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Update on new endeavour

So after two weeks of racing home to my computer I have the book formatted. I have always wanted to use Kayla's drawings somehow. Kayla is my niece who has lived with us since she was three. She is very ADHD and very smart and quite artistic. Her drawings have always fascinated me because they are so detailed and go off in strange directions. They became the illustrations for the book. I took them into my Print Shop (by Broderbund- if you are wondering) program and added color, cleaned them up and moved them around a bit. The program allows you to do quite a bit with backgrounds and such but I really tried to leave the spirit of the drawing alone.

For the cover I first tried paper mache over top of an inkjet image from my computer. The problem I run into is colorfastness with the ink. I think I may have a solution- there is a paper backed fabric that you can run through your printer. I am looking into it. Other wise I am left with stenciling or stamping or...I don't know.

The figurine sculpture, what ever it is, has introduced me to polymer clay, which I always stayed away from because it seemed so "crafty". I also have been experimenting with paper mache and paper clay. I have found the paper mache' to be heavy and may replace that with painted fabric. I like the paper clay but will have to find a more cost effective source versus paying $8.oo for a small square of it. I am soooo cheap!

But, again the problem I run into is how to apply text to the figurine. The art is narrative or at least I want it to be and I want to include my writing. Do I write in the clay? Do I write on the fabric and how do I do that? Again, this printable cloth may be the answer. We'll see.

And then there is the color... What color should she be? I picture deep blues to shades of rust and sienna, tinged with green. Or should she be tone on tone cream to brown???

Either way the challenge is to figure out how to reproduce the figure and the book in a timely manner and at a cost that would allow me to actually entice a buyer. Or I could just mount a shelf and keep everything for always. Put little pieces of masking tape on the back with names of the people I want them to go to after I pass. Anyhow, must move on.

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