CCC Holiday Experiments

[Ed McDonnell]

I finally got some shop time this week and I've been working on a design for a Christmas pen. The picture show two color variations of the same design. One is bright multi-color and the other is more muted (almost like a lightly patinated bronze).

The blanks were created with the CCC technique I've explained before using my ornamental lathe and multiple casts. I used a fine detail brush (it only had two bristles, one from a virgin free range sable that was fed an organic diet of wild caught trout and the other from a rat) to apply to color to the carved areas. The multi-colors are fluid acrylics. The more muted pen is also multi-color, but much more subtle. After the fluid acrylics, I applied a bronzing wash and some interference "metallics" as an overcoat.

When I was done I decided I liked the muted color scheme better. But I showed the pens to everyone at Thanksgiving dinner yesterday and the multi-color pen was everyone's favorite. Nobody preferred the muted one. Not even one person. Oh well.

All comments welcome.



Ed

 

[robersonjr]

Well I like both of them and would not be dissapointed to either. They are a beautiful work of art.

 

[nativewooder]

Great looking pens, but you don't need the mirror, it's distracting.:biggrin:

 

[randyrls]

My wife said, "HOLY COW!"

 

[CharlesJohnson]

I think they are both beautifull.I quess I'm an odd ball. I enjoyed the mirrored effect.What a talent!

 

[1stRaymond]

They are both beautiful pens. The mirror-image effect is too much for the fine detail to be truly enjoyed.

 

[ironman123]

Ed, you have been producing some very impressive works of art. Keep up the good work. Beautiful holiday theme.

Ray

 

[thewishman]

WOW!! I like the muted best, they are both very nice.

 

[BRobbins629]

Really nice stuff. You never disappoint.

 

[Glen Schumann]

Both beautiful works of art. I cannot decide which I prefer.

 

[Displaced Canadian]

Both look great. Kinda like the muted one better. Now I'm going to have to research what an ornamental lathe is.

 

[George417]

Both pens look beautiful


.

 

[bobjackson]

Freaking beautius.

 

[GaryMGg]

Those are wonderful; absolutely beautiful, gorgeous work.

 

[Jim15]

Those are just awesome.

 

[Jjartwood]

Shut the back door!!!!!
Those are mind blowing! You honest to God painted them with a brush with TWO hairs on
it? IMPRESSIVE
How does one justify in ones mind that they just purchased a paint brush with 2 hairs on it,can you still call it a brush?
Beautiful work!
Mark

 

[Jim Smith]

BEAUTIFUL WORK! They are certainly a labor of love. I also prefer the more subtle colored pen.

Jim Smith

 

[Tom T]

Wow very nice. Great job.
I sure that took a long time.

 

[Dennis K]

Awesome pens. I really can't pick between the two.

Dennis

 

[rizaydog]

Great looking pens. I like them both.

 

[Ed McDonnell]

Thanks for all the compliments.

I used the mirror to try to show some more of the carving that would otherwise not have been visible (without posting more pictures). Guess it was a good thing that I didn't put an additional mirror behind the pens:wink:. I almost did, but I was too lazy to walk back down to the shop to get one.

For those wondering, I have about two weeks of work invested in these pens. And the brush really did only have two bristles and they were really short. I had to use a 10x magnifier to see what I was doing.

Next time I do something like this I'm going to have to rig up a more comfortable work station. Hunching over the lathe for hours doing the painting was tough on my back. I may have gotten a little sloppy towards the end :redface:.


Ed