I just had to purge my yarn because some too-good-to-be-true cheap roving got my allergies real bad and got some of the surrounding material, too. I had a felted Mewtwo I have to abandon because its half covered in that stuff before I realized what was wrong.

But in the world of fiber, you have to be ruthless to preserve your materials.

So I'm just working on a needle felted bird, it seems.

you got any pics? I've always wanted to get into needle felting. I'm a painter myself, but i love doing different art and craft stuff. A mewtwo would be cool, though i think i would have gone with a bulbsaur... my favorite pokemon.

I'm working on an oil painting of the galaxy. I've never really played with oil paints, i'm more of an acrylic painter, but i spoiled myself on my birthday. Not gonna lie though, kinda scared to use them because they're so expensive...

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Nevertheless, I'd be happy to give you the lowdown on needle felting. Its time consuming and a bit dangerous, but its very cathartic and the tactile experience is like nothing else. It would help if you could ballpark your budget- you can do it for dirt cheap, but its faster with better supplies.

Also, oil is really incredible. I used to do large abstract oil paintings, but I don't have a good space to work on it right now. Those smells will getchya if you don't vent your space. But the biggest thing that makes oils different from acrylics is the way it takes so long to dry, and that you don't have surface tension with water. the grain you can develop with thin glazes can look so visually intense, and underpainting can pop in a unique way.

Just enjoy them- the first round is a sacrifice at the altar of learning. And once you know your way around oils, its easy to be quite conservative with materials. Always check your local art stores for demo events- I've gotten so much free paint from them.

That looks really cool. How long did it take you to make that?

My husband just passed away and left me a huge house...so i have an art studio, but, its lonely. I need something that's time-consuming. That's why I tend to throw myself at art.

I loooove the texture of oil. The piece I'm working on now had an acyclic underpainting and i think it gives it a cool look. I really need to go work on it some more, but like you said, oil is a pain. The smell, the chemicals, the cleaning of brushes... it's a lot of work.... but... i have fun whenever i do pull it all out.

Free paint???? haha i have so much paint and i just want more. I seriously have fabric paint, puffy paint, acrylic paint(in EVERY color) oil paints, watercolors... I just love paint. ;D

As for oils, I'm a rebel who doesn't play by the rules- I get some cheap artificial fiber brushes and just dunk 'em in paint thinner, and wipe them off before I go back to use them. I never felt that brush quality made that much of a difference with oils. Ink painting, though? Brushes are my baby.

That's really cool. You have to use the fluffy wool things and needles to make them, right? Or just felt? I've watched YouTube videos where people do it before.... i love watching art videos on YouTube, i'm weird haha

and... can you do that with oils? I have tons of cheap brushes, but i always read that you had to be careful with oil paints because the brushes and fibers will deteriorate or something. I have plenty of paint thinner...

I only recently got into ink. Another toy i bought myself for my birthday. You ever heard of inktober? it's where you do a different art prompt (in ink) every day in October. its a lot of fun.

So you take natural fibers and stab, stab, stabstabstab. And it slowly becomes a solid object.

And as for the oils, it will deteriorate brushes over time, especially natural fiber ones, but eh. I usually accidentally let them dry unclean before they'd ever show signs of deterioration. Except for the big ones. I played with a big exterior house painting brush and that thing put up with all kinds of abuse and saturation with the oils and thinners. It eventually got kinda dry and brittle like a broom, but that even with cleaning it. The thing was just too good at holding liquid.

Yeah. This might sound weird but, you can make them out of pet fur too, can't you? I watched a youtube video where Mariah Elizabeth had cat fur from her cat and used a needle felting tool to turn the fur into a RL fur doll thing.... i like the idea of that. Kinda to preserve your pet's memory. It probably wouldn't be good for your allergies, though.

I'm going to try this today. You're making me feel a bit more confident in my artistic abilities. The venting of the room might be a problem though. I only have two small windows in my art studio, and i feel like that's not enough to get all the fumes out of the room. I need to stop talking talk and just... paint. I keep making excuses, and its just me postponing painting because i feel like painting with oil is like painting with gold haha.

my favorite brushes are always the big exterior ones, not sure why. they just seem like the most useful.

The only thing with pet fur is that you need to provess it to remove the oils and matter that would cause it to get gross/decay. Generally, memorial pieces use loose roving and not the actual animal's fur, because you can't really acquire that much fur from the animal itself.

Those are lovely, but I tend to get "lost in the weeds" with Those kind of projects and spend days of my life making fur that's as dense as a real coat and not one that just looks good enough to mimic it.

But yeah, do paint! Its not usually good to have fans suck fumes in, but if you, say, put a box fan in the doorway and opened the windows in that room, you could still get a good breeze of fresh air.

But the big thing is the kind of thinner/medium you use. Iirc, Liquin was a delight to use but gave me a headache. Didn't bother most people, though. Its worth trying different oils if you do get a headache. Its been like, a decade? but I think even certain oils used in cooking can be used. (Safflower?)

that makes sense. I would like to do something with my dog if she ever passed though. She's my service dog and is a good girl. I think about painting her pawprints, but then i'd have to get her to step in paint and i'm pretty sure she would give me attitude with that...

I did toy around with my oil paints today. I made something, but i don't quite know what.

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I get migraines and have brain problems so the fumes probably aren't doing me any good buuuutt......

i got a bunch of oil stuff for my birthday but i'm not quite sure how to use it. I have gamsol, sansodor, and linseed oil. Pretty sure they're suppose to thin the paint and slow the dry time or something.

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that makes sense. I would like to do something with my dog if she ever passed though. She&;s my service dog and is a good girl. I think about painting her pawprints, but then i&;d have to get her to step in paint and i&;m pretty sure she would give me attitude with that...</p>
<p>I did toy around with my oil paints today. I made something, but i don&;t quite know what.</p>
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<p>I get migraines and have brain problems so the fumes probably aren&;t doing me any good buuuutt......</p>
<p>i got a bunch of oil stuff for my birthday but i&;m not quite sure how to use it. I have gamsol, sansodor, and linseed oil. Pretty sure they&;re suppose to thin the paint and slow the dry time or something.

The thinners aren't just about effecting the dry time- you can use it to treat oils almost like a watercolor or guache. (depending on the opacity or transparency of the paint) https://youtu.be/AozJ-QqtpA0 Windsor&Newton is good about having these pretty bite sized basic demonstrations on what a paint can do.

Honestly, I do like starting really abstract, and just honing in on the shapes and ideas that form. One fun thing is to take a picture of a painting like you have there, and going into an art program that offers perspective guide lines, and see if a foreground or a "landscape" emerges.

Oh, and one of my favorite things ever, if you have it, is naples yellow mixed with a translucent blue. Its liquid sky.

And do know, the best way to make anything pop and have visual intrigue is to put slightly more rich, bright or deep colors adjacent to less intense versions of the color you have in mind. Perhaps even look at the idea of shading used in official Subeta art- samr principle, bur applied to give depth to an image.

I tried to find good examples with oils, but a lot of these videos involve sich advanced pieces that its hard to not get overwhelmed. But this one os pretty good at showing how this guy mixes glazes and how they make things pop:

https://youtube.com/shorts/VZXeuB-JgVw?feature=share

I crocheted a heart granny square for Granny Square Day on Instagram. I'm going to make another and turn the two squares into a drawstring pouch. ❤️

Ah, late to the party but I've recently bought some alcohol markers and have been making art with them and i'm pretty happy with it! I tried my hand at painting for a time, also.

I've been busy crocheting baby hats. Two of my colleagues already got theirs and now I'm working on some for two of my friends.

I'm doing some technical writing for a tabletop game that some people are working on. I'm really hoping it comes out well.

I am working to build inventory for a side hustle where I make gift baskets from a mixture of edible goods, thrifted and handmade pieces. ^^

Making a Fairy House as a gift for a family member. Made roof out of pinecones. That took hours but it turned out nice. Now I'm just thinking of things to add to it to make it more fun.

I'm currently writing my final draft of my first ever graphic novel! ❤️