I have written here before about Affinity apps – now selling for £160 for all three or £68 each – and how useful I have found them, (I have no connection to Affinity or Serif, the parent company) and in a world were many Mac apps seem to be getting worse it’s good that Serif are still producing useful upgrades for all three.
The subscription payment system used by Adobe, Corel and many others means that we pay for ever for a product which barely changes which may be great for the makers of Illustrator, CorelDraw &c. but which drain art and other school coffers year after year.
There are still a few niggles with the Affinity suite – no trace function for instance – but the layout, speed, almost seamless suite integration and excellent functionality more than compensate for any shortcomings.
A couple of weeks ago Affinity was taken over by Canva (a widely used online design house) and they have pledged: “We will provide Affinity free for schools & nonprofits (NFPs)”. This can only be good news, hopefully finally breaking the subscription stranglehold of Adobe etc. Canva are also pledged to invest.
I don’t know anything about Canva other than they are now a huge company but the product seems ok. and very popular.
This fabric work which I last posted about in June is based on the OIL poem I wrote in 2010 at the height of the USA ‘surge’ in Iraq, the poem in artist’s book form is here.
Although the bulk of the work is done there is still plenty to do and my progress through the summer has been slow – I have to wait for ideas and they don’t seem to come as often as they once did.
OIL quilt panel, one of four, work in progress
The imagery is ‘busy’ with lots going on, but I feel it could be busier still, and darker, more painterly. I’m still thinking about the border(s), those will take almost as much time as the panels and like all framing they will have a big impact on the final piece.
Linda and Laura Kemshall are well known artist quilters of the highest standard, their book, The Painted Quilt (2007) is one I refer to frequently, especially for printing advice and although my style and content is far from theirs I aspire to the standards they achieve.
I’ve also found their sketchbook ideas inspirational and highly practical, design is at the heart of what they do. My own sketches, scans, screen grabs, pics and notes tend to build into massive files on my Mac and eventually deleted but some get saved on paper or cloth.
I have been working on a new quilt for the last few weeks, until the weather became too good to stay home.
Work in progress – Oil quilt, 2023
This is a (low-res) pic of my sewing bench, work in progress. The quilt will consist of 72 printed, stitched and embellished fabric squares which are then quilted, stitched together and printed/overstitched again, until done. Most of the squares were inkjet printed, some printed with stamps cut from rubber or lino, some were also stencilled or hand drawn and painted. There are also other forms of printing such as collagraph.
One of my model testers, Laura painted a narrowboat model for me, entirely her choice of design. The name chosen may be appropriate as sales of my range of models – 17 different boats and aircraft – are almost non-existent.
Miller Toys and Models Narrowboat model, 30cm, Tiny Titanic, painted by Laura H/A-M, 2021
Some of the world’s largest ships are those which lift other ships, rigs and cargo, the largest of these is the Thailf, a Norwegian monster used to build and dismantle oil rigs. Working on the rather smaller scale of 20 or so centimeters I have made a model kit Crane Ship which will soon be sale at Miller Toys and Models. My kits should be challenging for a six or seven year old – they might need a little help – have great play value and provide a sense of achievement when complete. Using 3mm laser grade birch ply means that the models can be robust enough to stand up to repeated play.
Crane ship, approx 22cm, 42 parts
The simple mechanisms help demonstrate how mechanical systems work and provide pleasurable toys. The kit is supplied with a grab bucket (not shown) as well as a hook. All my kits may be painted with acrylic paints, not supplied but widely available.
I’m still looking for varities of ships and boats to make into model kits. The dredger seemed interesting so I started with a basic hull, a shape I’ve now used many times and then added the dredger structure. The rotation was simply and the winch I’ve used before seemed to work but getting the bucket and the bucket arm to stay in place proved more difficult.
Dredger, approx 20cm
Above all I want the kit to be easy to assemble for a six year old and so any mechanism has to be as simple as possible. The kit also needs to fit onto four A5 sheets of 3mm plywood. Play value is also essential, my young testers check out this and other aspects of the design, especially it’s durability!
After some false starts I have used a living hinge and a cog arrangement on the bucket arm to rotate the bucket. The arm itself is also rotated with a similar cog winch but is held by a gravity pawl, giving just enough resistance.
This model will soon be available from Miller Toys and Models for just £18, 42 parts of press-out 3mm plywood, pva glue and string included.
The lockdown has proved to be a fruitful time for design, much less so for printmaking. Lovely CATO Press here in Easton, Bristol has re-opened but with strict social distancing, which means one person at a time can print; many of my fellow printmakers seem to be busy.
I have spent many hours getting several new models and their associated instructions, photos etc. to a stage where I might put them on my web site – Miller Toys and Models – and perhaps even sell a few. And I have at least five more in the development stage, just waiting for a few last tweaks.
Basically Wooden have been doing some laser cutting for me, in between their usual game boxes and face shields. They also have a new lampshade design which I really like, but it’s not on thir web site yet.
I try to design for ease of construction – the models are an introduction to wooden modelling aimed at younger children – as well as incorporating some playability, a degree of robustness and of course some eco-friendliness. 3Mm birch plywood is a wonderful material but the laser cutter has bought a whole new dimension to it.
The first of my new models is a Chinese Junk, about 220 mm long, with a winch/anchor, linen paper sail and twine rigging.
A Junk is an ancient type of Chinese sailing ship, traditionally with fully battened sails, which are the bars running across the sail. This construction toy uses a schooner rig – one of many variants – for ease of assembly. The name Chinese Junk describes many types of coastal or river ships. They have been used as cargo ships, pleasure boats, or houseboats. They vary greatly in size and there are significant regional variations in the type of rig.
Junks were developed during the Song dynasty (960–1279) and were predominantly used by Chinese traders throughout Southeast Asia. They are still found, throughout Southeast Asia and India, but primarily in China. These days they are often used for pleasure sailing. (Thanks, Wikipedia).
I have found aircraft designing to be difficult, they are so bland, all the same. But the long forgotten flying boat provided some inspiration. The early years of flying saw the creation of lots of flying boats, many with heavy lifting capabilities. Sadly few of the large and spectacular versions survived beyond the 1950s, although there are small ones in use, especially in Alaska. One giant of the 1940s was the famous Hughes H-4 Hercules , commonly known as the Spruce Goose, but actually made of birch, like my models. Only one – the largest flying boat ever – was built and it is still on display in Oregon, USA.
This construction toy flying boat is designed with cargo carrying in mind and so has a rear ramp door and twin propellers mounted high and to the rear. A small but versatile sea bird, and I like to think it could be a real flyer.
The third of the new models is an Arab Dhow, again about 220 mm long, with a winch/anchor and an opening stern door.
The beautiful, ancient trading craft of the Indian Ocean, Arabian Sea and the Red Sea, the dhow can still be seen and is used trade and tourism, for some fishing or just pleasure. It’s graceful lines attract the eye and the triangular lanteen sail is supported by a yard held at an angle across the boat.
There are many varieties of dhows, and they still carry dates, timber and fish, and tourists around the Persian Gulf, East Africa, Yemen and coastal South Asia (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh). Larger dhows have crews of approximately thirty, smaller ones typically around twelve.
I have used a waxed twine for the very simple rigging as it it is much easier to thread through the tiny holes than thin string. All three designs have some laser engraving, something I avoided on my earlier models (I was looking for clean lines and simplicity). All the models are ideal gifts for girls and boys over three and for any age, all materials and packaging is sustainable. On sale at Miller Toys and Models.
This construction toy is the largest I currently make and the only one I design and make that isn’t entirely 3mm plywood, in this case the sides are 1.5mm thick.
Greek Ship construction toy, 300mm long
High grade birch plywood gets more expensive as it gets thinner, a reflection of the manufacturing costs and the much smaller demand. This model has a working winch/anchor and is supplied with pva glue although this is not essential. I try to design models which are a good introduction to model-making and have some play value. All the models can be painted, acrylic is best and available from many low-cost shops.
Suitable for girls and boys over 3 years. On sale at Miller Toys and Models. There are 10 models to choose from and as the Corvid lockdown eases I’m hoping to add at least six more, manufacturing is not possible at the moment.
Some time ago I designed a shadow theatre and then laser cut a couple of them. But the design meant that there was a lot of waste plywood after the cut, and more problematically the dismantled theatre was bulky and not postal friendly. So I didn’t try selling it, other projects took precedence.
Recently someone contacted CATO Press, where I’m a member to say she was interested in shadow theatre, so I thought I would dust off the old design and try again.
To have some impact and to accommodate puppets a shadow theatre needs to be quite large, my first attempt was rather small. This time I started with the central idea that the structure would be fully demountable and would flat-pack to 700mm x 200mm or less with a pack thickness of less than 50mm. I would include a cloth screen and if possible a lamp of some sort, LED lamps make this a practical proposition, even a torch with a wide angle beam should work.
With the Corvid 19 lockdown on-going it is not possible to make laser cut prototypes, so I’ve made one in 5mm construction board, ½ size. The final version would be 3mm plywood. The slot-together pieces are not all shown, no screen and no decoration. Screen would attach by velcro, scenery to hang from cross-bars which slot into the tops of the wings, for quick change.
Shadow theatre mock-up 1/2 size
In the distant past I made quite large shadow theatres decorated with dragons etc. from construction board, but of course they don’t have a long life, unless treated very carefully. I used these working with adults with learning difficulties (a privilage) and had plenty of fun. It was often surprising to see who could project themselves into the puppets, and who struggled.
Puppets can be bought and one or two sites provided designs for free, Adventures In A Box is one, and these may be cut by hand, or with a vinyl cutter or stencil cutter. Making the sort of fabulous designs seen in traditional Indonesian shadow theatre is certain to demand time and skill, but far simpler things can be quite effective.
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