SketchBlog

So the dresses all began as sketches. I doodled the Blue Dress in my sketchbook when I finally decided I was going to try making it. I wanted to finish it in time for the Arisia convention, since there are sometimes other elegant hoop skirts there, and I really wanted one for myself.

I had to do a lot of doodles for what I wanted the top/sleeves to look like before settling. The coat on the bottom of the first image is something I found when looking at Civil War era reproductions, and I plan to make one for a different future dress instead (specifically one like the next sketch below, which I won't think about til 2011). The robe a l'anglaise back ended up part of different dress, instead, as well. And I learned cartridge pleating for this one.
I later did a bunch of color sketches for ideas to make more dresses. I could only find two when making this post though.

I had also done a sketch for what ended up as the Teal Ballgown in purple, but decided the greenish version looked far better. I have a few pages of measurements and scribbled notes on how things would attach.
I thought I would do another dress the next year, but I had found that I was panicking and finishing stitches right up until the convention and didn't want to repeat that. So I decided I would take a break and let things mull in my head, and give myself a little breathing space. They've mulled to the point I really want to get this next dress out. I'm going to start collecting materials and start sewing (and in this case, riveting as well) in early July, and see if I can finish before the end of August for Pi-Con. If not, I'll take a break, and finish it up for Arisia. I haven't settled on a neckline design just yet, but everything else is mostly worked out in my head.

So I haven't been sketching. For which I always feel guilty. But I have been working. Primarily on things I'm hoping to eventually make some money from, which would be both satisfying and comforting [in these hard economic times]. I have plans to start a paypal account soon and open an Etsy store.

I've been preparing some silkscreens. Next step, acquiring t-shirts and printing them. I also finally unpacked my birthday present and made my first print. I had the good fortune to be able to borrow my manager's spyder to color correct my monitor, and make use of Steve and his camera to get some pretty high res captures. Also, my printer came with drool-worthy photo stitching software that I've made some use of. Unfortunately, I'm still somewhat unused to the quirks of my newish LCD, and need to make sure I make a final check from the correct angle to make sure the contrast is better.

I still have a lot of playing I want to do. Later this week I'll try out some new papers and settle on something worth making two nice runs of prints of my dragons on. I'd like, if possible, to so a set at full size (10x16) probably unmatted (or maybe matted for a 16x20), and a set at 6.25x10 that I can mat to 11x14 for standard frames. I also got my hands on a sample set of Golden's new digital grounds to try out on some less standard surfaces for fun.