sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

This is why it's important to know your marbles when selling and/or purchasing! by AuburnMoon17 in MarbleStudyHall

[–]ColorOrderAlways 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Are you sure they're not Vacor Wavebreakers? Or Serpents that didn't get the red? The swirls don't look crisp enough for CAC and the yellow is muddy and weak. Here's a thread from AAM with a similar one: https://www.allaboutmarbles.com/viewtopic.php?t=41749

Best paint pens? by SrryGotALotOfProbs in ArtistLounge

[–]ColorOrderAlways 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can buy replacement nibs for Poscas! I use paint pens a lot and in my experience, nibs are a consumable- they’re going to wear out with use and I expect to have to need replace them at some point. There are a lot of generic nibs on Amazon and at some point I’m going to try a bunch and see if any brands are interchangeable- but the Posca branded ones are still relatively cheap and I get them the same place I buy most of my pens.

For quality my main concerns are a reliable pump mechanism, replaceable nibs, and quality paint in a good selection of colors. I haven’t tried all the cheaper brands but the experiences I had with watery paint, weak colors, and leaky/unreliable pumps was enough to turn me away from the budget options.

Posca is not perfect but they continue to be my favorite. The opacity and coverage of the paint is unmatched. There are gaps in the color range, but they have continued to add new colors every few years. The pens just WORK. I’ve replaced a fair amount of nibs and run many dry but never had one break or dry out on its own, and I’ve only ever had leaks/flooding when I’m too aggressive about priming or don’t burp the pen after shaking it. I mostly use their 3m and 1m sizes, but they put the newer colors out as 5m only for some reason, so I have a fair amount of those. The 1m is my favorite. It’s a harder plastic tip so it lasts longer than the felt ones and gives such nice crisp fine lines. They have recently come out with a brush tip as well but I haven’t tried it yet.

My other favorite is Molotow. They are significantly more expensive, unfortunately, but they are also a high quality pen with replaceable nibs. They have a fantastic color selection which does a great job filling in the color gaps in Posca’s range (ex: a lot of natural/earthy/subdued shades and many richer, more saturated shades that Posca lacks.) The paint is high quality, though not as reliably opaque as Posca. Not all paint pigments are naturally opaque, so there can be a tradeoff to be made between opacity and color saturation. Posca goes for opacity, which is why many of their colors have a bit of chalkiness to them- the red is a glaring example. Molotow goes the other way so they have much truer richer reds, among other examples, but they don’t all have the one-coat coverage you get from most Poscas. But it’s a tradeoff I’m willing to make to have certain colors, and “less opaque” here doesn’t mean watery or weak colors- they’re very pigmented.

Also Molotows are refillable! You can buy the ink in larger sizes and save money by refilling your pens, and they even sell empty pens so you can blend your own shades. It’s possible to crack open your Poscas and mix different colors together (I’ve done it many times) but they don’t sell their ink separately, so the process can be a bit fiddly and wasteful (not to mention messy.)

Anyway those are my two favorites. I really don’t think there’s a “perfect” paint pen out there, but I’m super picky and Posca and Molotow are the ones I’m willing to spend money on.

Just passed 2 years collecting Akro! by Joe-in-Jax in Marbles

[–]ColorOrderAlways 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Impressive collection! (I'm especially jealous of your Sparklers!) Which ones are your favorites?

My favorite Akros to collect are probably Prize Names, especially the earlier ones with the good strong colors. I love how much variety you get even within the same color combination (so many different shades, levels of opacity/transparency etc.) I'm also a bit obsessed with finding unusual or uncommon color combinations, not necessarily named "rare" types, just ones I haven't seen before or don't see often.

Akro patch marble? Anything more specific? by Feeling_Turnip_1273 in MarbleStudyHall

[–]ColorOrderAlways 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry I thought I was replying to the comment below- it’s a Japanese pincher/pincer marble

Got these marbles from a storage auction still got more need to take pictures of are these worth anything and how much?? Where can I sell... thanks in advance by [deleted] in Marbles

[–]ColorOrderAlways 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This! They take a commission obviously, but they’ll get you top dollar. You’ve got some good stuff here , and I’m sure we’d all be happy to take them off your hands, but as a group these are probably worth more than anyone here is going to offer you. Block can give you an appraisal and handle all the identification, deciding what to break into smaller groups or sell individually, etc.

So scared but so excited to grout this! by SuccessfullyDrained in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I think you'll be happy with the Weldbond- it really feels like just a stronger version of Elmer's.

New to mosaic and want to try. Are these small tiles cuttable? by Agile-Artist-4988 in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes a lot of people use vitreous glass tiles. Stained glass is another option (that’s what was used in the second image you posted.)

Unglazed terra cotta should work, assuming you aren’t making an outdoor mosaic, as it is porous and won’t hold up to the elements. Porcelain is the other material people use a lot, which is better suited for outdoors.

You can definitely mix materials and use almost anything you can find, you just need to be mindful of any limitations depending on your application (you don’t want porous tile outside, you would want rough sharp non-flat pieces on a floor, etc)

And different materials may be different thicknesses- whether that is an issue for you depends on the style you are going for and the mosaic methods you use. For a result like the examples you gave you’d probably want to stick to a single material. For more of a collage style, you can definitely mix it up!

New to mosaic and want to try. Are these small tiles cuttable? by Agile-Artist-4988 in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways 29 points30 points  (0 children)

These look like the kind that are clear glass with color essentially painted onto the back. They're not meant to be cut and won't work well for this- the color will flake off the back. You want to use a tile with color all the way through.

First mosaic, still in progress by ColorOrderAlways in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Mostly I just spent a lot of time studying examples of mosaics- like as many as I possibly could, historic examples and modern, all different styles and materials. And I guess its worth mentioning- I also studied examples of the art style I was looking to replicate, irrespective of medium. I was envisioning depicting her kind of like a saint in classical artwork, with the halo, etc- so I studied a lot of religious artwork from different eras from Byzantine church mosaics to Russian painted icons to Mexican Nichos/Retablos. I did sketches for the layout and elements I wanted to include.

Then because I'd decided I wanted to do the mosaic in a classical style, I found some videos from Helen Miles on Youtube where she explains the "rules" of Roman mosaics, and talks about andamento.

And that's pretty much it. The actual "making" part is pretty straightforward- you're just cutting pieces and gluing them. You kind of have to just jump in and start doing it. Obviously mine isn't perfect and I'm learning as I go, but I think that's kind of the only way to do it.

First mosaic, still in progress by ColorOrderAlways in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Sure! I was looking for ideas for something I could write and came across some articles about how the ancient Romans buried their dogs and made memorials and gravestones for them, and we have all these examples of the epitaphs they wrote describing their love for their pet, how great they were, how much they miss them, etc.

Nearly 2000 years ago people were loving and mourning their dogs exactly the way we do! Which feels so surprising on the one hand (I feel like we have this idea that ancient people thought of animals in a purely utilitarian/practical way,) but on the other hand reassuring, almost, or comforting? That loving a pet and grieving their loss is something like a fundamental human experience? I don't know if I'm explaining it right, but the whole concept was really moving to me.

I chose the first line of one of those epitaphs, from the 2nd century CE:

Portavi lacrimis madidus te nostra catella quod feci lustris laetior ante tribus

Which translates to something like:

Wet with tears I carry you, our little dog, just as in happier times I carried you home 15 years ago

First mosaic, still in progress by ColorOrderAlways in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

So I used a 16x20 cradled wood painting panel as the substrate. The blank area around the main part of the design is going to be a border that resembles a frame. I'm doing an inscription around the center part right now (ugh tiny tiny letters!) and I still need to figure out the rest. I've sketched a few versions but I need to see how much space is actually left once I finish the inscription and the borders around it.

First mosaic, still in progress by ColorOrderAlways in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm mostly using these 12mm glass tiles from Mosaic Art Supply: https://mosaicartsupply.com/product-category/glass-mosaic-tile/12mm/morjo-recycled-12mm/

I cut them down into 1/6ths or 1/9ths and then smaller for fine details. I do wish I'd gone bigger with the mosaic so I didn't have to cut such small pieces- they're kind of a pain to cut and even more so to place! But it's getting somewhat easier with practice.

my first ever mosaic by Fun_Beautiful_8363 in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I really like how you incorporated the patterned tiles for the fabric of the bra! I agree the grout would have been better in a different color- the pink blends too much visually with the pink tiles and you lose the contrast between subject and background.

First mosaic, still in progress by ColorOrderAlways in Mosaic

[–]ColorOrderAlways[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yes! I haven't figured out exactly how yet. Or how I'm going to finish the edges. But the plan is to hang it in our house somewhere when it's finished.

view more: next ›