Sunday, April 22, 2012

The Grackle Oven


I finished 6 grackles! I had the birds in the back of my car for several days in this self-made Grackle Oven so that the Akua ink would really, really dry. I love Akua, but the slow drying time can be a blessing (when art making) and a curse (when finishing--framing, storing, mounting, etc.). This is where the Texas sun comes in. I already trimmed the grackles with scissors (BTW I used Mars Black, which is their quickest drying black, on rice paper) with minimal ink transfer to my fingertips, but wanted to make sure they were totally nuked so I put them in this folder between 2 pieces of mat board--just to keep them from being damaged by my normal practice of hauling bikes.






© 2012 Cathy Savage, Grackles 3-8
Result? Dry, dry, dry after about 5 days! And that includes 2 overcast days and being covered for a day with Goodwill donations.

4 comments:

Carolyn Kimball said...

Genius! Have you tried the Akua drier yet?

Carolyn Kimball said...

Genius! Have you tried the Akua drier yet?

Cathy Savage said...

I haven't yet, but it's in my possession. Akua's Mag Mix (ink stiffener that helps dry and reduce ink rub-off) arrived the other day but I have yet to scoop out my half--which will be tough because it's hard as heck. Maybe I'll just take out a Tbs. to keep at home and leave the rest at WPA's studio for us to use at will. We can just take turns buying container.

Anna Kinbar said...

That's a good idea, I'll put mine in the car too!