Getting close

First, I had to make my own reproduction of Dan's mechanical fish sub to scale:

Then I attached it and my own fish to the tank and ran wires for the lights..

I still have paint to put on the little sub that's about to be eaten...and some blacklight paint, too... but we're getting close!

Miles of Fish

I've been very busy these last few weeks.  For one, I've recently completed a couple murals.  Secondly, I've had some signs to complete for The Rock Island Trail to mark the miles.

I finished all 52 and also pre-drilled holes for mounting them to posts. They are pvc, including the red portion.  They should last a very long time.

I've also done some work on my fish while waiting for the Blacklight LEDs to show up. I have some mounting work to do no the fish, but I did a test-

If you notice, I've modified the fish.  My friend Michael Clark indicated that it would look more mean if his mouth was open wider...as if to chomp on Dan's little sub.  I agreed.  Cutting him up to make the change was a risk, but well worth it.  I need to do some paint repair on him, and a little magic sculpt work, then I'll begin painting the black light paints.  Just a bit more to do on the front of the sign as well.

Waukesha Mural

Last week, I spent several days in Waukesha, Wisconsin.  I was there with Scott Lindley and Adam Scholljegerdes  to paint a mural. The town has been working hard to improve tourism and promote a connection to Les Paul.  The mural themes all focused in some way on music and/or guitars.  Scott came up with the idea of promoting the common man through construction.  His idea was to show the idea of "Building Guitartown" and a large guitar being hoisted up by construction workers.  Below it would say "Rock Solid".  

We began this project by laying out the location of several aluminum poles, and then attaching them to the wall. Once they were up, we mounted panels.  Then, the paint began. My friend Adam always looks the most happy when he has a brush in his hand.

  
My friend Scott uses his charm to win over a local.  It turns out she can identify her ear, her nose and knows how to give a high five.  She also likes to paint.  

The mayor of Waukesha stopped by to put a little paint on the wall.  We decided on a unique signature for ourselves.

On the wall next to us, our friend Chris Shuster was working on some lettering.

I left the town feeling good about seeing so many of my Walldog friends so soon after the Kewanee event, and leaving something behind that brought smiles to everyone that came by to watch.

 

Time to shine a light on my secret

From the beginning of the fish challenge, well..technically before the challenge...I had an idea.  The creation of uv invisible blacklight paint has intrigued me.  I saw some amazing work from an artist named Tang Dong Bai who works in airbrush and has moved to Pontiac, Illinois.

The paint is almost invisible in regular daylight...in fact several colors are completely invisible...until you turn on a blacklight. In the following picture, these dresses are totally white under regular light.

As soon as I saw them, I thought it would be amazing to include them in some way into signs.  The paint isn't really usable outdoors yet, but eventually!  In the meantime how could I use them on a sample?  I thought about how amazing those deep sea fish look...and then remembered a steampunk sign I'd seen of Jamie Oxenham's.  The challenge formulated in my mind immediately.  The paint would be my ace in the hole.

Unfortunately, the blacklight LED strip will not arrive until late August.  I decided that it was time to share the plan...it has been too hard to hold it in.

Once the strip arrives, I'll add it to the 'tank'.  Goodness, I'll have trouble counting how many LEDs will be in this sample!  It'll be lit two ways..one for regular viewing, and one for in the dark of the tank.

The paints arrived just a couple days ago. They are called "Wildfire" blacklight UV paint..and are actually a spin-off of Modern Masters.

They are pretty cool.  They look a little like elmer's glue until they dry....then they are barely visible.
Some are totally invisible.   The work is going to be playing with them in paint. You can mix them with water based acrylics and get totally different colors.

In the following photo, the tail and eye haven't quite dried..so you can see some white. I decided to paint on the "back side" that is not as visible as the other side. It's a test, and I can always uv clear over it and try again....

But what does it look like under blacklight?

I clearly need some experience painting with the colors..but this is going to be fun.  Not just fun for this fish challenge, but pure fun. Stay tuned!

A little bit each day and a lot.

This weekend has been a great deal of fun.  I had to "cowboy up" and start carving the Rhino 2-sided sign. I finished the one for the wall a while ago and now it was time to ensure all the measurements were correct and go for it.  My mild fear came from the fact that a 2" sheet of 30lb. HDU is really expensive.  Any screw up would be very very expensive for me.  I'd test cut some pvc, and even a full version in pink foam. It simply was time to get going and prove I'd done all the homework properly.

I put the first piece on and started it up:

Things went well.  In order to get to the correct shape, there were many toolpaths and several bit changes.  It took many hours to get them both completed, but the result was worth it:

Now here's the thing.  The carves are two sided for both pieces.  The client brought a 1/4" piece of steel that had been pre-cut to fit in the center. There are tabs that will be connected to chains which will hold the sign in it's diamond shape.  It's a pretty cool piece, but I'll be honest...the holes weren't 100% in terms of being equally spaced. Not a big deal, but it added a bit of adjustment on the cut files.  A pocket was cut on the back of each piece, and a space for the tabs.

In the end- they came out great and fit with the steel like a glove.

It will be pretty heavy when completed!  I wouldn't want to be the kid who decides to give it a kick, I'll tell you that!
Now it's on to primer and paint...and I love that part the most!

Additionally, while all this carving was going on- I began some paint work on the fish for my mechanical fish institute sample...a little bit each day will get it done!