Sunday, May 2, 2010

Curiouser and Curiouser

After an all-too-long hiatus Tiffany is once again creating some magical wares over at Curious Goods. Her latest project is a re-creation of the Black Vial props from "Dragon Age: Origins", complete with video. I'm already pestering her how the swirling shadow effect was done.

4 comments:

Jarons20 said...

That is pretty cool, was the paper treated so that it didn't break up in the water or get soggy... is it paper?
Also I think she may have just used pearlized handsoap for the swirling, kind of like this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPcPxThSYoc&feature=related
but that uses a heating element to make the soap move.

Propnomicon said...

@ Jarons20

I have an email into Tiffany asking how it was done, but I think the paper might be sealed with acrylic. The slick finish produced by the acrylic wouldn't be noticeable if it was immersed in liquid. The liquid could be alcohol with dye, glycerin, and a touch of nacreous powder, but that's just speculation.

Raven said...

To waterproof the vellum would be clearly necessary, yes. Acrylic? Perhaps. I'd be tempted to try a few "coats" (soaks) of Tong Oil finish, instead.

Looking at how the "shadow swirls" makes me think of those little plastic "ocean wave" toys with immiscible liquids of two (or more) colors. Any immiscibles would do, though, even a light oil and a water-or-alcohol-diluted ink.

Pestering Tiffany is the best way to actually know how this was done, but don't stop being experimental now! Who knows, you might discover an even better effect!

Julian DiMarco said...

i have achieved that effect before with a pearlescent silver casting resin colorant and water.