It took three coats of clearcoat to get the desired gloss that I wanted. After the first coat of clear, I wetsanded using the 1500 grit board. I waited two days for the clearcoat to cure, and then used a 2800 grit board with polishing compound to eliminate the orange peel.
I noticed that I was sanding down to the paint layer. That was a good sign to put on another layer of clear. I applied a nice wet layer of clearcoat and let the pieces dry for another few days. After the clear was fully cured, I was very satisfied with the results.
I may have been a bit obsessive with this project, but I wanted to apply some of the skills that I’ve learned during school. I used to make finished car clay models and prototypes. Most of my work nowadays is on the computer, or with pen and paper. It feels nice to work with your hands and transform raw materials into art.
My Munny project
Lately, I’ve been catching up on personal projects that I’ve been putting off. One of them was working on a Munny figure that was given to me by a former coworker. Initially, I was going to make a design that matched my desk. After applying the basecoat, I decided to add detail with woodgrain.
I was very satisfied with the woodgrain patterns, but then wanted to see how this would look with a fully glossy finish. I used processes that I learned from making car models during school. Right now, I’m going to let the second layer of clearcoat fully dry before another wet sanding and polish.
A sketch for my friend Michael grey
This past weekend was my friend Michael Grey's birthday. He's someone who's really contributed a lot to the art community in Austin with his Cherry Cola Dog events. In the past, he had an old hangar that was turned into an artist space. He used to throw parties with live painting and performance. I painted at a few of these events. It was something that was really exciting and took me out of my comfort zone. I met a lot of great, talented people at these events.
A little later on, he had Tuesday life drawing sessions at his space. Compared to other life drawing sessions, it was a lot more laid back. There was a great soundtrack, you can have a cold beer and be around great company. There were a lot of really talented artists who attended. It motivated me to push myself.
Michael sold the hangar and got a country property out in Smithville, which is 45 minutes outside of Austin. His space was great for campout parties at the end of the month. I volunteered to help out with a lot of these parties and continued to make more friends. The country setting was like a mini vacation away from the bustling routine of Austin.
Michael Grey made Austin a lot more fun and brought a great community together. For his 40th birthday, I sketched out a modified Cherry Cola Dog RV. It would be the ultimate vehicle for burning man events, which is something that he's really passionate about.
Continued progress on my Cartier watch design
There has been some free time with the job search. I've been utilizing that time to better my CAD skills. Some time ago, I sketched a Cartier watch for Sketchwars. I've been practicing Solidworks by modeling this design. I would say that its progressing pretty well. The watch face and movement should be an interesting challenge!
Rayguns!
After winning last weeks Sketchwars, I was allowed to choose the topic for this week. For this week, I wanted to re-live a fun project from Soulcake times with rayguns. It was a great excuse to be fun and loose. With rayguns, you can explore form, color and materials.
Lately, I haven't been hand sketching as much. I thought this project would be a good way to practice form exploration and to feel comfortable sketching with pen. It was a lot of fun to create nice pen drawings and to color with the computer. As a designer, I feel that I should still feel comfortable sketching with traditional media. I should be less afraid to be loose.