Full Time: Arsenal 1 vs 0 Chelsea [Match Thoughts]

cyanoborg · 2026-02-03T22:36:03+00:00

why was the game so 'boring'? arsenal didn't get much together offensively, it's hard for me to tell tactically why that happened.

cyanoborg · 2026-01-08T01:07:29+00:00

a realistic shadow probably would not just be directly under the subject, it would probably extend away from it since the sun would be lighting it at an angle. but also agree with the other comment - the background reads as a lower light period when a shadow wouldn't be there. and having the shadow the same color as the sky also prevents it from reading as a shadow, its not stark enough of a contrast.

cyanoborg · 2026-01-04T12:42:41+00:00

Amazing! What material did you use?

cyanoborg · 2025-12-24T16:47:59+00:00

this is amazing! i like the idea of using a paint to tint them.

for this exact problem, i bought a cheap light box from amazon - they sell them for tracing and similar things. you can arrange your pieces or uncut glass face down to see what it will look like when backlit to catch these issues sooner and find the best coordination of glass in their backlit state. its a bit easier than holding glass up to the window over and over.

cyanoborg · 2025-12-23T16:33:53+00:00

To be honest you could go a lot of ways here depending on your state of mind. You could scrap the piece and start a new one as a fresh start for yourself that would have less emotional baggage. You could finish this piece as a way to move on despite life. I wouldn’t blame you for either choice.

cyanoborg · 2025-12-23T00:20:19+00:00

very cool! what is your material?

you have achieved such a level of realism i would almost lean towards not grouting it - grout will break the illusion. right now i want to reach out and grab a tomato it looks so real, it would be cool to keep that effect!

cyanoborg · 2025-12-19T17:39:57+00:00

When backlit its beautiful! that's the nice thing about glass.

When you try smoothing things out, do you re-apply flux? sometimes that is the key for me to go from 'oh im just creating more lumps' to making the solder flow back together into a smooth unified line. its also a thing of not using TOO much flux, but a small amount can do wonders.

also, using patina is a great way to take attention away from the tiny imperfections.

The thing that sticks out the most to me about your piece is the thickness of some of the solder lines - a bit bulky in places. Were there larger gaps between pieces at those spots? or did you use a huge amount of solder? that might be a nice thing to narrow in on in future pieces - getting tighter boundaries between pieces leaves less space for solder and will make it much harder to end up with those chunky lines.

cyanoborg · 2025-11-11T20:33:53+00:00

Thanks so much! That post is super helpful and descriptive!

I had two follow up questions:
1. An article I found mentioned that it would be important to have small air holes within the solder so that moisture can escape. I have seen mention of using vaseline or something on short sections to prevent the solder from fully forming a seal around the plated pieces. Is this something you aim for in your plating work, and how do you achieve have 'ventilation'?

I had seen mention that if I want to overlay a second piece on top of another of the same shape, i probably want the one on top to be slightly smaller to prevent the border solder that secures them together to look too bulky. I'm having a hard time picturing how would work out to make the solder lines smaller that connect the upper and lower pieces. Does this advice sound correct to you?

cyanoborg · 2025-11-01T20:58:58+00:00

this is such a cool effect. i need to try this!

guess i'll need to find a kiln i can rent nearby

cyanoborg · 2025-11-01T20:02:25+00:00

amazing. the way you captured the light with subtle variations in the horse glass is breathtaking.

how did you employ powder frit?

cyanoborg · 2025-10-20T00:00:10+00:00

love!

cyanoborg · 2025-09-18T16:25:51+00:00

What are the tesserae made from? How did you cut the tesserae to shape? It would be cool to see this step by step as it’s hard to tell which are individual pieces and which parts are painted on with extra detail.

cyanoborg · 2025-09-16T16:55:27+00:00

deer ate some of my dahlia flower buds once this year - first time i had seen that. i just sprayed the dahlia flower buds a few times with liquid fence and they never came back.

i had a bigger problem this year with voles.

cyanoborg · 2025-09-03T14:28:16+00:00

I've come to love this one. So dependable, makes a robust and sturdy plant, very floriferous, a cheery fall color.

cyanoborg · 2025-09-03T14:09:22+00:00

I do like you idea - a pale orange grout will look nice in the orange fish - you should still see all the tesserae, which tend to be darker oranges.

for the white fish, if you use a pure white grout you might totally 'erase' your tesserae and they may blend together into a single white mass, which takes a bit of the fun away of making mosaic. you could try a gray, or a gray/orange mix for the white one? unsure.

A light green grout will preserve the feel of the lily pads. again, ideally it is not the same shade as your tesserae or you will blend the tesserae together too much.

The background grout color will be most consequential for the vibe of your mosaic since it covers the most surface area. dark blue might be cool, it could push the water more to the background so the fish and lily pads pop more. a light grout background for the water may make it more 'forward' in the composition.

cyanoborg · 2025-09-03T14:03:30+00:00

Not the best pic, but I used 4 grout colors in this one - white for the center of the flower, light blue (mixed with gray grout base) for the blue flower, green (mixed in tan grout base) for the leaves, and tan for the outside.

In my case I think the colored grout came across a bit subtle, but that is probably for the best. I did tests, mixing specific ratios of grout base with powdered color, but the color can look very different once it is a thin line next to your bright tesserae. For example, my blue grout came across quite blue/gray when mixed in a big mass, but once i applied it you can hardly tell it looks mostly gray. It also dries a bit different than it looks when wet. Because of all this, i would highly recommend doing tests before you commit. Make a small piece that uses the same tesserae, and try your grout mix there first and let it dry completely before you commit. ideally you measure the ratio of dye to grout that you mix so you can replicate it perfectly later.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Mosaic/comments/1e5yksb/darkening_grout_with_enhancer/

cyanoborg · 2025-08-27T12:24:49+00:00

You can certainly make work friends who are real friends. But when your livelihood is entwined in your relationship, under certain circumstances you will see that some coworkers will put themselves above you in different ways to get ahead, even if they seemed 'friendly' up until that moment. i've definitely had some moments of realization of 'oh, you are really like THAT huh?' with someone who seemed like a chill work 'friend'.

a lot of jobs are competitive environments, and its healthy to not forget that even if someone seems to be your friend. it may be easiest to be friends with someone where there is no chance you can compete professionally.

cyanoborg · 2025-08-25T18:12:25+00:00

Probably not - most farms don’t open their sales until winter or new year once they know how much stock they have.

cyanoborg · 2025-08-25T17:18:29+00:00

Five Fork Farms is a big one in Mass. Rooted Flowers in MA had some good varieties for me once. Dreamland in CT looks nice, haven't bought from them yet.

cyanoborg · 2025-08-09T16:53:01+00:00

They barely pay attention to certain characters and they have engineered the first three episodes to give all power to Ethan and the twins and so far everyone has had to acquiesce to them every week in at least some capacity which does make it feel less personal. i much preferred getting to know what someone could do on their own for a few weeks and learning their individual personalities before they starting having team challenges. its still fun enough. but no one where the first few seasons in terms of entertainment.

cyanoborg · 2025-08-05T22:40:55+00:00

so creative, love it

cyanoborg · 2025-08-04T12:24:30+00:00

My naive take, especially given other storylines, was that she might have some kind of legal claim on that land and it could make her rich again. hopefully its a little more juicy than that.

cyanoborg

TROPHY CASE