing lines below the heart. The burn execution was a good ish outline. But I had no idea how to shade it.

Now shifting gears. I redrew my idea. So I have version 1 and version 2. I changed course to give carving a chance. Pictures and videos will be posted. I have to keep some suspense. 

To not waste this idea and to of course practice. I changed course and sanded the first gilding off.  I am figuring out a better way to tape my idea off. I am also practicing the gliding process. Maybe there still is success. But I cant figure that out if I don't try. Will see what happens. It is currently primed because you have to seal the wood before gilding can be applied.