Shannon Larratt is Zentastic

Preface: A whole-hearted recommendation for Glow Inc’s glow-in-the-dark powders! I ordered some of their “Ultra Green v10″ as well as some blue and orange glow powders, with the intent of mixing them into my plastic work, and I don’t think I’ve ever seen this bright a pigment. My first few experiments have yielded glow plastics that are so bright you can see them in daylight (I don’t think I’ve ever seen a consumer accessible product that can do that), and at night they release enough glow that you can actually read a book by them. Making that even more impressive is that the glow keeps on radiating for over 24 hours in the dark (although not as brightly of course). The other colors aren’t as bright as the green, but they’re still super-saturated and quite beautiful. One of the most fun bits in my growing crafter/maker arsenal.

Let me begin by showing you some of my recent finger casts (with the mold being made in all of four minutes using silicone putty squeezed over a digit), most of them done in Smooth-Cast 325. Even though the manufacturer says that it’s “clear amber”, I think its natural color is closer to a smokey transparent with a hint of blue, but either way it picks up additive powders’ color well. From left to right, the top row below are nickel powder (not black), untinted/clear plastic, ultra green v10 glow powder, pewter (very heavy and thankfully I’ve eliminated the bubble problem), silver powder, and blue dye. The bottom row, also left to right, are ultra blue powder with a nickel powder cap, ultra green v10 powder, clear with a silver powder cap, and clear throughout.

That photo was taken in quite dim lighting but not darkness, and you can keep reading for other conditions. I also want to point out that none of the pictures here are manipulated for brightness. They’re as they came from my camera without any exaggeration. By the way, all of the pictures in this entry can be zoomed into by clicking on them.

And as always, do forgive me for textual errors as I just don’t bother proof-reading any more, sorry…

But yeah… I’ve included lots more pictures, including some taken completely in the dark (other than the glow of course) that are amazing given how badly my camera handles low-light, after the break. I wanted to mention though that the nickel parts didn’t photograph well — in reality it looks like a dark gunmetal, black in the grooves and dark silver on raised ridges. The blue plastic (ie. top right) looks rather black in the pictures but it’s rich deep dark blue that my camera avoided. If it wasn’t for the 3D capabilities of my camera I’d spend more time bemoaning its quality because it seems like Fuji figured people would pay double for a camera that does everything worse than most point and shoot if it just has that gimmick.

Anyway, more after the break.

Those three pictures above, from top to bottom, show the fingers in the dark with no other lights, then one taken in dim light (think early dusk-ish — and look how it also lights up its neighbors), and then one taken in normal indoor lighting with no flash (thus the annoying yellow tint over everything). I am definitely going to place another glow order to broaden my color palette — Nefarious and I may make some “friendship” amulets (or broaches) for her friends.

The big fingers above are my index finger, but I also did the last joint (plus the knuckle) of my little finger. Caitlin asked that they be turned into necklaces, so I also sculpted a “cap” to attach them onto their chains (and to mount crystals onto, which I am now not so sure about). Below you can see (in darkness and under bright light) them in my hand:

Let me also show them hanging, from another angle:

The all glow one was made (on commission) for Nefarious, so I hope she shows it off to her friends tomorrow and they like it… That said, for some annoying reason on other items that we’ve made, kids have accused her of lying because they couldn’t believe that anyone could make things like earrings at home! I should probably be more sad about that than annoyed.

I finally repaired the damage I made to my skull-mouse case when I dropped it (arrrrrgh!) so I am going to try and get it all assembled ASAP. But not tonight.