BB-8 Watercolor

 As part of my May the 4th swap package that I sent to my partner, I painted a watercolor BB-8 as my "extra".  I thought you might be interested in seeing a little of the step by step.

First, I drew BB-8 out with a regular pencil.  I recently started playing around with a water-soluble pencil with my watercolors but have discovered that I really need the lines to NOT disappear when I'm painting.  Perhaps in the future, this will not be the case, but for BB-8, I definitely needed the lines to stay put.

Then I started with the lightest washes.  For the background, I only used Payne's Grey.  The first wash was very diluted, then I added a little extra pigment, and that concoction was used for the next few layers (each layer was a mountain, working from far to near) at the same consistency.  I didn't add any additional pigment until the last mountain (the one closest to us).  I also used this same color for the grey areas and shadows of BB-8), layering as needed to make some places darker.  For the sand I think I used a combination of Nickel Azo yellow and pyrrole scarlet.  I may have added a little burnt sienna as well.  I kept layering the washes for the background, and started to add the orange areas, using a transparent Pyrrole Orange.

When it came time to add some details, I used Payne's grey again to add the seam lines around BB-8's sections as well as the shadows around his round panels.  Admittedly, these shadows did not want to behave quite like I wanted.  I was not quick enough to soften some of the edges with a damp brush and the edges dried a little harder than I wanted.  I could have tried to lift these spots, but this particular paper doesn't play nicely with this technique, so I left it.  I also "flicked" some darker browns onto the sand using more Burnt Sienna.  I debated with myself for a long time on whether I wanted to leave the sun white or color it yellow.  In the end, I used some Cadmium yellow and more of the Pyrrole Orange to create the sun.  At the last minute, my hand wobbled a bit, and my sun is not perfectly round.  Oh well, I guess my partner will know for sure that a human created this!

And there he is!  I hope she liked him!

Jen

May the 4th swap time!

 Each year, I look forward to participating in the May the 4th swap on Instagram.  It is a Star Wars themed swap, and in my opinion, the best swap of the year.  Everyone involved is highly motivated, talented, and has a geeky love of Star Wars.  It is awesome!

This year, my secret partner gave me a pretty wide range of likes, but did mention that she likes both the strong women characters and the droids.  Since I did Leia last year, I decided to take on a droid.

I found a fun pop art themed pin on Pinterest.  From what I can tell, the pin was created by a Hungarian man named, Dragonya, who is a huge fan of Star Wars.  I am assuming he made the graphic - thank you!  I chose it as the inspiration for my mini.

I am not sure why I do these things to myself, but instead of using my usual fusible applique methods, which I have become quite adept at, I chose to make this mini using the Applipiecing technique that I have recently learned (my most recent class taken was by Sheila Frampton Cooper).  Anyhow, this technique requires a lot more finesse and cursing than fusible applique.   However, it does result in a quilt top with fewer layers and no fusible to sew through.  Well, I did put a few fused pieces on the quilt, but the majority has zero fusible.  

Then I got to the part I have started to dread - the quilting.  I think I have just gotten out of practice a bit.  It feels like every time I put a quilt together and start quilting it, it takes me a long time to get into the groove of things and my stitching to start looking acceptable.  Sadly, I just don't have time to quilt a practice quilt before I start on actual projects.  I usually need them done yesterday.  So, I have to live with my stitch quality being a bit inconsistent from start to finish.  Usually, one can't tell.  

I think R2 turned out pretty good in the end.  He looks great from the front, and while the back had a couple of spots of inconsistent tension, I managed to cover most of them with the label - ha!

Cool design, right?

And while extras are optional for this swap, I also made this BB-8 in watercolor for my partner.  I made several mistakes while painting it, including dropping my brush full of orange paint, not once, but twice!  Also, some of the shadows didn't soften as much as I was hoping.   I think it turned out alright despite my mistakes.

The person who had me as a partner, Sarah Jay, didn't disappoint!  She made me this awesome Grand Admiral Thrawn mini.  

I don't think I would like Thrawn as much as I do if I hadn't read Timothy Zahn's book series that features Thrawn as a main character.  His development of Thrawn's character is amazing, and really sheds light on why he is so ruthless and successful as an Empire commander.

I hope you enjoyed these Star Wars inspired minis.  While I am publishing this on the 5th, remember May the 4th be with you, always!

Jen