Can a wool coffee cozy sustain high temperatures? I drink coffee after boiling water and mixing it in the mug. The mug stays hot for a while and then I start drinking it. I have been crocheting for a while and I thought I might as well make a coffee cozy with wool. But I am wondering if it is okay to use wool with a mug that gets so hot that I can't even hold it.

What is the highest temperature that wool can sustain?

In addition to being extremely insulative, wool is ideal for something like a coffee cozy because it is stable in the presence of a fairly high degree of applied heat, it is un-meltable, and it has a very high combustion point.

For a practical example of wool’s ability to withstand heat, when pressing wool, the recommended iron setting is 148 °C (300 °F), which is well above the boiling point of water, which is 100 °C (212 °F).

Measurements determining flame retardance show that wool has an “ignition temperature” of 570-600°C (1058-1112°F), and does not melt at any temperature. (See table below.) This is very favorable in comparison to other fibers, for any application near a non-flame heat source.

So enjoy your coffee cozy with peace of mind!


How to get a smooth and glossy professional finish on plastic? Whenever I do a project with plastic I find that no matter how hard I try (light layers, long cure times) it's always obvious that it's a DIY paint job.
How can I achieve a glossy finish like in this video (at the timestamp linked) that is glossy almost to the point of reflection but that is also consistent and smooth across the entire body? I've tried making glossy plastic finishes before but they are always patchy and unprofessional looking.

That may be the plastic itself rather than paint. Molding the parts using colored plastic and a mold with a mirror finish produces a surface like that.
Getting that kind of finish with paint basically requires "polishing" the paint.  It is sanded with extremely fine sandpaper (grit in the thousands), then polishing compound, and buffed. It's essentially the same process as painting a car.
If you need to do that with small parts, do the painting process as you've described. If there's a lot of surface detail, skip the sandpaper. You can use toothpaste as polishing compound. When you buff it, don't let the surface heat up, as that will melt the paint and make the surface a mess. Car bodies have a lot of metal to suck away heat, but plastic is an insulator and heat will build quickly.


Drawing human or animal bodies which aren't too realistic The girl in this picture doesn't look like a "real" girl but she does look
like a human female without visible defects (improperly placed eye/arm) etc.

What do I need to learn to draw and paint such figures which represent humans or animals but aren't be too realistic?

Will learning about the number of bones/muscles and their placements be required here?

I found this picture on internet.

If you want to draw objects (humans, animals, or whatever) that are stylised (i.e. aren't too realistic) you need to learn how to draw them realistically first.

The idea is the same as “learn the rules first in order to know how to break them properly” (sorry for the cliché). You need to understand your subject (what it actually is) in order to reveal it in the way you desire (stylise it). Take a look at what the artists did for the development of the Bambi character.

You can do it the other way round, as people often go for as it brings quick and somewhat satisfactory results, i.e. chose a style and learn to draw this way (like 'how to draw chibi manga girls'). However, understanding the style and not understanding the subject won’t get you far with your art.


What to look for when purchasing Thick Thread I purchased whole set of embroidery thread and it is too thin (how I will return it is a different matter)

What should I look for when searching thick thread?

Amazon doesn't show any sort of weight or metric.

For example, I wish to purchase the type of thick thread shown below.

One thicker variety of embroidery thread is called perle cotton. That might be what's in the video, though I can't quite tell. It is sized by numbers, where a smaller number indicates a thicker thread. You might be interested in a size 3 or 5 perle cotton.

If what you got originally was 6-ply embroidery floss, you wouldn't see sizes listed because it only comes in one size. That material can also be separated so you can use fewer strands, which is not true of perle cotton; that seems to me to help perle cotton threads stay round when you stitch with them, instead of flattening out.


How to clean smoky quartz? I have this piece of tumbled smoky quartz (Silicium oxide with entrapped materials giving it its black color). I accidentally left it in my clothes and it ended up in our washing machine. The detergent left a dull residue on the stone, taking the shine away.

I tried to clean it with water and afterwards with a dry cloth to rub the residue off, but both to no avail. Could anyone advise me how to clean my quartz without damaging it further?

Alternatively, the washing process may have chemically affected my specimen? The washing detergent is probably basic and silica can react with hydroxide. The temperature was cold to warm (forgot the exact program that was used).

Two specimens of smoky quartz. The left one is affected by the washing process.

If it is residue white vinegar should remove it.  Gentle rubbing with wet Bon Ami powder also takes off combination gunk from things like fabric softener.  Laundry detergent isn't usually strongly alkaline enough to etch silicates.


Printing on Black Paper I am a paper craft artist. I have a pdf file which I need to take a printout on black paper.
If I take print on black paper, I cannot see the lines and numbers. These lines and numbers, I need for cutting purpose.
How do I print on black paper? I have a Epson L3150 Ink tank printer.
Thanks in advance.

Print on regular white paper.  Adhere the print to the black paper with rubber cement or temporary adhesive.  Do the cutting, and scoring if needed (light scoring can also be used to mark glue edges and similar feature lines).  When you're ready to assemble, peel off the white paper.


How do hard, soft, and medium charcoal pencils compare against their counterparts in graphite? Example: For shading, I have soft charcoal pencil, and 8B graphite pencil.  The charcoal pencil I have does not have a specific label except the word "soft" written on it.

Both of them are known for dark strokes.

What are the guidelines for deciding which one to prefer for shading a flower pot among the above?

Does types of paper also play a role in choosing between these two types?

I have used both charcoal and graphite for art projects. I have personally never combined the two in a single project.

Charcoal

Charcoal is generally much darker, bolder and messier. It's easy to fade charcoal or wipe it off the paper entirely if you make mistakes. Charcoal, due to its brittle nature is also easy to smudge or gently wipe to assist in your shading efforts.

Charcoal artwork needs to be treated after you're finished with the work as the particles (essentially dust) will fall from the artwork over time and may either leave dark streaks on the artwork or just cause the art to fade as the particles fall over the art or off of it all together.

Graphite

Graphite is a slightly harder to shade with, and doesn't usually get as dark as charcoal. Some of the darker graphites, like an 8B, tend to look glossy and reflective when used over large areas. This is something charcoal does not do.

Graphite can be easily shaded with the help of tortilons, though, and varying pressure in combination with pencil grades can give you a very wide range of shades to work with. Graphite also lasts on the paper without particles falling off and can remain in-tact for years as long as its not being touched or rubbed.

Paper

The paper you use plays a big role on the art itself. Some papers, like newsprint are great for quick charcoal sketching and practice. Charcoal easily wipes from newsprint and it's cheap, while graphite is hardly visible. Higher quality papers are less forgiving of errors, but the finished product will look nicer.


How can I make this necklace longer? (See related question here.)

I was given a necklace with a cute geode pendant. Love the color, but it doesn't fit me well -- I don't like the length it hangs at, and I don't like that the stone is horizontal instead of vertical.

It's a fairly thin silver chain, connected to a couple of loops which connect to embedded rings in the rock itself.

What can I do to make this longer? Do I need to replace the full chain (somehow) or can I extend what I've got?

If you want it to hang vertically you will need to do a fair amount of reworking of the setting, this is complicated by any soldering runs the risk of damaging the stone.

If you just want to extend the chain it is probably just as easy to buy a new chain of the correct length and do a direct swap. You can get a huge variety of chains from jewelers supplier or indeed ebay for not too much money, indeed just a waxed cotton or leather thong might be just as good with this piece.

If you want it mounted vertically you will need to cut off the existing rings and file them flat to the mount and then add a new ring at one of the narrow ends.

Here you have two practical options, first to get a blank silver mount of the right size and shape and glue the existing piece on with epoxy or you could wrap the whole thing with silver wire to create a sort of 'cage'.


What's a good non-adhesive plastic sheet to protect soft-back books? I'd like to use non-adhesive transparent plastic sheet to wrap a soft-back book to protect it for long-term frequent use.

I'd like to try the method #3 described in

https://www.wikihow.com/Cover-a-Paperback-Book-With-Clear-Plastic-Film

I tried searching using different key words on Internet stores but could NOT find a product suitable. Any suggestion?

I suggest using sheets of clear PVC:

It's non-adhesive, a lot more durable than the more common polypropylene sheets (like the perforated 'punched pockets'), but still supple. They mostly come in standard sizes, like in the image, pre-folded and stitched to accommodate certain book size standards (as an example, the page from which I sourced the image has A4, A4+, 165mm x 210mm, and 180mm x 240mm), but are available as sheets as well.

It's also sold under the name heavy-duty (protector) sheet, and it's easier to find complete sheets using that term. Searching for 'vinyl sheets', 'plastic roll film', 'clear soft PVC', or a combination of those keywords yields similarly useful results.

A slightly less sturdy variant, which is easier to find on rolls for this specific purpose, is called 'archival book jacket cover'.

For completion's sake, here's a WikiHow entry on wrapping books using these sheets.


How do I cut a perfect square out of paper for origami folding? We've all been there.  You think it's a square. It looks like a square. You fold it into a bird base, and well, it's that tiny bit off.  And that error multiplies as you go farther and farther down the line to the finished model, until all the compounding inaccuracies keep you from having neatly finished details and your model looks messy.  Or you've used a guillotine cutter that looks like its edge guide would be accurate, but isn't.

How do you start with the perfect square? Are the recommendations for the types of cutters (guillotine, rotary, straight-edge & knife) to use?  Is there a way of guaranteeing a perfectly proportioned square for folding? Especially for larger squares for complex models you may be cutting from rolls of paper, rather than sheets?

This works better if at least two of the sides are parallel. It is required that one corner is at a right angle.

When I am trying to get perfect squares in paper I fold the paper in half diagonally. Not across the center exactly but more so that the two sides that make up one corner are brought together. Any paper that sticks out after that is removed.

In the above image the paper is fold from the bottom left into the upper right so that the top edge has no overlap. The grey is what would be waste.

Getting rid of that excess paper can be challenging as there is usually only a sliver at times. What I do is put a metal ruler down along the edge and use a craft knife. Start where the paper is thicker. Avoid moving the ruler even after the first cut is done. If you have to get rid of left over slivers or tufts you can usually take a few short passes without ruining the new edges.


How to make adjustments to a PVC raincoat? I have a raincoat made of PVC that I’d like to make some adjustments to: adding more buttons or other ways of attachment (it is full-length but it has buttons only to the knee); adding a string at the bottom (to prevent too much pressure on the last button); and perhaps a pocket.

The problem is that I’m not sure how to treat the material: The acetone from the general glue for rubber would most likely melt it (I've tried it on a similar, if not the same, material before) and if I sew it the PVC would tear easily. The original adjustments seem to be made through some kind of heat-and-pressure process that cannot be duplicated without the proper machine.

The solution I came up with was to sew a small patch of cloth on the inside area I want to treat and then treat it like a cloth, but that seems a bit heavy-handed. Does anyone have a better idea?

I'd recommend you head to a camping supply store
 (like REI or Academy ) and pick up some tent repair tape.
 Its usually rip-stop nylon with adhesive on the back.
It will reinforce the pvc so you can add buttons etc.


Wish to paint dog in scenic background. What size should dog be? Wish to paint the following dog  on 11" by 14" paper

Also wish to use the following background

What size should dog be?

Specifically I wish the cluster of houses are in the background, to the Left (I can even zoom into the houses), and dog is in the foreground, to the right.

Please help me with this.

I don't know any formal artistic composition rules but how I would handle it is by mocking it up with either Adobe Photoshop or Gimp Photo Editing Software.  (Gimp is free).  Put the background in one layer and the dog in another, then scale and move each until it looks good to you.

Then, just for fun... I apply an oil or watercolor filter to see what the finished product will look like.

Then I hire someone with talent because without a computer to do all the hard parts...  I suck at painting!


Can I use other brands of window cling in a cricut? Say I have some non-Cricut window cling and a Cricut Explore.  Cricut also sells their own window cling, but I have none.

Is there any harm in using non-Cricut brand materials for a project?

Certainly you can.

Cling material is vinyl and there is nothing special about the product on which Cricut puts its name.

If you go too far afield in acquiring non-brand name supplies you might want to pay attention to the thickness and adjust the material setting for your machine accordingly.


Layers of liquid with glittered glue and shredded hot glue stick in a test tube I am trying out the following craft idea, the ingredients and steps are as follows:
Ingredients

Water (or distilled water) that is dyed using three colors.
A Test tube with cork.
Hot-glue stick (and shredded into small 1mm to 5mm size)
Glitters Glue (with different colors)

Steps

Pour the red dyed color water into the test tube (around 5ml to 10ml).
Put some shredded hot-glue stick and make sure that it covers the red dyed water.
Pour some glittered glue and wait for 10 mins before putting another layer of shredded hot-glue stick.
Wait for a day (to ensure that the glue fully dries).
Pour the blue dyed color water into the test tube (around 5ml to 10ml).
Put some shredded hot-glue stick and make sure that it covers the blue dyed water.
Pour some glittered glue and wait for 10 minutes before putting another layer of shredded hot-glue stick.
Wait for a day (to ensure that the glue fully dries).
Pour the green dyed color water into the test tube (around 5ml to 10ml or to near the tip of the test tube).
Close the test tube with the cork.
Enjoy the multiple layers of dyed water with glittered glue and shredded hot glue stick.

Illustration

Question
Now the most important part - will the above craft idea work?
Concerns

Will the glittered glue eventually give way, regardless of whether the test tube is shaken or not?
Do I need to mix special glue (like water-proof silicone glue) with the glittered glue to strengthen the layering?
What other precautions or measures do I need to take to ensure all the layers will stay where they are supposed to be?

Yes, it's likely that an off-the-shelf glitter glue will give out, if it hardens at all in the wet environment. Glitter glue is a PVA glue, which tends to soften and dissolve when exposed to water; it's the same base as "washable school glue," and while different PVA glues have different solubilities, the base used in glitter glues is a highly soluble base for easy clean-up when used by children. "Shredded hot glue" is not going to provide a sufficient moisture barrier to prevent the glue from eventually being dissolved away by the water, and it's unlikely that the PVA glue will sufficiently bond to the glass to stop liquid from seeping between layers, especially as it begins to dissolve.

You may wish to use a different type of glue, but as an alternate approach, evaluate what appearance you want from this at the end. Is it just layers of translucent colors? If so, consider tinted crafting resins (please follow all safety instructions!); these will be solid when they cure, and will have no risk of spilling or mingling with each other. If the liquid appearance is important, use a waterproof glue that will also adhere to glass, such as aquarium glue, but be aware that this may not dry when in direct or near-direct contact with the liquid. You'll want to test it before committing to your full project.


Mug fixing with Araldite I broke my favourite mug recently and I'm still getting over it. It broke at the side of the mug and a good chunk got broken. I got this from S America and it looks like it's made of clay and then painted over on the outside. Anyway in my haste, I decided to try and glue it back together using Araldite and it does seem to have worked as in, the broken piece is solidly in place and hardened in that area.

So my question is is it safe now (from a purely health point of view) to drink tea/coffee or anything else from it? I know Araldite is non-toxic but is it possible maybe some can get into contact with the hot liquid? Does this combination make the liquid dangerous to drink?

Per an email from Araldite customer service:

  None of our Araldite® products carry food safety certifications (although there are several that would likely be safe for food contact).

  Best regards

  Lee

On a request for a follow-up on specific formulations that might be safe in contact with hot water, they replied:

  You could probably use Araldite® 2014, for example, but we don't have any certifications for it.


What kind of stitch is this? I wanted to know what kind of stitch is shown in this picture. Can I make it with a brother sewing machine cs6000i?

It is most likely either an overlock stitch or a serger stitch. These are used to finish edges to prevent fraying and give a professional appearance to a sewn item.

  The overlock stitch is a combination of a straight stitch and a
  zigzag. It sews backwards and forwards in a straight line, but between
  every set of straight stitches, it sews a zigzag. If done correctly,
  this resembles serging, which is how most store-bought clothes are
  sewn. (Yesterday's Thimble)

And it looks like there are a few different overlock stitches on the Brother CS6000i! To get that very compressed look as in your example picture, you would want the stitch length to be pretty short in comparison to the width. As always, experiment with a few sample pieces of fabric before you put your final piece through!


Permanent Bracelet At Home I would like to recreate a permanent bracelet at home for my girlfriend. I'm an engineer and can solder electronics. Would this be possible?

Something like this - https://www.vogue.com/article/catbird-welding-annex-permanent-jewelry

Possible? Probably

If you have an a soldering iron and some fine wire, you can make a semi permanent bracelet - I say semi permanent rather than permanent because the kind of soldering you do on electronics isn't really designed for mechanical strength, and unless you buy some form of welder (the article you linked mentions arc welders) I'd expect the soldered joint to break before too long.

Advisable? No

You know what else is semi permanent? Scarring. Be very careful before putting a soldering iron anywhere near someone else's wrist, because if you're not then they will probably end up with a different kind of permanent marking than intended.

Alternatives

Instead of welding the bracelet closed, if you're using something with links then you can just close the loop on a normal link instead of a catch using a pair of pliers. This would be just about as strong as welding it (because the other links in the chain won't be welded either), but avoid the need for extreme heat or expensive tools.

If you're still concerned about the strength of the link, you can apply a little bit of glue to it to make sure it says closed.


What is the best technology to 3D print sextoys? Most 3D printing technologies create a rough surface. It cannot even be polished without leaving porosities. This is anti-hygienic. The surface has then to be coated with silicone or epoxy gel. The difficulty is to find a reliable inner skin contact safe coating.

Stereolitography create a way softer surface. However I find the materials to be too fragile for a sextoy use. Another point is that I'm not sure that it is safe for inner skin contact.

I know that CLIP can use PU. This is a more reliable material. I'm quite insure about the inner skin contact part too.

One can make silicone molds. This seems to be quite safe but also quite time consuming.

What can you say about it ?

I work for a company that doesn't make sex toys, but we do make silicone products with electronics inside, so I've seen lots of the same issues you're facing here.

The way we do it is to 3D print a mould for the object using an SLA printer (in our case a Form 2) - as you note, this material is rather brittle so doesn't work as the internal structure, but it's OK for a mould as it can be made as thick as required for strength.

We then 3D print the internals using an FDM printer in PLA or ABS (we use an Atom 2) and then cast the silicone around this using the SLA-printed mould. This is much stronger and you really have to work to destroy even the fairly delicate electronics once they're encased in silicone. As for contact with the skin, I've not checked the properties of any of these materials for safety in the body, but I would suggest that there's a reason people make sex toys in silicone.

To address your concerns about time, yes this is time consuming for the first one you make, but if you're making more than a couple the time saved by not having to print the entire object each time will more than outweigh the time spend moulding.


How to make best out of painting poster colors on canvas? These are called poster colors.
I have posted this link since they may have some other technical name.
Now, I have to use them on this type of canvas.
Considering that they are not acrylic paints, how may I get the best out of them while painting with them on that canvas?

Poster colors are water-soluble and can be reactivated. They are also relatively opaque, compared to other watercolours. But even though this type of paint might seem suitable for glazing and layering, you have to be careful when doing so, since the new colour can easily mix with the underlying one.
Like gouache and watercolours, working with poster colours on rougher types of canvas (yours is "medium grain") will cause the grain to stand out as the pigment particles will condense in the deeper parts of the texture.
I don't think there is a way to prevent this, but you can dab or smudge the surface of larger areas slightly before the paint has completely dried and settled, especially if and when you're blocking in your composition.
The trick is to work quickly and use little water.
As a side note: depending on the manufacturer (and, if one looks at translations, on country/culture) poster colours may or may not be synonymous to gouache. They are very similar, in any case, and you can use that term to find more and specific information online, if you want to.


What's the easiest way to pin and sew leather binding? I'm currently making a wool cape for the upcoming winter. The pattern recommends to finish the edges with a leather binding, and I have opted to do so. My main problem is that I know you're not supposed to use pins for leather as it leaves marks, and I don't have many bulldog clips. Plus, I did try one edge and it was the most stressful thing as once i took a clip off to sew a section, I would have to push the binding over the wool, resulting in some missed sections where I sewed the binding together without the wool. Are there any techniques that make this process any easier?

IF your machine is capable, you can't buy the Wonder Clips -which i also recommend, and you haven't stocked up on these items already... Do so! It will all make a difference.. Figure out what clips work best for you.

Leather Needles
Required thread
Double sided leather tape
Large Paper Clips
Clothespins (wooden or plastic - just make sure they are strong)
Research, research, research
ALWAYS Practice on scraps beforehand.

Do your best not to stretch the leather as your sewing it. Also, you can pin in a few spots where you'll be sewing, if you must. Just hand feed very slowly while removing the pins. Apparently the leather tape causes less needle gum up.


Borax substitute for swirl painting I am currently in the process of swirl painting one of my guitars.

In swirl painting, you fabricate a colored film of oil paint on water with borax. The borax is used to better spread the color film. I think it increases the surface tension.

Now, since, in Germany, as a private household, you can't get borax any more, I can't get my hands on borax.

Does anybody have an idea of a substitute? My practical chemistry skills have gotten quite rusty after years of theoretical chemistry, so I could use some help here.

Soap wouldn't help because - I think - it would dissolve the oil paint.

Could I use a thinner for the oil paint? Would that give me the same results?

Or would you say borax isn't even needed?

There are lots of alternatives to Borax online for making "slime," but I don't think the rubbery texture will work for you. The closest non-Borax idea I found that might meet your needs is to use either colored Jello or plain powdered gelatin (it's often in the vitamin supplement section of a drug store or pharmacy, or in a grocery store in the baking products aisle), add the amount of boiling water that after mixing well will flow enough for painting, but will dry down enough not to be sticky.

You should probably experiment with different amounts of water and /or gelatin, as well as different cooling times, before applying, but this is a really simple, inexpensive, legal "recipe" and has the added benefit of being edible.


Acrylics and model building: is a gloss layer a must-have before line detailing and washing? In the past, I've disassembled models just to add electronics and lights. Now, I've decided to learn how to paint miniatures to expand my hobby and to get a better look on the finished models.
My first paint job will be a starship miniature.

After doing research about acrylic paints and techniques, this is what I plan to do (all with a brush, no airbrush at this stage):

Apply Vallejo Primer dark grey (do I use it thinned? which ratio?)
Dry-brushing with white in multiple layers.
Use Vallejo Black wash for lines details and the back area (engines, etc.) Question: some people apply a thin layer of water,
then the wash, directly after the previous step. Others apply gloss
varnish. Is the varnish a must-have? If yes, should I thin it?
Wrap up everything protecting the model with a layer of matt varnish. What should the thinned ratio?

Apologies if these are naive questions, but this is my first painting model, and I'd like to get it as right as possible. I've read many posts and watched youtube videos, but after finding some contradicting advice, I've decided to post a question here, as StackExchange sites had never failed me :)

Thank you,

Miniature painting is an interesting hobby, but as with any artistic technique, you need to practice and learn.

The answer to all your questions is: Do whatever gives you the result you like best.

You should first paint a small model that's not the centerpiece of your collection, or an old model you don't like best. Use this for practice and try out different techniques.

Any paint or varnish should be thined as much as possible but as little as necessary. On the one hand, you want the paint to be so thin that it doesn't overlay and hide small details, on the other hand, it must be thick enough to cover the area with pigment. I'd say a consistency between vanilla sauce and water is probably ok. If you thin the paint or varnish too much, you need to apply several layers to get the same effect. This is a matter of personal preference. Some people prefer a thicker paint that covers the underground in one single application, others prefer to apply several layers of paint to protect even the smallest details from being covered up. You need to try it out and find your own preference.

Black wash is the most simple way to create shadows and details in all the cracks and crannies. The disadvantage is that it darkens the whole area it's applied to.

One solution is to dry brush to a lighter tone than intended in the finished piece and apply black wash over the whole miniature to darken it.
An alternative is to apply a thin layer of clean water and adding the wash to it. The water dilutes the wash and makes the pigments flow better. The overall darkening effect is lessened, but you might have to apply several layers of wash. A tiny (and I mean tiny) amount of dish soap acts as a flow agent so the pigments flow into the cracs instead of bunching up on the flat surfaces.

But the primary purpose of gloss varnish is to make things ... glossy. It could be that the wash flows better over the varnish (similar to the thin layer of water), so it doesn't darken flat areas as much. Personally I don't apply gloss varnish before a wash, so I don't have first-hand experience.

In the end, it all comes down to your personal preference. If you like a glossy, metallic shine, apply gloss varnish. If you like a rough, dust look, apply matte varnish. If you want to paint a wet stain (maybe oil, fuel, water or blood), apply a matte varnish and then paint a glossy stain over the dried varnish.

A hint at the end: I prefer light primers (off white or light grey) because they make it easier to see small details during the painting process. I tried black primer once but it made the painting process more complicated because I overlooked small details and had to repaint them later.


How to decorate spider leg drawing? Problem here is that the flowers at the end of spider legs, appear to look more like knots tied to the end of his legs, than actual flowers.
I was considering putting tiny circles on those thin legs but then I realized they would look like it would give it a more "pimple"/bubble effect.
What are my options for decorating thin lines such as the legs. To make it look more realistic, but keep the whimsical look of the legs?

Real spiders have 2 joints in each leg. Yours has 1 joint in the front and hind legs, and none in the middle legs. Drawing these joints correctly would make the shape much more recognizable as a spider, even without the context of the web.
A very simplistic shape with only one leg joint:

And here a more natural shape with 2 leg joints:

Although the shape of the body is almost the same, the first one resembles an ant or some other generic insect. The second one is unmistakeably a spider.

the legs have 2 joints each

the 2 front legs face towards the head, the 2 hind legs away from the head

all legs join the body very close to the head

Try googling "spider icon" for inspiration.


What type of weave is this? It's a super durable shirt and I want another like it, but I bought it over 10 years ago.
It's 100 % cotton and is a Reebok NBA "Hardwood Classics" shirt.

The front looks like standard knitting (stockinette stitch).The picture quality of the back is too low to say for sure, but it looks similar to how the backside a stockinette stitch should look.

The stockinette stitch is the most basic stitch and used for most machine-knitted fabrics. You find it in almost all t-shirts, sweaters, socks and other knitwear.

The notable difference of your picture to that of most knitwear is that the right side of every stitch is twined so much that it appears to be one continuous line. This is a sign of quality because the single fibers of a yarn cannot be pulled from it easily if it's twined.

So my guess is this:
The fabric is knit by machines in the stockinette stitch like almost all knitted fabrics, but the manufacturer used high-quality twine instead of cheap thread.

For comparison: This is how a stockinette stitch looks like with yarn that was not twined. The regular V-shapes of the individual stitches are clearly visible.

Image source

And this yarn was slightly twined. It's the same pattern, but the stitches seem to blend together into rows of vertical and diagonal lines.

Image source


What does "for finished artwork" mean? I have a pack of Bristol board with me today at work (I'm using it as a carrier for something), and I happened to read the description.

  Bristol vellum surface
  Acid free. Heavy weight. For finished artwork - dry media.

"Finished artwork"? Am I supposed to somehow finish my artwork on some other substrate, and then magically transfer it to the Bristol board only once it's done? That makes no sense, obviously, so I'm thinking finished artwork must be a "term of art" that means something different than what the words sound like. However, both words are very, very common, so searching for a definition is pretty much hopeless.

In the context of a label on a pack of paper, what does "for finished artwork" mean?

A 'finished' artwork is a piece that has been worked to a particular level of detail.    There are various levels of 'finish' from a basic outline to a 'finished' sketch, then from a basic drawing to a highly 'finished' piece of work.
To give an example, an artist might do a rough sketch of an idea and then a more detailed sketch or a colour sketch or even create a study for the whole piece or just a small section of the entire drawing/painting.  From that he/she might create a 'finished' piece for exhibition.  The sketches and studies might be made on cheap paper or canvas (sometimes on the back of an envelope)  but the 'finished' piece would be made on the best quality paper/canvas etc. So in the context of your Bristol board, it is a high quality paper that would be used for 'finished' artwork.  You could make sketches and transfer them to you good quality paper or you could draw directly onto it, it is your choice.


High accuracy transfer of cutting blueprint onto plywood I'm looking to cut a bunch of interlocking pieces from plywood. As a cheaper alternative to laser cutting (I've got a quote for 90 bucks) I'm exploring my options to do this by hand.

What would be the best way to transfer a schematic with very fine lines onto plywood sheets so I can cut it out with a hobby saw?

Most options I've seen so far seem very prone to smudging or other distortions. If you're transfering large, rough structures that isn't as critical.

My intuition tells me that probably the most reliable and error-tolerant way would be to print the schematic on paper, cut it out, tape it to the plywood and then carefully saw along the outline...

Edit: The parts I'm planning to make are relatively small, a few centimeters, so I should be able to fit a decent number on a single sheet of paper...

The toner transfer method of transferring an image onto a PCB should also work on wood.

Basically you laser print (a mirror image if you need to work from the front) on suitable paper (I've done this with inkjet glossy photo paper), then iron onto the material, and you get a nice clean black image.

You're limited by the size of the print you can make, or your ability to join prints together.

If you want to stick a paper template onto the wood as you suggest in your question, I recommend repositionable spray mount all over the back of the template.  Taping is less effective once you start cutting.


Which glue should be used for adhering thin paper? I frequently make cards for my friends and family instead of purchasing them, which I very much enjoy, but the bane of my existence is gluing all the pieces together. It is always a struggle to decide which glue to use.

Note: in this context, thin paper means sketching or drawing paper, construction paper and tissue paper.

A synopsis of my glue usage:

Glue sticks leave awkward bumps unless they go on perfectly smooth (which they never do) and they eventually dry up ad stop adhering, so I don't really like using them.

Basic white craft glue is what I use the most often and I spread it thin with a popsicle stick to eliminate big soggy patches. This works really well for thicker paper like cardstock, but cannot be used for anything lighter weight

Spray glue is something I love in concept, but hate in actual applications. I find that spraying for even a second longer than you should causes the glue to soak through the paper so both sides end up super sticky... which sucks. And there is a lot of prep work (laying down newspaper or standing outside in the  cold)

Hot glue does not work well when making cards because the card gets too lumpy and thick, so they don't fit well inside envelopes.

The Question:

Is there a glue that is best suited for thin paper so that it does not get soggy or lumpy?

To be honest it sounds like you might be being a bit heavy handed with all of the adhesives you mention it is often the case with adhesives that less is more.

White glue : you will get the most control if you apply it with a brush, if you just squirt it onto the paper and then spread it around it will soak though. You could try getting some cheap nylon brushes (the flat type are best) and use the glue from a small pot rather then direct from the tube and keep a piece of scrap card to make a few strokes with the brush onto to make sure that the glue is evenly distributed on the brush and take off any excess. You only need a really thin film to get a good joint, ideally it should be thin enough to look  transparent rather than white.

Spray Mount : again you only need a very light mist for it to work, try spraying from further away and just use one quick pass over the paper.

Another option is double sided tape, this tends to be a very neat and clean solution although there is a bit more effort involved in cutting it to the right shape. Usually the best approach for complex shapes is to apply it to what you want to stick before you cut it out so you cut the cutout and the tape at the same time (obviously leave the backing on the reverse side while you do this.


What is the name of the following kinds of patterns? I have found the following patterns online and am wondering what exactly they are called?

The mathematical term for this kind of pattern would be pmm wallpaper pattern.  There are seventeen types of repeating planar patterns, and this is one of the simplest ones.

The characteristics of the pattern are based on it having perpendicular symmetry axes through the centers of each of the tessellation units.  There are also 180 degree rotation symmetries about these centers, with no additional glide reflection symmetries.


How can I get children's paper masks to last longer? Paper masks are easy to make and can even be made by kids. However their life is limited to how long the mask will survive being used by children. An example of what I am describing would be this from HerFamilyTrends.com:

Failure is almost always going to occur from the elastic, string or yarn, that wraps behind ones head, at the punched hole. The holes usually wear out from the "string" and the mask falls off and needs to be repaired or discarded sooner. You can use something like scotch tape either before hand or after to make it last longer but the tension from the string will still cut into the tape and the result is still the same.

Sure, you could use something stronger like duct tape but that stuff is likely to get hair caught which is not comfortable.

What can I do to make the mask stay attached to their respective heads for longer while minimizing the need to repair it.

For reinforcing your string holes, specifically, I would recommend binder hole reinforcement stickers.

These are made of a tear-resistant material and you can add them to one or both sides of your holes to keep the string from cutting or tearing the paper.

You can also find them in a variety of colors and patterns, to spruce things up.


Line cutting technique for wood blocks: japanese vs. western Does the line cutting technique in western wood block printing differ from the one in japanese wood cut?

In japanese wood block printing the line is cut almost exclusively by a sharp pointed knife - the hangi to

by cutting at the line and then removing the unwanted area with a chisel or a counter cut (especially when lines are close together). Is this the same way lines are cut in western wood cut tradition, what kind of tools are traditionally used for this purpose?

On youtube(e.g. here or here) and instagram you can often see that some artists cut fine lines using a v-gauge. I feel this is an inferior technique as the line might be damaged or the cut might not be deep enough ( also the the gauge has to be very sharp for this and needs to be resharpened frequently)

The knife is more common in Japanese printmaking. I unfortunately can't find any sources comparing the two, but I hypothesize that one reason gauges are more common in Western printmaking is due to the influence of wood engraving. Another reason might be the style differences - Japanese prints are much more likely to have strong clear lines and large blocks of color. Note that gauges are still used in Japanese techniques, but usually to remove areas of the block instead of defining the linework.

The engraving process was used to create very realistic images and used a tool called a burin, which is essentially a gauge that's been filled in. Engraving involved much harder woods than typical wood blocks, which necessitated the tool. The gauge is more effective at removing large areas of wood and so may have become more predominant that way also.

Japanese art started having more influence on European art during Impressionism. You can see how Western prints evolved away from complex shadow gradients and into a world of higher-contrast and flattened picture plane.  Their tools may have changed at this time too.


How can the colour scheme of this painting be described (in technical terms)? How can the colour scheme of this painting be described in technical terms?

For instance:

Grayscale
Low saturation
Or something else?

I don't have a background in art; I find that I'm unsuccessful in describing this painting's colouring.

There's a few things going on in this picture. Since you're asking specifically about the color scheme, which is the selection of colors or the palette, I won't go into the composition/arrangement of the colors.
In short, it's a low saturation, high contrast, monochromatic yellow color scheme. Read on for how I arrived at that conclusion.
First and foremost, this is absolutely a low saturation color palette. That's readily evident when you import the image (cropping out the borders that contain bits of the display wall, in the photo) into a photo editing program or even just Adobe Color.

Here I used Adobe Color to automatically select the dominant colors (under the "Colorful") option, and then I moved one of the selections to pick out a gray color, instead of one of the darker yellows in the top-right. I couldn't tell if the shading in the top right was intentionally or an artifact of the photography/lighting.
Now, we can more clearly see the lack of saturation. So, let's talk about saturation!
Saturation is also known as chroma, intensity, or colorfulness. The closer a color is to being a true neutral (black, gray or white), the less saturated it is.
This is very easy to visualize in terms of RGB (Red/Green/Blue) values. Colors with the exact same amounts of red, green and blue are true neutrals. Any time the difference in amounts between two or more of those values increases, the more saturated the color becomes.

Going back to Adobe Color, we can analyze the scheme and see that for all 5 colors selected, the RGB values all lie very close to one another. And if I switch the analysis to HSB (Hue/Saturation/Brightness), you'll see that all are very low saturation (the 2nd slider bar, or you can look at the exact values).

Furthermore, Red and green are more similar to one another, and always greater than blue, which creates a yellow color scheme.
This gives us a key to to another major aspect of this palette. It is monochromatic, meaning "one color". The colors in this image are primarily various tints or shades (lights or darks) of a low saturation yellow hue.
Now, there may be some artistic discussion over whether or not this is truly monochromatic, because some of the snow/sky and car have slight notes of blue to them, but color theory is not a hard science, and there is always some wiggle room. (It's also hard to say whether or not the blue hints in the whites were intentional. If the artist wasn't using a pure white paint, it might have been accidental. It could also just be from the lighting of the photograph).
One of the last major things I noticed about the colors relates to its contrast. There is almost no use of midtones. Generally speaking, the tone of image is its lighting, or the scale of it's shadows to its highlights. Midtones are thus the colors whose brightness falls between the shadows and highlights.
If you look back at the HSB image, you can see that brightness levels of the light colors are very similar (82, 84, 85), and the darker colors as well (33, 41). There's nothing between them. While I'm sure some could be found with a digital color picker, nothing really stands out as being used intentionally as a midtone. Thus, the image, overall, is high contrast, because there are no midtones to lower the contrast between the shadows and the highlights.


What kind of methods can one use to bind two objects as one, without any adhesive I'm thinking of methods, similar to how some products use a lid to snap onto an object so that it remains clipped to that particular object and snaps into place. However, I want no 3rd party material applications used. Just mechanisms used to combine two objects temporarily into place to become as one structure.

I'm sorry if this doesn't exactly paint the perfect picture in your head and also if didn't use proper terminology to properly describe what I am looking for.. However, any help, lead or point towards a direction to find this would be helpful, even it isn't the whole answer.

Again thank you for your time.

A general term you may find helpful here is fastening.

A search on fastening method turns up some interesting resources that discuss various fastening methods used in industry. I'd start there with the abstract discussions. Those are likely places to find other general category terms you can use to refine your search.

I found this one interesting for a start: Fastening & Assembly.

It would indicate what you're looking for may belong to the category "integral fasteners".


Can I use nylon-made paint tray to contain paints? I saw a paint tray that is made of nylon and would like to know if it is suitable to contain paint and will it be harder to clean after painting?
(Comparing with paint tray made of plastic and the paint used is either water-based or oil-based paint)

Nylon is a type of plastic.
Most cheap painting brushes are made of nylon. They can withstand the solvents used in the oil painting process.
Since nylon is a family of compounds with different properties, and the paint tray you mention is marketed as such, you can be sure its resistance, durability, and breathability are all within the characteristics of what one can expect from it. It should be as easy to clean as any other plastic tray.


What are the advantages of a lapel "coat stick" pin over other pin styles? I want to make a "boutonniere" using silk flowers, and was planning to do this by attaching the flower heads to a pin backing. When I searched for "pin blanks" online, I was expecting to find butterfly clutch types, like this:

or safety locking bar-style pins:

But, I also found some described as "coat stick pins", that look like this:

It appears that these are a traditional sort of pin which you insert through the buttonhole on the lapel (or just through the fabric, if no buttonhole). I'm not well-versed in men's formal attire, so this has me wondering: Is there any practical reason to choose this type of pin backing for a lapel pin over the other types, or is it just an aesthetic choice?

The ones you call coat stick pins have a much longer pin and will therefor stay upright much better than the ones with a shorter pin.

The top kind, with just the short pin and the butterfly clasp will turn around and you will have to position the items on the front in such a way that it can be seen in any position and is likely not suitable for the kind of work you mention.

The second kind, the safety pin with or without a locking mechanism, will stay in the position you pin it on. But with only the short length, it is likely to lean away from the fabric you pin it on. This is more a problem with light fabrics and loose clothing, like women often wear, less with mans suits.

As I started out, the third kind, with its longer pin has a much more stable ground for the pin and will allow for less movement of the finished product.
But still consider the lighter fabrics and possible movement of the garments.

For boutonnieres to be worn on a suit coat, I would personally prefer the last kind.
For a boutonniere to be worn on a shirt, blouse or dress, I would prefer the second kind, the locked safety pin kind, and design the arrangement such that the weight of the flower drops down from the pin, not being above the pin at all.


How to fill gaps in spherical resin molding I'm planning on casting an object in clear resin using a spherical silicone mold and did a test to see what I'd have to expect. It's came out quite well - better than I thought it would! - but around the circumference where the seal of the mold is, there are a number of little gouges:

Some of them are quite deep, 3-4mm. How can I fill them? I thought of using more resin but I'd have to apply it to a centimetre or two of the casting at a time which sounds incredibly tedious. Is there something else I can use in place of the resin, like a paste, which sets faster? I've read about using things like milliput but they aren't transparent.

Alternatively, is it a good idea to just try to sand the whole sphere down a few millimetres to remove the gouges?

Thanks for any help!

Use a clear two part epoxy resin to fill the gouges.

You can get one with a short drying time (5 minute epoxy) at most hardware stores or even the dollar store.

Ensure if its a two part mold, not to put the parts together while its drying or they will stick together.

Apply the glue in a ventilated area.


How do I use this old compass? I found this old compass at a garage sale, and want to use it:

The problem is that I don't know about any of the parts.
Does anybody know what it is for and how to use/tighten it?
The compass won't stay, and will not draw circles.

Oooh, I used to have one of these as a kid - not the whole set, sadly, but the compass itself and a few of the accessories. Congratulation on the purchase, it's a very satisfying tool to use. I inherited it in early 00s and it got me through 8 years of geometry classes; I vastly preferred it to the modern versions.

First row

"Liner"

If I'm correct (it's not clear from the photo), this is a tool to make straight lines with ink. (I don't know the proper word for it.) It would have two blade-like parts connected by a screw which controls the distance between them. You dip this in ink, the space between holds and distributes it (it works like a dip pen nib hole, on the principle of surface tension).

Probably useless these days, but might be fun to play with.

Second row

??? possibly a liner leg for the compass?

Really not sure from the picture. I never had this one. It might be a version of the previous tool that fits as a leg.

???

No idea, but I'm guessing a piece of sandpaper or something else for sharpening the lead.

Spike

You would put this instead of the graphite leg and use it to measure distances - to get a more precise read than directly with a ruler, following a line etc.

Longer leg???

This looks like another leg replacement, but I never had one of these and I can't tell from the photo. If there is a lead holder at the tip, then it's a longer leg for bigger circles. (And then I wish I had that one, that could have come handy.)

Spare lead container

Practical and fancy looking. Very satisfying rattle. :D

Second row

Compass

The compass should behave pretty much like any modern compass. The top leg (on the second photo) holds the lead; you replace the lead by unscrewing the tip (careful not to break the lead in the holder, it's hard to get out).

Loosening the small wheel lets you take the leg off and replace it with something else, for example the spike.

The leg should be hinged a bit above the small wheel and turn inwards. That enables you to position the lead perfectly vertically, for very sharp circles.

The small wheel on the bottom leg lets you adjust the length of the spike to fit the lead. Is there a hinge under the wheel? Some models also had a cool feature where you could flip the spike to choose between two different versions.

If the compass is loose (I assume you mean that the legs open too easily) you can tighten the screw on the top hinge (visible in the second photo). Same can be done with the leg hinge (that screw is on the side, visible in the first photo).

On mine you could also unscrew the top handle, but I never learned what that is for, other than losing the damn bit. Maybe someone else will know. :)


How can you make a costume with opaque eye covers? Basically, my question is: is it possible to make a real life costume in which the eyes of the person wearing it are fully covered with opaque material but the person can still see through it, and if it is possible, how can you do it?

In the case of Dead Pool, his eyes are covered with what seem to be white covers that are part of the mask. I imagine this is to conceal his identity but it's never explained how he can see through that thing.

Is this even possible to construct at home (say for a Halloween costume)? What material would it have to be for it to be transparent only in one direction?

For this Lego Batman costume, we covered the eyeholes with white gauze (ok, actually patches cut from some old pantyhose). Vision was only very slightly reduced -- much more so by the small eye openings (and loss of peripheral vision) than by the gauze.


How to read the slash in “1/4 satin”? I am not a native English speaker, and I would like to know how do you read “1/4 satin”?

Is it pronounced as one-by-four satin or as one-to-four satin when read out?

Please note that this use is related to the binding structure of textiles.

For instance, in the following texts: It is observed that when the weave is changed from 4 / 1 satin to 1 / 4 satin ， the average warp tensions at shedding and beaten-up increase.

thanks.

It would be referred to as "1 in 4" satin and refers to the weave pattern.  4/1 satins would be warp faced twills and 1/4 satins would be weft faced twills.

For more information on this you can read all about it at  https://www.textileschool.com/articles/125/twill-weaves


What is the name of the drawing having free hand shapes of animals, birds, flowers combined together to form a pattern/story? I want to study the composition techniques used in following drawings found from a Google search.

What should I look for in Google to read about this drawing pattern/technique?

I would classify these images as line art.

With line art you will see clear lines defining forms and shapes, and sometimes where color and light would be, but the color and shading won't be there.

Definition is enhanced in compositions such as the ones posted by varying the line weight and and stroke. The thicker lines make parts stand out, and also help define depth.

Since the line weights vary in these examples, they may have been drawn using some type of ink (presuming they weren't digitally produced). Pen and marker tips allow for more variation in line weight than a typical pencil, although it's possible to sharpen a pencil in such away to allow for more variation.

Line art itself isn't going to be subject to less rules of composition than other 2D visual arts. An understanding of composition in general is going to be helpful, although outside the scope of this answer.

However, certain techniques or media may be more helpful to practice with, if the end goal is this type of art: Drawing in general, inking or other practice to help with line weights, and making clean lines.

Making clean lines can be achieved by learning how to use such tools as French curves, templates, stencils and compasses:

Here's an example of some French curves:


What is a linear meter? I'm just trying to understand the concept of a linear meter.

I'm aware that rolls of fabrics can have different widths and depending on the width and need a shorter or longer part of this fabric.

Am I understanding this correctly that linear meter is just an indication that the width might not be 1 meter and someone who orders this has to take the width of the particular fabric into account when ordering fabric?

This isn't just for fabric, but carpet and all sorts of material on rolls. A linear metre simply means 1 metre length off the roll. It says nothing at all about the width, which is usually more than a metre for fabric, but for some things may be much less.

The width should be specified elsewhere in the description, to allow you to calculate how much to buy. You are likely to need to take more into account than the total area, for all but the simplest project with plain fabric.


Best way to restore my old vintage wooden cricket bat I own a vintage, wooden bat which I wanted to restore by myself, for myself.
Some of the areas where I require help are:

Removing stickers and their marks:
There are these old stickers on the bat which are still there half-torn from the time I bought the bat (a decade ago). These stickers and their marks give the bat this old look which I want to transform to new. So what are the materials and ways of removing stickers and their marks from the bat and make it look like a new one? Will sanding cause the bat to loose its originality? Please clarify.

Crack (line visible) near the area joining the handle and the bat-body:
There's a crack near the area joining the handle to the main body of the bat, it's not necessarily broken but it's just a deep crack (line visible) which I want to fix so it won't cause the bat to break in future. Do I fill it with adhesive, or what measures should be taken?

Bottom part (where we apply the “toe guard”) has lost its shape:
This part of the bat, due to constant thumping, got deformed, i.e. it lost its original semi-circular shape and has become irregularly shaped. So what do to to get it back into its shape?

Some of the pics depicting the conditions of my bat:

The body (showing the sticky-back, part #1
The crack I mention in #2 (the same stickiness is on the front part)
The irregular bottom, part #3

Basically I need help to find the materials I require (and from where), and how to use them in executing the above mentioned steps effectively.
I know lots of work needs to be done, but I certainly will be successful with your involvement.

This is what I would do if I had to do this:

Use fine sandpaper to remove the stickers and the lacquer.* You may want to sand down the scratches as well, but I can’t tell by the photos if that would be a good idea, or that they are too deep (they seem to be so) and trying to fix them would deform the shape of the bat itself.
Fill the large crack with wood adhesive. Keep in mind that some adhesives (like PVA) shrink as they dry. If the crack is too wide it may be a better idea to mix some fine sawdust with the adhesive instead of using plane adhesive.
Measure and draw a pencil line indicating the desired shape of the bottom part. Use rough sandpaper to shape it and then polish it with fine sandpaper.
Put finish on it. (From the little search I did on what finish to use for the purpose, people advise against using hard finish, as it may end up cracking. Polyurethane spray was a suggestion I found reasonable.)

*You asked if sanding it down will cause the bat to lose its originality. I’m not sure what you mean by this - what you want to do:  remove the stickers, the cracks and deformities, will cause it to lose its originality in a way. If you are concerned about deforming it somehow – then no, the finest grade sandpaper is used for polishing and it won’t deform it, or leave scratches.


What's the best way to preserve white areas in watercolour? When I use either artists masking fluid or shop bought masking tape it aaallllways pulls the paper apart. How do I stop that happening or what can I use instead?

7 tips for working with masking fluid, from Artists & Illustrators

I use a great deal of water, sometimes pouring colour onto the paper from a small jar and then responding to its progress with further washes as it begins to dry.

I normally apply masking fluid to protect small, relatively complex shapes.

Masking fluid is often a difficult medium. sometimes to the extent that artists give up on it. However by following these tips  the ‘difficulties’ can quite easily be overcome.

Plan thoroughly. To get the most out of masking fluid, it should be considered very carefully at the planning stage of a painting. In most cases it is applied before any paint comes into contact with the paper.
The marks made and therefore consequently left by the masking fluid on its removal have to be carefully appraised. It might help to think of it not as masking fluid but as ‘white paint’. I considered the placement of paint but has taken a less than considered approach to the application of the masking fluid. A badly planned and poorly applied area of masking fluid can have as damaging effect to a painting as a poorly painted passage and can leave the painting in ruins.
Dilute to taste. Through experience, I have learnt that sometimes masking fluid can be too thick if used straight from the bottle. I often water it down to aid the flow of the masking fluid onto the paper, which is useful for creating finer lines or more finely spattered .
Test the masking fluid on some sample scraps of your intended watercolour paper. If the paper used is a soft paper, the masking fluid might pull at the paper when it is removed. It might be advantageous to dilute the masking fluid with water, as this would exert less of a pull on the paper.
Handle with care. Never shake the bottle up.
Don't work wet. Make certain that the paper is thoroughly dry before applying the masking fluid, otherwise you run the risk of the masking fluid penetrating the top layer of the paper. This could result in the paper being torn when the masking fluid is removed.
Always leave the masking fluid to dry fully before over-painting too. To check this, carefully touch the masking fluid with your finger tip.
Remove it carefully. Some artists use a soft rubber to remove the masking fluid from the paper. I remove it by gently rubbing with my fingertips.


How can I make this costume mouth open and close? I am going to dress up as Beaker from the Muppets for Halloween. For those unfamiliar with the Muppets he looks like this:

Basically I need to make a large mask/helmet that will fit over my head. The overall construction would be fairly simple where the hair, eyes, and mouth are concerned.

My issue is I don't know how I can control the mouth. I want it to be able to move without any obviously showing controls. Since I am against the method his mouth is normally controlled on the puppet I need to make it open somehow. Closing seems simple enough if I uses elastics to pull it closed again. I am unsure how I can get some sort of cord in place to pull it open without being seen.

In a perfect world it would be something that I could use without having to place my hands need my chest for a pull cord but I am not holding out for that.

As a basic strategy, you might consider having the elastic/spring hold the mouth open, and use something controlled by your mouth to close it when you close your own mouth. That way you could make him talk in a realistic way by simply opening your mouth each time you say a word, which of course you'd want to do anyway :)

As far as mechanism is concerned, a "string" (tensile member) of some sort might be easiest. My mind goes to a cable of the sort used on bicycle hand-brakes, where the cable runs through a housing. This would give you flexibility to position the actuator anywhere you wanted without having to worry about keeping the "cable" tight. The cables they use for gear shifters are lighter gauge and would still be plenty strong enough. Maybe you could adapt a set of costume teeth (maybe vampire type or something) to act as the actuator. That would fit in your mouth but still allow you to speak and you could maneuver them in and out of your mouth I expect without too much trouble, even without use of your hands.

Maybe the "mouth controller" end of the cable could just pull the bottom lip in when you close the teeth, perhaps with a coil spring (ball-point pen type, maybe longer) doing the needful to open the mouth on the return stroke.


Food Safe Plaster-Like Material Does anyone know of a hard, heavy, moldable material (like plaster or cement) that is also food safe? I’m looking for something to make bowls and cups without kiln firing like I would have to with clay.

Food safe, moldable materials are rare in general. The closest thing that comes to my mind is a kind or "organic plastic" made from milk, but it looked hard to work with and I don't know how food safe that really is on the long run.

Take for example a simple porcelain dish: the porcelain itself is porous and would stain with food residue. It's the glaze that makes it food safe.

I suggest using whatever clay is best suited for the style of bowls you want to create, then applying a food safe varnish or lacquer in several coats to seal the surface.


Is the starting point in sketching important? This question came up to me when I was watching drawing / sketching tutorials on youtube. Let's say you have to draw a cat, they would start with the legs and then complete the rest of the drawing, whereas I would start with the face... or in case of a bike, they would start with the wheels and I would start with something else. At the end my drawing turns out not that good.
So is there a specific way of drawing or is it the starting point that makes the drawing better or, say, more "balanced"?

The starting point is important, but there isn't a single right answer.  What will work best for a given person depends on how they visualize things, and the skills they have developed.  Your result turning out "not that good" is likely due mostly to not yet having developed sketching skills comparable to the artists in the videos.  It takes a lot of practice to become good, and to develop a process that works well for you.  You may even find that as you develop your skill, a different starting point works best.  Experiment.
A common starting point is the environment or background in which the subject will exist (at least something crude for placement and scale of the subject).
It's useful to start the subject (either before or after roughing in the environment), by crudely sketching the outline or major parts of the subject.  This gives you a basic shape and scale to refine, and against which to develop the detail.
Some skilled artists start with an "anchor feature", a dominating feature that they build around.  This works best with a lot of experience, where you've developed intuition on scale and how the rest of the subject relates to that feature.
The most important element of the "starting point" is that it involves starting; putting pencil to paper and moving it to create some initial structure.  It doesn't make much difference how bad those initial marks are.  They provide a basis for comparison against what you're looking at or visualizing in your mind.
It's easy to see where those initial marks are wrong or off, they provide something you can adjust.  The eraser is at least as important a tool as the pencil (not to delete everything because you aren't satisfied with it, but to make corrections and iterations to move from the starting point to your objective).  Once you get something on paper, where to go from there becomes a lot easier.


How to tell when I have the right ribbing? I am knitting a gauge swatch in stockinette stitch right now with a garter stitch border to prevent curling and hopefully get a more accurate gauge. I have already measured myself for making the skirt.

Now once I get the gauge, I am thinking of multiplying that stitches per inch by a measurement a bit smaller than what I measured myself to be so that I know how many stitches to use for the ribbing. I haven't decided on yarn yet but I want to use a soft acrylic that is worsted weight. I have decided on using size US 8 circular needles. As long as I use the same yarn weight and needle size, gauge doesn't change from brand to brand.

I have restricted myself to using 4x4 ribbing or smaller. So the number of stitches I calculate will restrict that further based on factorization. Anyway, since I have a lot of yarn that I wouldn't use for other projects(mostly variegated is what I wouldn't use) should I knit about an inch of every ribbing that factorization will allow in the round as separate waistbands, bind off, and try them on?

And how will I know when I have found a good ribbing to be both elastic enough to stretch when I change position and sturdy enough to hold the whole skirt up when I don't know yet how much the rest of the skirt will weigh compared to the ribbing?

You are asking all the right questions, and thinking about the right variables, so that's a great start.  There a few other things you might consider as well:

Rib knits stretch more than stockinette, but stockinette will stretch.  Acrylic and wool yarns are usually far stretchier than cotton or linen.  A 4x4 rib is stretchier than a 2X2 (for example). In addition to these stretch variables, as you have pointed out, the degree of heaviness of your base skirt will also contribute to the final garment stretch.

Even testing each independent variable (e.g., the waistband rib) one at a time, in isolation of the system, could result in a misleading result.  For your example of knitting a section of waistband with various ribbing, at a minimum you would need to knit each test band the actual length you plan to use since the stretch of the band will change with increased length.  But you will still not really know how the band will hold up under the weight of the base skirt. The rib band might need to be knitted on smaller needles to provide more stability and less stretch.  You don’t say what skirt length you plan to make, but obviously, the shorter the skirt the less pull it will have on the ribbed waistband.

I also think the successful execution of your design depends your body type, e.g., if you are curvy with a small waist you will need to cast off stitches at the waist when you start your rib if you work from hem to waist, or cast on if you work from rib waist to hem.

One idea that might help with your questions specific to the waistband would be to hem the top edge and run a drawstring or wide elastic through it so you can tighten it if needed.

Without making a prototype skirt and adjusting it to meet your needs, similar to making a muslin in sewing, there's no surefire way to calculate the simultaneous effects of all your variables on the final garment.

I suggest looking at knitted skirt patterns to get a general idea of what your initial yarn, needle, rib, etc. variables should be and adjust from there.  For example:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/235805730472519799/

Your project sounds like a great idea, good luck!


Are there any downsides to using black water-soluble pencils as regular pencils? I have a set of water soluble pencils (specifically Cretacolor Artino Graphite Set 10). I have no interest in using them with water for now - are there any downsides to using them as regular pencils? Any noticeable difference?
I found a related question for color pencils, but I think they behave differently than graphite:
Does it make sense to use water color pencils instead of normal color pencils for dry coloring?

For the biggest part the answer to the related question is still valid. Water soluble graphite pencils are intended to be used both as pencils and as paint, and they will hold up just as well.
The appearance on paper between the two types of pencils is similar.
The only downside I can think of is that accidental smears might be harder or impossible to erase - when water is used in combination with water soluble graphite, the graphite cannot be erased anymore. Wiping a finger, wrist, or hand, especially when it's a little sweaty, can ruin a drawing more severely than when you're working with regular pencils.


How to add weights to circuit board standoffs(spacers) of a acrylic board? I am using acrylic boards to make a desktop file organizer. The area of the bottom is 8"x4", and it has 4 legs. I will use circuit board standoffs(spacers) as the legs. The height of each leg will be between 30mm ~ 50mm. I need to add weight to the bottom of each leg separately to make the bottom heavier. I was thinking about using coins, but would like to know other alternatives that are better and look nicer,

My question:
How to add weight to the bottom of each leg so the bottom is heavier? (I don't want to add a second layer of an acrylic board to the bottom of the legs. )

Thanks in advance for sharing your ideas. :)

For your purposes, one can expect that more weight, as low as possible, will accomplish your objective. With circuit board standoffs, you have a threaded hole at one end and a threaded stud at the other. This provides for easily attached weights in various forms.

You've considered coins, which if chosen successfully, can be attractive. Think various sizes of coins from countries around the world, with holes drilled to accept the bolt you'll use to attach to the standoff.

US coins are somewhat lightweight and poorly suited for such a project, in my opinion. Masses composed of lead will provide the best weight per volume but lead has its own complications. It's not dangerous to handle but there are some health considerations. I have a cupcake tin that I use to make lead ingots, about 80 mm in diameter and 30 mm thick, probably too large for your purpose. I then dipped them in a product called PlastiDip which is also available in spray form.

If this is attractive to you, it's a matter of picking a suitable mold (silicone molds can work) and finding someone to pour. Fishermen will frequently create their own sinkers and avid weapons owners will cast their own rounds, providing at least two resources for you.

If lead doesn't cut it, steel would be the next available option. Steel washers, both stainless and galvanized forms are available at big box stores and mom-and-pop hardware stores as well. Pick a size for your taste and aim for either the hole size to match the thread size of the hole, or match the hole size to the outside diameter of your stand-off.

Even with the possibly-unsightly washer option, you can still apply PlastiDip spray to provide a colorful rubber coating for surface protection and cosmetic appeal.


Can I use an airbrush inside? I'm looking into buying an airbrush for painting miniatures, but one thing I can't figure out is if it's safe to use it inside and if I need to use any protection for breathing if I'm going to spray inside. Do I have to set up some kind of ventilation?

The paint I'm going to spray will be acrylics and a few mediums like varnishes etc.

If you would rather use it indoors, that's fine as long as you wear a mask. If you're doing a lot, consider one of the heavy-duty ones:

You can generally buy these anywhere you can buy spray paint or airbrush supplies.

Be aware that your lungs might not be the only place you don't want paint ending up when you're indoors - cover anything you want to remain paint-free with a cloth!


How do I make a finished hole through a lined jacket? I want to make a hole in a jacket that I can pass the wires of some electronics through (it’s a US Marine parade jacket I got an op-shop in the UK.) But the jacket is lined—so simply sewing a buttonhole or punching a grommet right through would connect the lining to the outside material of the jacket. I imagine this would pull at the hole and eventually tear it.
So far as I can see it’s a permanent lining. The wires do have a plug on the end of them, it’s a JST connector similar to these. It would fit through a standard button hole, or maybe a 12mm diameter round metal grommet.
Is this a reasonable fear? If so, what else could I do?

Expanding my comment into an answer upon further consideration:
You're right to be concerned about punching through both outer and lining material and joining them with a grommet. The lining is intended to be able to shift as you move separately from the outer jacket, and the grommet would add a small point of stress. I would also worry about the lining fraying out around the grommet.
Instead, I would unpick and resew one of the seams of the lining. Jackets with linings attached at top and bottom are often constructed by leaving the back center lining seam unsewn until the end. The jacket is turned right-side-out through that opening after being sewn to the lining inside-out, and then the lining is topstitched closed (hard to find a photo! See the last image in this bag tutorial). If that is your jacket's situation, you'll have a natural way to get inside the lining.
If not, I would still go in via unpicking a seam. A seam ripper / quick unpick is easiest, but you can be careful with some pointy scissors or a new razor blade as well. Avoid stabbing through or cutting the fabric itself (of course!). If you're getting in through a seam that is not topstitched (that is, all stitching is invisible from the outside) is helps a lot to pull the fabric on each side taut away from the seam, to whatever extent possible.
In either case, to sew it back up, I would use matching or slightly-darker thread and a small, close whipstitch. You can hide the ending thread tail between the jacket and lining by stitching down right next to your knot, into the space between the lining and jacket, and then coming back out a little ways away. Trim your thread and let it disappear inside.


Is it possible to frequently change colours while crocheting? I am a huge gamer and love pixel art in general. My friend turned me onto crocheting a while ago and one of the first things I asked about was pixel art. Her response and my own limited experience tells me that it is not realistic to do. At least not ones that have many colours. I see more pixel art with knitting which I am not sure I have room for in my creative suite.

Is it possible or even advised to do pixel art by crocheting?

Could I have a single stitch one colour while having all the ones surrounding different? Is that just too many tails to deal with and would the project be weaker as a result?

You might try a method called "Corner to corner" crochet (C2C).

It seems to be relatively "new" and was something I was really intrigued to find out about. It's often used for making diagonal-style blankets but there are certainly examples of it being used for pixel-style art work.

It has the benefit of being dual-sided and it does allow for semi-regular changing of yarns. Creating your own patterns should be relatively simple with some graph paper and colored pencils/markers. Here's what it looks like:

click image to view project

As you can see, it does a pretty awesome job with pixel-style art and does allow for regular changing of colors. Here's a work-in-progress image for reference:

There's a very in-depth video of how the basic concept of C2C crochet works on The Crochet Crowd. It doesn't explain the more regular color changing process but I think that's something that can be figured out using the instructions for projects like this Christmas tree.

The best part is that the only stitches needed are chains, slip stitches and double crochets, so this should be extremely simple, regardless of skill level.

Also note that, if you're interested in really small scale, you could probably go crazy with this using steel hooks (under 2mm) and cobweb-weight yarn or embroidery floss.


Sourcing or making smooth edged glass tiles I’m trying to make refrigerator magnets, and step one seems to be laying my hands on smooth edged glass tiles.
I’ve searched for various sources without success for a bit, finding nothing much larger than 1” or 30 mm squares.for the most part, along with a few 24 x 48 mm options.
I’ve actually considered having them made, but it seems to be a cumbersome process.
I absolutely don’t want to cut to size and grind due to health implications.
My initial, but erroneous, idea was that I could simply cut them to size, and then torch smooth the edges, but that seems to be a non-starter, as I’m told that they would shatter immediately.
I know a glass blower who seems to have some idea of how to attain this but is seems cumbersome and expensive, involving only one or two layers maximum in a kiln, where they would be taken up to a temperature that we’d arrive at by experimentation, which would soften/round the edges and then the pieces allowed to cool.
From what I understand, there is an issue, although a manageable one, in that the ¼” glass that I could access would be a “float” glass that is formed on molten tin.
Ideally, I’d like to put my hands on these by the hundred. with various sizes and ratios, 2” squares, approximately 1 ½ by 3” rectangles, and some in a 4 x 5 ratio.
If anyone could point me towards a source, or suggest how these could be manufactured affordably, I’d be very appreciative.
Thank you.

I agree with Elmy's comment about glass being a bad choice for this application.  But if you are intent on using it, here are some ideas.

Microscope slides are roughly the width you want and can be cut to length.  A skilled glass cutter (say someone who makes windows or works with stained or leaded glass), can quickly cut strips and pieces from a sheet.
Glass corners and edges can be ground smooth by doing it under water.  You can even cut glass microscope slides to length with a scissors this way; snip them submerged in a basin of water.
You can melt glass in a microwave kiln.  Microwave kilns are relatively inexpensive to buy or even make yourself, and can melt glass and metals in a home microwave oven.  Melted glass jewelry is commonly made in these.


What kind of paint should I choose to start painting? To start painting what paint should I choose? Oil, acrylic, or another?
I use pencils now, and would like to upgrade to colors.

It depends on what you would like/enjoy to get involved in. A lot is based on opinion where to start. As a child, I started with watercolor. For some artists, they say that watercolor is more difficult because of how fluid it is, and how it spreads compared to other paints. Making it more difficult to control for a first-timer.

Acrylic could be a good start, because it is easy to dry, and you can get more done with acrylic paint, over a short amount of time. Compared to oil paint, that will take a longer time to dry. I have found with oil paint, it is beautiful ability to blend colors, compared to acrylic or watercolor. Oil paint can be very messy for a beginner paint.

It really depends on what you would enjoy. I found enjoyment in all three paints, but each one is kind of their own kind of technique and ability.

From personal preference only have found mine to be from easiest.

1)Watercolor.
Pros: fluid colors, dries fast.
Cons: Could spread to other colors and ripping paper from getting damp.

2)Acrylic.
Pros: Fast drying, can make layers fast.
Cons: Not as well blended colors.

3)Oil paint.
Pros: Blends well, combines colors well.
Cons: Takes forever to dry, messy, and if you aren't careful could get on clothing and stain.


As a calligraphy beginner, what features should I look for in an ink? I want to use a variety of pens, nibs and papers and want a general all-round ink I can use for all (or most) of these cases. From a beginners perspective—which calligraphy inks would be easiest to work with in this situation?

Ideally I am looking for:

Minimal or no preparation of the ink (no need to dilute the ink, for example).
Ink doesn't clot or dry too quickly (mid-use or in the bottle).
An even spread of ink on paper.
No excessive running or bleeding of ink on paper.
Easy to clean pens, nibs, spills etc.

What I want is to be able to focus on the calligraphy, not if my ink is clogging up my pen, wether I need to dilute my bottle some more or if the ink is going to soak through my paper.

I know there are dye-based inks and pigment-based inks, apart from differences in specific brands what features should I look for?

All the liquid calligraphy inks I know of are ready to use, no dilution required.
Pigmented ink must be well mixed before use for the pigment to be uniformly dispersed.
I find acrylic ink sometimes hard to remove from the nibs if not immediately cleaned
Iron Gall ink flows well and is a pleasure to use but requires an acid free paper. The ink will look very clear at first but will darken when drying.
India Ink (what's called 'encre de chine' in French) is probably the easiest to find and to use. A good one size fits all.
Chinese calligraphy sometimes uses solid ink stock which is diluted in water on an ink stone. It's OK for brush painting but not easily usable in pens and nibs.
For pens the main factor is what can you put in them. If it's a cartridge system you're more or less limited to what is available in those. (I have seen refillable cartridges before, but they looked like a mess to fill.)


How should I go about designing clothing for a teddy bear? While I can sew on a sewing machine, I've never created a pattern myself, and only seldom worked with them. Now we decided to create a jacket or a nightdress for our teddy bear. The problem is how to create a pattern for it, which we obviously have to prepare ourselves. It can be very simple, of course, but teddy bears have a bit bulky body, primarily oriented to be sitting, which further complicated things. Any ideas where to start?

For a simple night dress, you can make a tube out of fabric which is just wide enough to go around the body of the bear, from just under the front legs down to as long as you like it.
Attach straps to go over the shoulders.
I would go for separate straps on the front and back, tied on the shoulder, for simplicity. If you want to make a once on never off you can also sew the straps in place.

Less simple but still rather basic is a T-shirt shaped item.
You will need flexible fabric, as the bear will not be able to move much to help you and it likely has a rather big head.
I would not close the shoulders. For a once on and leave, you can hand sew the shoulders by hand or finish off the shoulders and neck like baby clothing and use snaps to close (and re-open) it.

To make the patterns, take the measurements, cut the pieces out of paper and try them on the bear. That way you can adjust before even starting to cut the fabrics.

A simple jacket is made like that, tube for body and smaller tubes for arms, and 'cut' the front of the tube.
It might be possible to get it on by moving the arms or even bending them (if just stuffed and not moving) but if that is not impossible you can sew (by hand) it in place.

There are patterns for dolls and stuffed animals clothing online, you could use some of that for inspiration and adjust the pattern parts to the measurements of your bear.

Run an internet search on these words and several collections pop-up:
-patterns for teddy bear clothes free-

Edit:
It looks like your bear has very flexible arms, the kind you can push through sleeves in T-shirt shaped clothing, and a relatively small head (compared to other teddies) so a regular T-shirt with a wide neck will already be possible.

To measure I would take a tape measure (or a bit of string which you put to the ruler later) just under its arms as well as just above its legs where the tummy seems to be on its biggest.
Unlike T-shirts for humans, for your little fellow you want the sleeves a bit forward, measure the difference between the distance over the back and the front, I guess it may be as much as 2/3 against 1/3.
For the size of the sleeves, measure on the lower end, where they are wider.
If the fabric is flexible, you can make the sleeves a bit narrower further up, but stiff fabrics will not let the paws through if the tube is narrow.

These same measurements will hold for your jacket. With a fellow as flexible as this, you can use almost any fabric, as long as you are happy to sew it. Just remember to make the sleeves wide enough for the paws.


What happened to Venus with a Veil (1531), a possible forgery I don't know much about the art world. I read from http://authenticationinart.org/pdf/artmarket/man-behind-cranach.pdf "The panel [Venus with a Veil (1531) attributed to Lucas Cranach], sold by Colnaghi gallery in London in 2013
for €7m to the Prince of Liechtenstein, is now under
examination by the Centre de Recherche et de
Restauration des Musées de France at the Musée du
Louvre, where it can be studied alongside Cranach’s
Three Graces, which was acquired by the Louvre in
2011 and bears the same date. The centre’s verdict
should be provided soon to the judge."
May I ask what is the result of the examination? I cannot find much online about the results of this specific case. How can there be nothing on Wikipedia?  I have tried searching to find more information about the specific painting. However, I am not very good with Google and either get irrelevant results or results about the seizure of the painting but not the investigation.

It was confirmed to be a forgery.  The most recent news I could find about the story was from 2019, but it indicates that experts had determined that the painting, as well as a number of others sold by Giulano Ruffini, was a modern forgery.

The first painting identified in the case was a Lucas Cranach the Elder Venus, seized by French authorities during a 2016 exhibition of the collection of the Prince of Liechtenstein at the Caumont Centre d’Art in Aix. The prince had purchased the work from Ruffini.
Suspicions quickly arose about other paintings sold by the collector. Sotheby’s tapped scientist and art conservator James Martin of the Massachusetts-based authentication firm Orion Analytical to take a look at a purported Frans Hals work, and a painting attributed to Parmigianino. He found both to be modern fakes, leading Sotheby’s to refund the buyers.

When I first saw an image of the Venus With a Veil, I thought it looked extremely familiar and very much like Cranach.  I thought I had probably seen it before, but I am not actually a particular fan of Cranach, and I just happened to have seen a lot of his works at the Borgese Gallery in Rome, which has an extensive collection.  It would actually be quite unlikely that I had ever seen one of the master's more obscure works.
But no, I had not actually seen it before.  I was instead thinking of this Adam and Eve by Cranach.  Compare the outlines of the womens' ears.  They are actually almost identical, much more similar than you would expect two of Cranach's ears to be.  Their foot positioning are also eerily alike.  Although Cranach evidently liked that pose, his other renderings of it were not so similar.


Use of white watercolour paint I've been starting out with watercolours, and have been wondering what the purpose of white paint is.

The best way to make something white is to never paint on it in the first place, and other colours are lightened simply by being more dilute. When I use white after the previous layer has dried, the effect is often very weak and once the white dries it is hardly noticeable.

Are there ever situations or effects where white paint is useful in watercolours?

Normally, in watercolour painting, you don't get any "white" paint.  The techniques for watercolour painting, as you stated, is to use the underlying paper to supply the "white" colour, and to supply for the brightness of a colour as you use coloured washes to allow the white to show through that layer's transparency.

However, there is a thing called gouache, which is a sort of opaque watercolour paint - and you can get white guache.  I've found white goache useful for adding tiny highlights such as the "whites of the eyes" and little stars and shines and sparkles.  It's also useful for covering up mistakes.  Plus, you can paint over the white goache with other watercolours.

The white paint you get in plain watercolours is mainly for making your normal watercolour washes a bit more opaque.  Watercolours are, by nature, transparent, so adding white to a colour will make them less transparent, but never opaque (unless you add gouache).  I would use white watercolour, perhaps, for example, for some leaves and foliage where you want the colour to be both paler and more opaque.  You still have to use layering though.

This page describes a bit of why you would use white watercolour paint - there are reasons to use white paint, you know.

This page describes how to paint "white" without using white watercolour paint - since people don't normally use white paint to paint "white".