February 2015 – Flash Know

Fake Watercolor

• The original watercolor was photographed in Black/White film and printed on high contrast Black/White Agfa paper.
• From the Black/White film an 8×10 was also developed on negative film which means that what would have printed black on paper was actually clear on the film.
• Colors were added to the back of the film with felt tip markers while occasionally blending the colors with the fingers.
• The original watercolor paper texture is visible but the colors are not watercolors.

Tip:
Inserting lighter fluid in the marker, such as the Magic Marker from the old days, will extend its life for some time while at times making the color a bit lighter.

Toothpaste

A small amount of white toothpaste gently applied with a damp cloth or a soft toothbrush can:

Remove some scratches on CDs and DVDs
Remove some scratches from plastic eye glasses
Deep clean a whiteboard
Dramatically polish metal and stone jewelry as well as silver
Clean and luster metals such as chrome
Cleanse skin such as the face
Cleanse pimples and it will also dehydrate them when a small dab is left over night
Clean and take odors away from hands and bathroom fixtures
Take certain stains off of clothes and carpet
Remove crayon from some surfaces
Fill tiny holes in your walls

The beauty of this light abrasive is that it is multipurpose and avoids us to purchase items for a sole specific aim. It saves on money and clutter providing convenience.

India Ink Refill

The Pilot Precise V5 Rolling Ball writing instrument available in different ball sizes, can be refilled with water proof India ink and with no mess.
Use it to write in distinguishable jet black ink or use it to sketch.Needed:
• Pliers
• India ink
• The pen

How to do it:
• With the pliers grab the nib as close as possible to the barrel.
• A gentle twisting and pulling action will remove the nib and the inner core which are attached.
• It will leave the barrel ready to be filled with ink.
• Wash away with water the ink that came with the pen.
• Use the eye dropper to fill with ink.
• Return the nib and core back to the barrel.
• Wipe nib with a small piece of paper towel.
• Done!

Create this India ink pen in about 10 minutes or so.

Tips:
• These pens have proven not to clog easily but if abandoned
for a long time clogging may occur.
Next time you buy India ink, try Pelikan Fount India which
does not contain the shellac that causes the clogging.
• Red pen and black ink?

‘Straight’ Edge For Free Hand Drawing

The triangle shown can draw perfect free hand lines from point A to an exact point B.
It has been beaten against some hard surfaces and at times shaven a bit with a utility knife.
The free hand edge offers speed, consistency and accuracy.

By shaping the edge and by the line weights applied, the level of the free hand look is custom managed by the user. The triangle is easily portable and when used with a T-square that has also been altered to look free hand, will speed up the sketching process by reducing the erasing of some lines.
These are handy tools for textures such as shingles that require repetitive lines.
The edges of an adjustable triangle treated this way would speed up free hand isometrics.

A wooden ruler altered as a free hand edge would be a nice portable tool but would not offer the versatility of the triangle and T-square. Being softer however, it would probably generate more pronounced squiggles.

Tip:
A few of these free hand edges on hand, maneuvering the pencil and applying line weight would help not make these lines look alike.

Credit Type Cards: You Keep The Interest

Sometimes we get in the mail credit card offers or offers with cards from other entities promoting membership or discounts.
We might even have an old expired card from the library around the house.
Do not throw them away but instead store them somewhere together as they are great tools for a variety of applications.
You will notice they come in different thicknesses and flexibility and their surgical uses are endless and up to your imagination.

• Cards are great to scrape delicate objects without leaving behind a ferrous trail.
• A paper towel wrapped around the card is good for buffing and at times for sanding.
• With sand paper you can sand small tight grooves and the card’s flexibility also allows it to bend and sand something with several curvatures, such as molding.
• They can be used to shave excess amounts of spackle or joint compound when used at an angle in small surgical jobs. Yes, one could use a 6” knife but that does not feel the same nor allows the dexterity of the card. Shaving the ridges reduces the amount of air borne dust caused by sanding.
• Fantastic for applying spackle in curves or anywhere and having four edges it allows having the spackle on two opposite sides. It also allows delivery of the spackle with one edge and smoothen the spackle with another clean edge.
• The cards can be cleaned easily during use with two fingers or a small paper towel.
• When the need arises they can be handled as a pencil rather than a putty knife and they can be easily cut with scissors to fit your purpose.
• When applying pictures on an album each of the card’s corners can hold one of the photo mounts that will hold the picture. A simple rotation of the card in between the fingers can deliver very rapidly and speed up the process when adhering hundreds of photos to an album.
• They are great also to be used as a throw away but of course we would recycle the plastic.
Of the cards shown above looks like the American Express ones are the most used. They are somewhat thin and flexible. The Discover is the most flexible.