Rattle and Hiss

[merimask]

Well, here they are; my new Medusa masks.  

First, the Diamondback Rattlesnake version that was giving me such a headache.

I was saying to someone in my comments last time (PZB I think) that I am repeatedly seduced by complicated neutral patterns in nature & it's a source of frustration for me, always.  I keep attempting to capture something like the pattern of spangled frittilary butterflies or brown trout or, in this case, Eastern Diamondbacks...& I never quite get it perfect.  Only nature can do that, I suppose.  I came as close as I've ever come this time, anyway.

The browns of this mask are "cool", and I only had enough turquoise beads for one mask (I was ONE freaking bead short) so that's what I used for the snakes' eyes in this one.

I love the tiny patterned heads.  Diamondbacks have these awesome banded faces that make them look so wicked.  I even added rattles to the tips of the tails (they end in the outer corners of the eyes).  Details, people!  Details.

So after experiencing the self-inflicted torture of the Diamondback pattern, I wanted something that was still striking (no pun intended dammit) but less complicated.  The Northern Copperhead was my second choice (another really dangerous snake...utterly unintentional by the way, I was just looking for pretty brown patterns).

This snake is a much warmer brown tone.  Coppery, you might say.  I used carnelian beads for the eyes.  I have to say it looked AWESOME with the turquoise, but of the two I think the diamondback needed them more.  I'm definitely going to be trying this one with turquoise next time, though.

I hate to say it, but between the two I think I like this one better.  That could be due to the fact that it was half as time-consuming to paint as the Diamondback was.  I love the rich browns too...Greg says this mask looks chocolaty (he calls it "Chocolate Cleopatra", by the way.  Because he's funny like that.).

With my hair color this one looks great on me, too.  "Become stone!!"

So yeah, that was my project & I finished it in half a week.  Not too shabby!  They're definitely going to be in my Etsy shop (I'll pace myself & do one today & one tomorrow) & I probably won't be selling them right away (or at all) 'cause of the price.  Still, it'll be a fair price (it's my wholesale price, actually, for the Medusa masks I'm making for Rumors)...so I suppose if anyone really likes them they might think of them as a bargain.  *shrug*

Speaking of my Etsy shop...a note for all of you who are LJ friends.  If you order something from my Etsy shop, be sure to drop me a private e-mail (the link is on the Etsy site) and I'll add a really cool extra "gift" to your order...for free!  I don't mean to be a whore, but I DO want to boost my sales count & I know there are some of you who like my stuff.  :-)  Anyway, it's an added incentive & you'd be helping out a friend.  

*smooch*

Comments

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

PUT THEM ON ETSY FOR SURE! People LOVE to feature really exotic items in treasuries, no matter the price. For example, Dreamwoven's Calla hat, here: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=6479231

The note about it being priced more reasonably later on wasn't there a few months ago (she wants to keep it from being sold because it's going into a gallery show for a while) but people were STILL cramming this into treasuries left and right...and people were RUNNING to her shop to see what else she had in there like that, because it's so exotic. (I WANT THAT HAT!)

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I put up my rattlesnake mask (I think you saw already). I don't get it! My wolf got "favorited" right away (I'm up to 40 people right now), but no one seems to like this Medusa. Maybe she's too scary? Maybe people think she's actually made of rattlesnakes? *shrug*

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Gosh, no, don't worry. What happened with your wolf mask was *freakish*...NO ONE gets noticed that fast! That no one has faved your Medusa yet is completely normal, much more normal than your wolf having 40 faves already. Normally the only way for a new item to be noticed is the half minute it shows up in those TINY icons at the bottom of the Etsy home page as soon as you list it. I'm afraid they don't get noticed out of nowhere just because of pure awesomeness...I wish they did...my faves list would be even bigger.

All I can figure is that someone who faved your wolf mask may have put it into a treasury at some point, which would bring a LOT more attention to it. Have you been in the 'treasury' section? It should put a star (or something like that) next to any treasury that contains anything by you so that you could notice it right away.

Treasuries only last two to three days so even if someone did do that, it could already be expired and we'd never know it happened.

I haven't been able to get treasuries lately, Etsy is refusing to let me by not allowing the last treasury to expire and CLEAR before everyone else has grabbed one. Believe me, I'm not amused. But if I do manage, I'll totally stick medusa in :)

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Just for reference...I see Medusa has 45 views. That's a LOOOOOOT in only half a day! Seriously, it's SHOCKING how much attention you've gotten so quickly! A lot of people have had items in their shop that only have 11 views after a couple of weeks, etc, and it's not like they are ugly items, it's just that they either haven't been noticed...Etsy is a huge site with 70,000 sellers, after all...or the item isn't unusual enough to garner the 'ooh what's THAT I must see MORE' response in anyone who happens by.

45 views is a lot. Etsy is made up of mainly women...if none of the people viewing have faved, it's possible that snakes freak them out. And truly, most people fave VERY FEW items and instead fave the seller...or they fave their favourite item in the shop and then use it as a reference and don't fave any more. Most people in Etsy only have a couple of items on their faves...they're not like me, with fifty pages of them :)

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Heh, do you really find the women-hate-snakes stereoytpe is true in your circles? It's never been true for my family at least, and when I was still reading some herptile fancier mailing lists and newsgroups I'd have sworn at least half the regulars were female. But I'm a weirdo who finds newborn human babies vastly more unsettling than shiny pretty scaly things -- so lumpy and blotchy, eww! -- so I realize my gut reactions are probably pretty far from the norm. :)

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

I find it true more often with women than men, yes. And *I* am a woman who hates snakes with a furious passion, so...*shrug*

Though I don't like babies that much either. But I can't say they freak me out...I certainly don't have the desire to behead them with an axe, that's for sure, and I do have that instant reaction with snakes. No matter how harmless a snake may have proven to be, I just cannot stand the sight of them.

[shvetufae.livejournal.com]

Wow, they're both absolutely gorgeous! *in awe* I especially like the first one.

How are your hands? I know you said they always get cut up when making Medusa.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :-) Actually, oddly, I'm fine. I'm not too cut up or anything & I don't know why. The carving & shaping wasn't the hard part this time...it was all the painting.

*taps foot* I need a new project!

[charismitaine.livejournal.com]

They're beautiful! I really love them both--they're just remarkable and striking and awesome. I don't have the 'nyargh snakes ah!' reaction that some people do--I mean, I do if there's a real snake, but I think these have a lovely balance between incredible realism and being a little stylized and definitely elegant.

About your Etsy shop--do you have an idea of how long orders would take to process and such? Because there are a couple of people on my Christmas list who would really love the koi barrettes (and, gosh, I'll probably end up getting one for myself), and I'm wondering how urgent it is to order quickly (and when not to order, if you have shows or cons or suchlike to be getting ready for in between).

[charismitaine.livejournal.com]

Also, whatever you used as a background for the pictures is lovely.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thank you! :-) I try to bring realism into my fantasy art at one level or another & I think these masks are a good example of that. Also, I get a kick out of doing the research (I'm a closet zoologist).

Everything on my Etsy site is an actual picture of the actual piece I'll be mailing (I decided it'd just be better that way). As soon as it's ordered, it gets shipped so everything gets to the buyer within three days of the payment coming through. Thing is, unless I list a quantity, once it sells then it's gone (but I have many different koi so I'll put more up when I sell the ones that are there).

Don't forget the shipping is the same if you order 1 or 10 things (everything after the first item gets shipped for free, basically).

[herald-metatron.livejournal.com]

(It's Des.) Those are absolutely gorgeous! As a major snake-fan, I am always impressed with how you execute serpentine grace. Glee!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thanks. :-) I've had the idea to do these for a while now. I want to try one in a gray/black combination next (I already have a snake in mind). http://www.jdmpics.com/false-water-cobra-1.htm

salted snuts...

[(Anonymous)]

i think they're both beautiful!!! absolutely my preferred pallatte, and something you should venture down into more, although i think you're being critical of yourself, it looks like you beat these earthtones up and took their lunch money!
and they couldn't even look back, for fear of being turned into who knows what kind of spice...

Re: salted snuts...

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I like them too. Those are my favorite colors also...I'm just nuts about turquiose with brown.

I HAVE to do the copperhead with turquoise eyes. As pretty as it is with the carnelian, you MUST see it with turquoise. It looks like the desert. It looks like The Valley Of Fire on a sunny day, in fact. :-)

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

*yoinks koi barrettes*

I think I've found my Christmas shopping spot. Holy crap, Etsy is awesome!

LOVE the Medusa masks! The Diamondback is really cool (love the eyes!), but you're right, it's a bit busy and very labor-intensive for you (I think your price for it is *more* than reasonable). I do prefer the Copperhead, though. The colors/patterns blend better so you can really see the mask much more clearly. And since it's easier to make - bonus!

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

Etsy is heaven. My faves list has about 500 items on it, and that is not an exaggeration.

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

PS: Check out http://www.madisoncraftstudio.etsy.com for really super inexpensive pendants. They'd make great gifts! I have purchased three of them :D

[ramblinsuze.livejournal.com]

Neeeeeeeat. Of course, being an earring nut, my first thought was, "Can I make these into earrings??" (the answer...yes, I think so! lol)

I swear, I got lost wandering around Etsy for something like six hours last night. I couldn't stop!

[golden-meliades.livejournal.com]

I love earrings too. Can't stand bracelets or brooches...but all other jewellery is good. :)

About the pendants...they're bigger than you would think by looking at the pics, I was surprised when mine came...they were about 25% larger than I expected. The jump ring attached to it to make it into a pendant is a mite larger than a pencil eraser...you could make them into earrings but they would be awkwardly large if you didn't have them dangle slightly, probably. Though I guess it depends on your taste in earrings and your face shape :)

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I love those kind of pendants too. Look at these:
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5085508
I love this shop's stuff because their pendants are on actual chips of real wood, & the resin is so thick. Pretty!

[merimask.livejournal.com]

*smooch* Thanks Suze! I already mailed your box. :-) I hope you like everything.

I'm actually quite proud of these Medusas (medusae?); they turned out pretty much exactly as I'd hoped. It's good when you spend a huge chunk of time on a project & it turns out like you hoped...that doesn't always happen.

Isn't Etsy a hoot?? I love playing in there. To me, it's much more fun than a gallery site (like PaperDemon or DeviantArt) because it's actually productive to be there. I feel like I'm doing something good for my career in there.

[indigos-angel.livejournal.com]

K, that looks way cooler when I can actually make out the pictures :))))

*is back on home computer*

That WOULD be a lot of work I would imagine... but it sure is cool!!! XDDDDD

*love*

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I loved doing these masks really. Medusa is a beautiful, utterly female monster & I really like her.

[smillaraaq.livejournal.com]

Oooooh. I love snakes, and reptiles in general, so these are all just GORGEOUS and not unsettling at all to me. So very, very pretty!

The cool silvery-beige with turquoise of the diamondbacks are particularly appealing; I can still remember one of the most striking examples I've seen of that combo, a pale brown praying mantis with brilliant turquoise eyes. I've never seen one with that coloring before or since, but that one encounter is just burned in my memory.

[merimask.livejournal.com]

I love snakes too! I think they're beautiful. When I was a kid I'd happily grab them right off the ground with no fear (I don't do that so much now).

Browns with turquoise are, you know, my weakness. :-) It's a wonder I didn't do this one sooner.

Course you knew this was coming...

[rumdiculous.livejournal.com]

OMG I'M IN LOVE.

The copperhead is my favorite. It looks so badass and just gorgeous! *grabby hands*

Re: Course you knew this was coming...

[merimask.livejournal.com]

lol...I KNEW you'd like that one. :-) It's my favorite too. I have to do it again, but with turquoise eyes. It looks AMAZING with the turquoise.

[swandog.livejournal.com]

I simply LOVE your masks, so I think I'll friend you now so I can keep seeing more of them! :D

[merimask.livejournal.com]

Hi! Thanks! I checked out your art at DevArt & I love your style too. :-)

*friends back*