Welcome to Impsandthings. At present I'm working towards marketing and selling my work. You can see a complete portfolio of my work by following the link below or buy work at MISI. My intention is to use this blog to write about some of my ideas, inspirations and techniques and document how I create some of my work.
A few more completed
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My goal is to complete I watercolour per week - but over the last couple of
weeks I have managed to do two each week. Either the subject matter was
si...
Progress Report February ’24
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A day late and a dollar short on this one, for which I blame February and
its inadequate number of days. A disappointing month, even in a leap year.
But ...
Uglies Movie/Picture Book
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Haven’t been on here much, but I’ve got two bits of news! 1) After various
delays due to the SAG/WGA strikes, the Uglies movie is back on Netflix’s
sched...
Want a Free Paretsky Short Story?
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Pay Dirt is a prequel to the adventures of Cady Perec. Cady is a social
studies teacher in Lawrence, Kansas, who plays a big role in Pay Dirt. She
also a...
Automata Tinkering Global Workshop 2024
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We are delighted to be running this automata tinkering course for the 10th
time in September 2024 Tickets are available via Eventbrite There is a
super ear...
Goblin Art Returns...
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After a long break, the Goblin Art studio is finally reopening!
There will be a new emphasis on giant masks and giant puppets (think
parades and public s...
Fingers in the cogs
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As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) continues to expand, more and
more people are turning to AI-powered tools like ChatGPT to help create
content fo...
Happy New Year
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I've been away from Myth & Moor for rather a long time now. There's just
been so much going on around here: hard grief after the loss of our beloved
Tilly ...
New song: Carrickfergus
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In honour of St. Patrick’s Day, we have released a new song: Carrickfergus
(live). This is one of the many traditional melodies that we each grew up
list...
The Aether Bandit
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After a very long absence from this site, I'm back! Took a long road down
developing a business using 3D printing for creating collectible one of a
kind ...
New Births on the Edge of Winter
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GREETINGS to you all, should you still be here on this quietest of blogs!
This is a small note to you from the depths of my busy creative, mothering
days ...
Find Jen Elsewhere
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This blog is no longer in use.
Please head over to my website or my Youtube channel instead.
Thank you,
Jen xx
photo credit: Nuraan Ackers
Thien Cung Cave in HaLong Bay
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Thien Cung Cave (Heavenly Cave)
When you booking halong bay tours or halong bay cruises, one of place you
must visit is Thien Cung Cave in HaLong Bay
It is ...
Our bags are packed for the Pacific Northwest
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The summer seems to be rushing by. I think it feels like that because we
haven’t really had any summer yet. I know, I know, some of you have been
having R...
ramping up here!
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– ok, 2 posts in, urm, several months may not really rank as ramping up –
but i’m working at it!! have been really immersed in creating what i hope
will be...
Returning to the Eyrie
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Welcome back, Gentle Readers! Sorry for the unconscionably long silence
(No posts since January? Really, Scott?). Work continues on A GATHERING
OF RAVE...
New Website, New Blog
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I have a totally redone website where I will be posting all new blog
entries. You can follow my future adventures there.
www.tombanwell.com
THE SUIT AND I GO TO TOWN
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Living and working in the green boskyness of Wiltshire doesn't demand
sartorial elegance; it encourages old cords and yesterday's shirt. So The
Suit ...
Woman Relief
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This is a woman relief cast from a original sculpture of mine. I offer it
in my Etsy store. I enjoyed making her a lot. Hope you like her too. :-)
http://...
sweet baby name
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Decide with your partner in coming up with the best baby name for your
sweet baby. It wouldn’t be nice to be always blamed when people ask who
chose that a...
Byte Magazine Covers
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Ben brought home an old Byte magazine that someone had loaned use for the
Steampunklet (the cover article was on Logo, which she's getting into), and
that ...
Steampunk Cyberpunk Ray Guns
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Nuevos Rayguns, el primero está construido sobre una base de pistola Nerf,
el segundo es un diseño completamente original y único puesto que las
piezas ...
Sculpting Ears
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This is a post for Jo who requested info on doing ears.
Great illustration of the outer ear parts from: virtualmedicalcentre.com
I made these large enough ...
One wizard and a Ghoul
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Just thought I would pop in and say hello and show you a couple of pictures
too.
This is a 24th scale Elven Wizard and a bit of a traveler. I am thinking of...
Matin Difficile
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Bonjour,
Je ne suis pas en avance ce matin mais j'en ai terminé avec la baguette
fraîche, beurrée et le café fumant.
Ca a été difficile de se quitter mais ...
I am really pleased with this figure now, partly because it took me so long to decide on the final look but mostly because I've used and refined some new techniques to get the Steam Punk look I want.
Some time ago I saw a design for a scary looking docotor, very Frankenstein looking, with weird goggles, a long coat and strange mechanical instruments for a hand. I liked the idea of a mad steampunk scientist and started developing a head with weird bits coming out for eyes. As you can see it's gone through various incarnations and now looks more like a guard than a scientist.
I like all the funky helmet bits which give him character even though he has no face. The face mesh is one of those cones used for wool or thread cut up
I've realised that the best steam punk effects come from simple bits of palstic carefully cut and glued together, rather than trying to actually sculpt shapes which then tend to look too organic.
The almost complete figure will be holding a spear/cattle prod attached to his back pack. I saw a fab design for this in Mike Mignola's Witchfinder graphic novel.
When it came to making the gauntlets and the leather cowl (you can't se the latter in the photos) I tried using a different technique. Normally I would make them from card but I wnated something that looked more like giant rubber gloves. After a few experiments I hit upon using wire mesh. I've had this stuff around for ages and a colleague of mine uses it a lot, covered in tissue, but I've never got to grips with it. I covered a section in wide masking tape on both sides and coated it with PVA. This proved very flexible and gave a good finish. I will be using more of this!
He is now pretty much finished although with a new name. He was originally going to be standing at the controls of somethink suitably steam punky, I even had a great wheel, bit like a ships helm in my box of bits but it blocked too much of the figure.
Really pleased with the gun though as it is nice and crisp (lots of funky bits glued together!
I think the figure is a bit stiff though and his hat looks wrong from the side
I was very happy this morning to discover that I've been selected to be this month's Froudian artist of the Month on Brian Froud's website The World of Froud