Table leg

chairleg

I started a new woodwork project last month – an oak sidetable, straight from the tree. Here’s the first leg, right before I took the bark off and planed it to shape. Once they’re finished, I need to cut some flat boards for the top and cut some dovetails – I’m aiming to get that done in the next month or so.*

*This is a massive lie

Drawing unit

So I work from home, and one of the big problems there is that I have to keep my work from just spreading all over the house like a terrifying art-based lifeform, so like an idiot I decided to make a custom unit where I can stash all my paper and ink and paint and rollers and lino and brushes and cutters and scalpels and tape and card blanks and string and wrapping material and blank canvasses and shut the door on it all.

Continue reading Drawing unit

New project

So far this year I’ve managed a whole rack of woodwork projects, including a chessboard and pieces, a bike shed, a hefty big workbench, and some storage for all my paper, so I decided to take it easy for a bit.

No I didn’t! I realised the paper storage needed a friend. My drawing board is just too big for the room it’s in, and my art supplies are taking over the place, so I reckon a storage box with a smaller tilting desk on top will do the trick. So, I’ve got the plans, and I’ve got a big stack of timber. Step one: cut everything to size. Step two: realise the standard timber measurement is 2.4 metres. This includes my 2.4 metre shed, giving me immediate storage issues:

You might have noticed the footprints there – I have exactly enough space for myself there, which means the plywood there is going to have to bunk up in the bike shed while I build the frame because Scottish October says everything needs to stay under cover at all times. More updates soon!

Portraiture

It was my partner-in-crime’s birthday recently, and since it was her Big Lockdown Birthday I decided to try my hand at something different – a great big portrait. But what pose should I use? Is there some way I can do this without her finding out? So I went trawling up in the loft and, I’m going to date myself here, I found our ancient actual-film-in-the-camera photos of ridiculous drunken nights and holidays and lazy Sundays from the early 2000’s, including the very first picture of us together, added in with our more recent landmarks, and assembled the best of them into a loosely cubist collage.