Playing with physics

So, here is a fun little project I did this week.

(Please forgive my lighting. I have yet to set up a proper place to photograph my products.) 

My intentions here were to make this sign so that theoretically, if you were to move the gear under the 'T' to make it straight, it would correct the other letters as well.

I cut out the letters, robot, and gears with my silhouette. The letters are vinyl, but I stenciled the robot and gears on either side of the name.

I also played with letter shading to create that 3d effect.

With this concept, there are so many things you can come up with to make a fun and unique sign or name plaque. With all the sign makers out there, find a way to make yours stand out. It doesn't have to be realistic either. But, sometimes just adding some dimension goes a long way with a project.

Thanks for reading!

Enhancing letters

Have you ever been working on a project with text and/or image, such as a wood sign, and just when you think you are finished, you look at it and think it needs something else but can't figure out what? Sometimes, just shading the letters or image a little bit can bump the project to finished status.

Shading is simple, just remember to go darker to create a shadow. Realistic shadows are going to be gray of sorts. But sometimes it's cool to add a color for a little something extra. I will include pictures of each letter of the alphabet to give different effects. I will show just a plain letter, and then the letter with an enhancement below to give you some ideas. Keep this in mind: it's art. . . It doesn't have to be realistic. It will also be different from artist to artist to give your product something to stand out from the rest. 

I cut my letters from vinyl using my silhouette cameo. It's just a basic font on a basic piece of card stock paper for the purpose of this tutorial. The shading is done with just a tiny bit of acrylic paint and small brush. I played a little with color. 

ABC- Shaded very simple. Just to raise it from the surface a little bit. The 'C' is a little more messy than the 'A' is. It still has the same effect but adds just a tiny bit of character. In order for this to be most effective, shade all parts you would see if there was a 3d letter sitting in front of you. If you look at the 'A', notice all surfaces on the right side are shaded, and all surfaces on the top side are shaded. 

DEF- Just playing here. Still has that raised look but isn't so realistic looking. Just fun. I'm not too thrilled with the 'D' but that's how it turned out on a whim lol. 

GHI- Not realistic but has that 3d feel to it. The dark outline of the 'shadow' makes it look almost sketched. Good for a project that would be given to kids or teachers? 

JKL- Not realistic but still brings it out of the page a little. Adds just enough color to not be overbearing. 

MNO- So, I got a little carried away with these ones lol. I added white paint to the letters themselves and played with shading my blues and yellows together. I personally like a lot of texture on my projects. I love to blend colors and make it so the viewer wants to touch it. That's what happened here lol. I had somewhat of a space/sky background in mind. 

PQR- Not so much raised off the paper but it helps break up the light background from the light letter. 

STU-Sometimes I get bored with straight up vinyl. So, I added a tiny bit of paint and smudged it with my finger to break up the white. What's also fun is adding just a tiny bit of another color. Yellow, which is blues compliment, would be fun here. 

VWX-Same as pqr concept. Just helping separate the white letters and lighter background. Kind of has a rustic feel to it. 

YZ- I dabbed the brush here. I think it looks like it would feel fuzzy. I like to create surfaces that look like they would feel like something if you touched it but it all feels the same. 

See, adding some color and shading to letters can make them pop out. There are endless possibilities here. Play and have fun with it! You will be surprised with what you can accomplish and how different it will look with a small personal touch. 

Also, you can use this method like a reverse stencil. Just make sure to put color around the whole thing, or at least enough to tell what the letter is and remove the vinyl after ;) 

Staining wood with acrylic paint

When you go to buy wood stain for a project, the colors to choose from are pretty much the same no matter which store you go to. I don't know about you, but I am bored with the traditional wood colors: Oak. Chestnut. Beach. Blah blah blah. . Sure, you can paint wood any color you want, but you lose the gorgeous wood grain. I wanted both the grain, and the color. So, I started playing and figured out a way to make my own stain. . And this is how it came out.

 I didn't think about blogging when I made this, so I apologize for not having pictures of each step, but I used two colors here to create a cool night sky effect in the background and used a stencil to make the image and letters. The base stain was a lime green and then I added streaks of dark blue.

Here is a close up of the grain and a textured moon. 

You can create any color stain you would like to using this method. But, before you begin, please read the whole process because there are some hidden tips that wouldn't make sense if I wrote them right here. 

Supplies  

1. Acrylic paint 

2. Water

3. Mixing container

4. Paint brush - The size depends on your project. You don't want to use a tiny brush. For this particular project, I used a size 8 rounded artist brush 

5. Rag to wipe excess stain (if need be) 

6. Wood project to stain- I recommend some scrap wood to do sample tests on 

As with anything you purchase, you get what you pay for. A better quality paint will give you better quality results. I highly recommend spending the few bucks to get professional grade artist paint. A tiny bit of professional acrylic paint will get you a LONG way. Utilize your hobby store coupons to buy good paint and invest in a good paint brush(es). 

Making your stain

        It is important that you make enough to cover your whole project with the same "batch". If you run out, it will be hard to get the same mixture to cover the remainder of your project evenly with the rest of it. 

Grab your paint, mixing container with water in it, and your brush. 

Add a small amount of paint to your water. Acrylic paints vary in viscosity so just use your judgement. The more paint you use, the more opaque the stain will be and the less grain you will see. A good mix, from my experience, is a mix of about 15% paint and 85% water. 

Mix it thoroughly in your water by dabbing your brush to the bottom of the container. This will ensure you get any chunks of paint off your brush and mixed well.

Instead of brushing on and wiping off, use your brush to "paint" it on and work the stain into the wood. I am going to do a small test on my scrap and see how it looks.

My lighting is kind of off in this picture but from here, I think it looks pretty good. There are a bunch of really small cracks starting to show up. I didn't see them before but I kind of like it!

If you like how your test looks, continue on to finish your project.

A few little things to keep in mind. . .

~ The whole thing doesn't have to be one color! Use a stencil and "stain" images or designs into the background.
~If you do layer your stains. Start with lighter colors first.
~ A technique I use- I stain the whole thing and then paint an opaque border with the paint I used to make the stain.
~ Let it dry completely before adding any vinyl

I hope this helps you broaden your horizons!