Finished Swallowtail Butterfly

Hey folks, Karl here with some more finished bugs! Today it's an Oregon Swallowtail. I went a little crazy with the laser cutting on this one, but overall I'm pretty happy with the results. I've been trying to incorporate the insect's original wing pattern a bit more into the laser cut design, and I think I still need to work on it. Either way, I like how it turned out.

I found some really cool parts from those clocks last week, and had a lot of fun incorporating them into this little guy. 

Anyways, hope you're all having a wonderful day, and see you next time!

First sculpture of many

So, it's a new year, time to get back on the project horse. I'll be updating quite often, and with material I think you'll all enjoy. Sculpture and metal have always been close to my heart and with an opening in my school schedule I can finally get back to making sculptures.

As usual, it starts with a recycled copper frame which I solder using a torch. This is my favorite part, I just love working with copper.

Lately I've been using a laser cutter to carve out patterns into leather for the wings of these guys. It's really a neat process, going from a black and white drawing to something physical you can hold. It also allows for some really incredible details.

The finished piece turned out well. Now to mount it!

Back with More Art!

So, been busy at college for the last couple weeks, but I managed to finish a couple of projects before the end of summer. The first is a set of wire butterflies that I entered into the Samaritan Employee Art show, and took 1st place with! :) The second I will post at a later date. Pictures first, then description:

So, here it is! This one took me quite some time, probably a couple weeks (probably not as long as the portal gun, but close). I went and picked up a book on butterfly species for this one, so they're all based on actual species (you could probably even identify them!) I made sure to include some of the markings and coloration of the originals as best I could, but added a bit of metallic flair to each. It was fun doing lots of different designs, which was something I haven't had to do with my art yet, so it was a good experience, and turned out well. Anyways, here's some close ups of the rest, and hope you stop by the blog again!