Can't Stop Painting

I can’t remember whether I’ve mentioned this before but I have, in the dim and distant past, worked as a professional artist and illustrator. Recently in an effort to relive my youth (and fund some of my more extravagant projects) I’ve accepted a few commissions and thought I’d take a little space on my blog to show you some of the artwork I’ve completed and how I go about putting it together.

Techniques for Ageing Paper

... or how to make my treasure map look old

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I've been working on some pirate related projects recently, and have had to produce a number of documents that had to appear appropriately aged. As a result I've been investigating how to make paper look and feel old. This entry is going to cover the techniques and processes you can use for convincing effect.

Cold Casting Pirate Coins...

...or How to Make Money

I've been involved in a pirate based project lately and I found myself needing a ready supply of Spanish Doubloons. It is possible to acquire replicas at a fairly reasonable price, but seeing as I didn't know how many I'd need I thought it might be fun to produce my own. I had to make them durable with a finish that wouldn't rub off so it seemed that cold casting was probably the best option...