stick set

I should note, the more compliant model is unfortunately the one missing a front leg.

fired sticks

I've finally fired my stick insect and emu feather test pieces and am pretty chuffed with them! The brown underglaze pencil did fade a little, so I know to be more heavy handed with it next time (and must remember not to smudge it off with my hand...!), but the Duncan EZ Strokes have worked perfectly well - awesome considering they are only designed for earthenware temperatures.

[click to enlarge + see detail]

stick pots

Yesterday's stick insect sketches made their way onto pots today;

I started with a light sketch in brown underglaze pencil, then one or 2 layers of dark brown underglaze and a bit of shadow with the pencil again. I haven't used either of these products to stoneware before, so I don't know how the colour will fire, especially under a glaze - they may just fade and burn out.

sticks

Early this year, a good friend gifted some stick insects to me as pets. 2 spiny leaf stick insects to be precise. One boy (known as Boy) and one girl with a missing leg (known as Girl). They live in a bunch of eucalyptus leaves on my coffee table and are terribly civilised; they only wander off when they run out of leaves and their poop smells like gum leaves! I've been wanting to draw them for months and last night, finally did:

[click image to enlarge]