Materials - Paper and Wood

Materials - Server Rejection

Seem to be having the same issues I had last night.  The server refuses to accept any more of my pictures.

Update - fixed the issue and finished uploading.

Materials - Cloth and Canvas

Unfortunately the majority of my pictures dealing with this subject were rejected by the server - I could not upload them.

Update - fixed the rejection issue and finished uploading.

Materials - Glass and Plasma

Commentary on Finished Tiles

This is a commentary on the twenty tiles I made:

1. For the etchings, in general I feel they went well, but it is hard to get a clean line using asphaltum.  PnP paper seems to be the easiest way to get such crispness, but since I prefer working traditionally as possible, I am reluctant to throw in the towel to a printer.  But I cannot help but wonder if the graininess of the asphaltum etching is why the old etchers back in the day (Albrecht Duhrer comes to mind) using cross-hatching to make their images.
2. Chasing and repousse is a fun technique, and one I aim to explore more deeply.
3. In general, the inlays were tough.  Solder inlay requires more cleanup than I like, lamination inlay distorts an image (this can be minimized depending on how you do it - note, minimized), and marriage of metal (aka puzzle inlay) is a pain to get a good fit with no gaps.  I imagine solder inlay will be useful in the future, and as much a pain as matrriage of metal is, I am sure I will continue using them.  Marriage of metal is a challenge to be overcome.
4. Foldforming had a better result than I expected.  But I would not use it extensively.  I would rather etch or make a ring.

For my own tiles, if I were to do anything differently, I would have aged the shiny ones so that they better matched each other.  My idea was that these tiles would have decorated a section of wall in some ancient Persian palace; ultimately, the look of my tiles was divided between past and present.  This did not occur to me until the end.

They will age naturally; this is good, because I am frankly concerned about dismounting them.  They are fixed with Liquid Nails - I really do not want to tear apart the tile that they sit on.  And for that matter, I like the idea of them aging naturally.  It lends a certain sense of authenticity to them.

The one tile that received the harshest criticism - and I was on the fence about including it for this very reason - was the one tile which I did not fabricate in the traditional sense.  It was a piece of copper, which through combination of heating, liver of sulfur aging solution, and an interesting swirly pattern made by a power sander, ended up with a very unique look.  It was iridescent blue and purple and the sanding texture gave it an almost glassy feel to it; the copper was still visible beneath the patina, making it very three-dimensional.  It remined me of Babylonian tile.

To some it was "just a piece of copper".  But I thought it was special enough to include.

Ultimately the whole project was a learning experience for me; I enjoyed it, and it taught me a lot about how I would go about the process if I were to do it again.  There are many things I would do differently, now that I actually have some experience with the project.  But for this project, it did not need to be perfect, and I was not aiming for perfection.  The best that I could do, but not perfection.  That would be impossible, having no knowledge of the techniques that I was doing.  That said I am pleased with the results, and I see no need to revisit my tiles.

For reference again:

It could be brighter an image (on the right side), but such is life.

Wax Studies

Because I forgot to document my earlier waxes, I made sure to document these.  All are for the Skeleton to Skin project.

Finished Tiles

Here are the photos of my finished project.  I am proud of how it turned out; I actually ended with twenty-one tiles, but one of the tiles I was dissatisfied with.

This is the unfortunate tile, a scene of Ahriman trying to steal the Ring of Sovereignty.  It was etched and patinaid.

All the tiles together.  It seems two of them are hard to see.  Closeups will follow.

All completed, and I am happy with the results.  They say a magician never reveals his secrets; I may not be a magician, but I like that policy anyway.