I've done it. I went totally hog wild and drove myself crazy. I had this simple idea. I wanted to make a paisley piggy bank. It started out in black and white. Then I decided that a life without color was drab and boring. Then I had the thought that if I put metallic paint under the color it would look like enamel, especially since the paint is somewhat translucent. Then I decided that the metallic paint wasn't translucent enough so I added in a little medium to make it thinner. Then I found that it didn't stick to the high gloss finish of my pigs. I screamed and ranted for a while, then decided to go shopping. Retail therapy at the craft store - OH YEAH!

I thought of two ways to fix my little problem. One, I could spray the clean surface of the pig with glass frosting, giving it a toothier surface for the paint to grab onto. Two, I could use paint specifically made for glass surfaces. So, being the kind of person I am, I decided that if one was good, both would be better. I rarely do things by halves.

I found my tiniest brush, the one that has three hairs in it. I found an archival pen that would write on the paint surface (and I had to use up a lot of workable fixative to make sure it didn't smudge) then I started drawing. Let me rephrase that: I started drawing really tiny patterns on a really tiny pig. Three cramped hands, a migraine and four days later, I had the pattern for my little pig all drawn out. By the way, pencils don't work well on the frosted glass surface, so I had to draw all of it freehand. Oh joy, oh happiness.

Then I started painting. For the next six days it was paint a little, set it aside to dry, paint a little more, set it aside to dry, repeat, repeat, repeat. By the time I finished painting in all the colors with my three haired brush, I was having nightmares about this little piggy.

Finally, I was at the stage where I could start outlining it all in gold. I did a little and was underwhelmed by how it looked. It needed more depth. I dug out a manga set and tried underlining everything in sepia. It smudged horribly, even after I used fixative. and it messed up the tips on my pens. I finally ended up outlining it all in gold paint, yes, again with the three hair brush, then going over the top of my outlines with a gold metallic pen in a slightly lighter shade. I think it looks as good as it's going to. After 60, yes, sixty hours of VERY painstaking work, it's finished. I'm kind of proud of it really. It looks like it might even resemble Faberge work. It's also going to be a one of a kind. You'd have to pay me a lot to make another one.

Yet another really weird idea.

Tonight I was watching an old movie with the hubby and I had a truly bizarre idea - I decided to make a punked out pig. As you might have seen on my "Little Ham-let" page, I like piggy banks, but not ordinary ones. I decided to try making some extra ordinary ones instead.

I enjoy drawing and had the idea that I could use permanent markers to draw on my pigs. That's done well (the first one I did sold within a half hour of my taking it into a gallery) so I wanted to expand on that idea. I've done fabric covered pigs, which are doing well too. Something was still missing.

I've started to really get into 3-D work and find the challenges exhausting and exhilarating. Drawing on a shiny three dimensional surface is not for sissies! The pens I use will rub off if they're handled, so I have to be exceptionally careful with the work and I use LOTS of workable fixative. This makes the gap between concept and completion even wider; some of my pieces take weeks to finish!

My really weird idea was to make a steampunk pig.. I'm currently working on a pig that combines all or most of those things, some of my drawings (pointillism is my current favored style) and a vivid sense of imagination to make a steampunked pig. I'll post a picture or two when I get done.

Strangely enough, everyone's reaction has been pretty much the same - startled silence then a burst of giggles leading to outright laughter. That's pretty much how I reacted to the idea, so I think it might be a good one.

Wish me luck.