airbrush

My First Artwalk YEG 2017 

Blog Post, Events

Participated in my first Artwalk this year, it was such an awesome experience. I was excited and terrified to see my work displayed next to other artists lol all of the feelings were felt!

There were also some things discovered about me and my work: a lot of my illustrations are more masculine, I still have quite a variety of different styles of work – some people thought there were 4 different artists in my tent lol and stepping out of my comfort zone to engage with people looking at my work – being some one with social anxiety, this was terrifying to say the least, but it is one of those things that help you grow as an individual to better yourself and your skills so you just gotta power on through – which was becoming a little less terrifying each time 🙂

I was on 83rd Ave all weekend (July 7, 8 & 9th, 2017) from 10am-5pm each day. The spot I had was fantastic: right across the park where there was live entertainment, between both the crafter’s market and Farmer’s market; however, the majority of people walking through this area were of an older and a more family orientated crowed – now don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with an older and more family orientated crowd, it is just that my sales were not so great. It was my first year, so there have been a couple of lessons learned, one of them being that my work appeals to a younger/more niche crowd. So next year I will see if I can be positioned along Whyte Ave as this is more of where my target market will be; I just hope the weather is as beautiful next year as it was this year!

Special thank you to my volunteers, supporters and @thepaintspot plus all the sponsors for creating this great event!

Follow my Instagram and Twitter for live updates @noelle_fontaine

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Airbrushing Course

Blog Post

I was planning on making a post for this in late November after the course…but it did not go as planned, late is better than never right!

The airbrush course was AWESOME! if you are interested in airbrushing this is an excellent course to take, the instructor is very knowledgeable & has his shop open to people looking for a place to airbrush every Wednesday after 5 (unless otherwise posted) so people can get together & help each other out with their projects or just to hang out & have a good time, how awesome is that?!

The first day we started off with learning how the airbrush works & different parts of an airbrush, later which are good ones to get along with some tips & tricks the instructor has leaned from trial & error or through others he knows in the industry. Then we discussed paints, mixtures, where to buy it, brands, solvent vs water-based, etc. & learned about some  resources available in Edmonton to find supplies. Later we learned how to do proper dagger strokes, dots, shading & messed around with some stencils before starting our project. We learned how to properly prep surfaces, about paper tape masking, layering & finally started the painting process.

The second day we had a bit of a review with a bit of Q & A, some warm up/practice before continuing on our projects we later finished that day.

We also learned that if you ever need any clear coating done it is very dangerous to attempt at home without the proper set up – while the paint is curing the fumes become lethal. Our instructor informed us to get it done at a body shop with a proper paint bay – he also does it for about $25 (depending on the size of the project I would assume that price could go up). This keeps you & your family or whoever you may be living with safe, not to mention the clear coat finish is applied by a professional!

Here are some pics I also shared on my Instagram while taking the course back in November, you can follow me on my social to see real time posts (links below):

I was talking to the instructor, we both felt we had met before, as it turns out he has participated in Edmonton’s Artwalk a few times the last couple of years & it was actually one of his pieces that got me interested in airbrushing! I remember going to my first Artwalk with my boyfriend & seeing this amazing elephant painted on metal that had some grinder designs in it, it was amazing & I was inspired to try it!

Here is a screenshot of the elephant off of his website bakerboyzdesigns.ca, as usual pictures do not do it justice as seeing it in the daylight where all the colours & details are visual. But You can check out his work & business on this site, portfolio is awesome!

Elephant by Baker Boyz Designs inc.

Elephant by Baker Boyz Designs inc.
screenshot from http://bakerboyzdesigns.ca/

I am very excited to do more airbrushing with the new found knowledge in my brain, to practice & make pieces for people. I already have a cool project in mind that I cannot wait to start for my dad’s enclosed trailer!

Thank you for reading 🙂

Upcoming Airbrushing Course

Blog Post

This weekend I will be attending an Airbrush course at Nait, I am super stoked to learn more about airbrushing and how to expand my knowledge from airbrushing on canvas and people to automobiles, skateboard decks, trailers, other surfaces and more!

Here is a link to the course if you are in the area and interested in it yourself:
Nait Custom Airbrushing Course

I will touch base on how the course went and some of the things learned later this month. Follow me on my social to for real time updates during the weekend!

Thank you for reading 🙂

Homemade Halloween Costumes 2015

Blog Post, crafting, Holiday

I know this is a bit past Halloween but if you read my last post: Welcoming November you will can see October was an extremely busy month lol

This year I made my niece & nephew’s Halloween costumes, my nephew wanted to be Bob the Minion – he was extremely excited & mentioned he had the perfect teddy bear to take with him – my niece wanted to be Mal from Disney’s descendants – of course with her attitude it only made sense lol

My older sister (mother of my niece & nephew), our mom & I searched high & low looking for overalls for a 7 year old boy at multiple second hand stores, walmart, superstore & winners but could not for the life of us find any, so I made some instead.

My dad gave me an old pair of ripped jeans he had, the back pocket was the perfect width of my nephew’s chest. I cut a out the back pocket of one of the legs, making a panel with about 10 inches wide & 12 inches high with an added 1/2 – 1 inch of clearance for a seam on the top & sides. I then cut the straps out of the pant legs: 28 inches long plus 1/2 an inch to seam the top & 3 inches wide using 3/4 inch from both sides as a seam, making the strap 1 1/2 inches wide once seams are sewn. Then sewed the straps to the packet panel with two large matching black buttons, added button holes to the bottom of each strap & four on the bottom of the button panel. I then took a current pair of my nephew’s jeans, turned them inside out & sewed four buttons to the front waste band & two to the back; this way the overalls panel & buttons could later be removed and his pants were back to normal. As a final added touch I airbrushed the “G” on the front by making a stencil of the “G” & mixing fabric medium with airbrush paint. He wore a long sleeve yellow shirt, a yellow toque & face paint – I also got him a bald cap, painted it yellow, that he wore for school & even under his toque lol that boy means business when it comes to Halloween!

For my niece’s costume I bought a woman’s small white blazer from a second hand store as a cheap, clean canvas to work on. I printed out a reference photo of Mal’s jacket & free hand airbrushed everything except the dragons in the heart on the back (I cut out a stencil to ensure crisp clean lines). There were some other pieces I wanted to add to the costume but could not find the time, like the bottom “skirt” with the asymmetrical cut, high collar & dragon wing shoulders. I was, however, able to cut the jacket, giving it an asymmetrical collar similar to Mal’s & airbrush the illusion of studs.


These costumes were a bit of a challenge as I am not a seamstress by any means lol So it was a bit frustrating at times when it came to sewing, but you cannot improve if you do not try! The jacket itself was a bit of a lengthy process & was the first time I have ever airbrushed on clothing, I used a 1:1 ratio of airbrush fabric medium & paint…if anyone out there knows if this is correct or not please let me know lol it seemed to be the safest bet at the time & worked pretty good as the paint did not crack, peal or harden too stiff on the fabric, it even withstood the rain on while we were trick or treating!
Through the challenges, difficulties, frustrations & many a late, late nights it was worth it in the end to see how happy they were to have these homemade costumes to dress up in that can be special memories & mementos for them when they are older.

Thank you for reading 🙂