Basket Illusions

Re: Basket Illusions

Harvey Meyer in Atlanta

Glad to have been of assistance to you Jerry. The India ink pens are available in 11 colors with the appropriate nib sizes. I avoid any alcohol dye markers like Sharpie, Prismacolor, etc because none of them can make a claim of lightfast. All of these will fade over time. India ink markers claim to be lighfast and will not fade. I'd strongly advise you to reconsider using Sharpies, etc.

Re: Basket Illusions

Jerry Maske

Thanks for the advice. Now, what brand names ink pens are you using. I looked everywhere for the Faber Castele and could only find them in four colors. Eleven would be better.

We took a piece of scrap Maple and applied every marker we have and put on various finishes. Once dried, they were solid. Now, I can't speak to fading over time, but some of them were Sharpies.

Again, if you can point me to a company that sells india ink markers in all those colors, I'll certainly look them over.

Thanks again,

Jerry

Re: Basket Illusions

Harvey Meyer in Atlanta

Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens. I get them at Dick Blick - www.dickblick.com

Search for Pitt artist pens.

I use the "B" brush tip, and "S" superfine nibs. They have 11 colors with the "S" nibs as well as brush tips. All of the other colors only come with brush tips. Usually about $2 each. More expensive in the Dick Blick stores.

Re: Basket Illusions

Jerry Maske

GOT IT! I'd been to Dick Blick before but couldn't find that much variety; guess I needed more coffee. Anyway, my associate and I will study them today and order what we will need for our next one. I'd found some of those at the local Hobby Lobby too but the variety was poor.

Up in our area of Maine there's a really limited art supply. And I don't understand why either because theres literally hundreds of "Cabin Artists" that sell to galleries all over New England. No Dick Blick store. From where we live, it's over an hour to the Mall area where there's an AC More and a Hobby Lobby. So we do a lot of that sort of shopping online. Hobby Lobby would carry a larger selection if I'd give them a guarantee of volume purchase. Guess not.

We discovered it's a really good idea to have your pattern laid out on polar graph paper BEFORE you begin; it wasn't pretty when we figured that out. So, I've ordered a larger printer capable of scanning and printing large enough for what we're doing. My old printer wants to be a boat anchor anyway, so it's time.

Thanks again for the guidance and I'll keep in touch. The piece we are collaborating on now is going to be semi spectacular.

Jerry

Re: Basket Illusions

Justin Stephen

Jerry, not sure where you are in Maine but large universities always have lots of arts classes and there is a strong demand for art supplies. I would be shocked if there isn't at least one decent art supply place in Orono, for example. In some cases, the main college bookstore on campus has a good art supply section. Whether or not they have Faber-Castell pens is another story. Google seems to indicate that there are some independent art supply places in Portland at least.

I use acrylic ink for my "bead weaving illusion" pieces and luckily have several local places I can buy it (Dick Blick and another regional chain called Plaza), but I have learned that I can get it it at Hobby Lobby but that Michael's does not sell it. A.C. Moore I don't think has it, but am not sure. Michael's and A.C. make most of their money off of seasonal home decoration stuff and yarn, so their art supply sections tend to be pretty lousy. Hobby Lobby is a bit better owing to the larger size of their stores, but they still are not wonderful.

Re: Basket Illusions

Jerry Maske

Justin,

Never would have thought of the college book store. I know where it is in Orono too. Used to go there for odd ball things. As it turns out, I'll be up that way a couple of times later this month for other reasons, and this time of year, the campus is pretty vacant. I'll give it a shot.

I've found a Dick Blick online site that seems to have a good selection, but being able to look at them first hand and try them first would make me feel better about spending the money.

Thanks for the guidance.

Jerry

Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens.

John K Jordan

Thanks for this. I've tried all kinds of markers and pens from the art store and other sources but not these. Based on your note I have a set coming from their web store.

JKJ

Re: Basket Illusions

Michael Schneider

Thank you very much,

FYI Michael's has a 50% coupon going (and often do). Just give them your email and you will get many coupon's.

http://www.michaels.com/10232312.html

Re: Basket Illusions

Jerry Maske

A new issue in my Basket Illusion world; a PRINTER! My old one was acting like a candidate for a boat anchor so I've been researching new ones. Along the way I found a series of printers that handle larger, wider paper; 11 x 17 for example. After studying them, and realizing they didn't really cost that much more, one has come to live here, and I'm a very happy camper.

I can go to one of the web sites that produces polar graph paper and allows me to put in whatever number of concentric circles I want, as well as spokes to match my design. And now I can print it out on, what amounts to, FULL SIZE paper. That lets me draw the design exactly as it will go on the piece and try different color combinations too.

Nice timing, having the old printer die and finding this new wide one. Time to turn some blanks to go crazy with my new designing process.

Jerry

Re: Large format printer

David Walser

Jerry -- Using a large format printer is a great idea. And, I just might be able to sneak it past my wife's no-more-tools-for-your-shop ultimatum!

Re: Large format printer *LINKS*

William Duffield

I have this Canon Pixma iX6820 wide carriage printer.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HM0IVDY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It prints in color and black, 13" x19", edge to edge and top to bottom. It is by far the least expensive large format printer I've found, works well, connects wirelessly over your WiFi network, and third party inks are very inexpensive. I can highly recommend it. It does have a rather large footprint, especially when opened and loaded with the large paper, so WiFi is a distinct advantage, because you can set it up in a spare room instead of on your desk. It has a straight-through paper path, so it also works well for printing signs on heavy paper.

Here are the consumables I typically use with it. Inks:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IA8SMIG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00IA8P202/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o06_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Heavy paper:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NCBKNFG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1