ToniJ.Net

I tried out some yellow nail polish. It was weird, so I fixed it. Now they’re Batman!

I have embarked on a new project. I have/had these great arm warmers that V gave me. They’re these cute little cyclops snakes. But, they’re getting a bit old and ratty, so I needed new ones. Batman ones. Once again I found myself searching the web for a superhero themed item that didn’t exist. So, naturally I made some. I’m thinking about selling them (same design, not this prototype pair) on Etsy. I have more designs, too. Can’t wait to try them all out! Let me know what you think.

Sadly, there’s no image yet of me wearing them as a pair. Couldn’t grow a third arm to take the photo for me.

These were going to be some of the doodles on the top of the 2012 version of the blog, but I was convinced to do something a little different for the site’s update. Didn’t want them to go to waste, so here they are.

Oh hell yes! May is now Batmay.

Hey! I’ve made another step-by-step project. Let me give you a little backstory. I own a “supergirl” hoodie and consider it a travesty that I don’t own a batman themed hoodie as well. Especially considering Superman and that whole set don’t really interest me too much. I’ve been scouring the web for years for a Batman hoodie until I finally decided that I couldn’t wait anymore. I was going to make my own.

Step 1. Decide on a pattern. Batman’s had so many batsymbols through the ages, there were a lot to choose from. I used this great collection to help me pick a favorite. This turned out to be the third down on the left. For some reason, it didn’t occur to me to look up instructions at this point. Fortunately, I had an old shirt to test with. My pattern was cut onto paper and the paint dabbed on with a sponge. Result of testing? Epic fail.

Step 2. Do some research.! Yeah, I know this should have been step 1. Oh well. These things happen. Trial and error is kind of my thing. Anyway, I found a great walkthrough for how to do stuff like this. I bought myself some freezer paper and borrowed an iron (Thanks Katie and Justin!) and did the test again. It worked, but I forgot to get a picture of it before I wiped some excess paint and ruined the crisp edges the freezer paper gave it. The test gave me hope that this could still work.

Step 3. Secure the pattern. I cut the freezer paper using the paper pattern from my first test. Next, I measured out the placement one last time on my fancy American Apparel hoodie (there was no way I was going to leave the placement to eyeballing it). Next, I made a freezer paper sandwich, with the bread being fabric on the bottom and iron resting gently on top. Oh yeah, and the paper was shiny side down. Heating that up was what stuck the paper to my fabric and made the edges so gorram pretty. Pretty neat, actually. I’ve never used the stuff before, but it’s useful.

Step 4.  Mix the paint. I mixed the three paints I bought (white, black, and super-shiny silver) and got a nice gray with a hint of silver shine.

Step 5. Paint and try not to freak out. This part was both win and fail. I painted fine, but completely freaked out in the process. What if I didn’t iron enough? What if the paintbrush lifts up the edges? What if my hand slips and I dump all the paint onto the sleeve? Oh yeah, I can be a paranoid wreck sometimes. Again, these things happen.

Step 6. Remove the paper. The big sections were easy, just peel it up and enjoy the batness of it all. The head area was a little trickier, but easily resolved with a delicate nudge from my x-acto blade.

Result: I will definitely wear this in public! I’m relieved and excited that this actually worked. Superhoodie may just find a permanent place in a box in the closet.

I’ll give another update once the paint dries and I can show it off! Til then, I’ll just sit in wait until next May when the new Batman movie comes out. Ooh! I think I’ll wear it when I play Arkham City this fall. Have I mentioned I like Batman?

I <3 Batman. He’s awesome. He’s cooler than getting to play around with ink splatters all morning.

Edit* I was asked how this was made. Ink blots + Photoshop is the short answer.

The long answer is I started out with some slightly messed up copy paper and cardstock (not usable in the printer anymore) and splattered ink all over them using the eyedropper that comes with the bottle. After they dried, I scanned them and opened them in Photoshop for retouching. Some brightness/contrast and remove white selections later, I copied them all into a new file. I drew a rough batmanesque figure to give myself a frame and moved the various ink spots around until they created a reasonable facsimile. The eyes are also ink spots, with inverse color and instead of Multiply/Darken (makes a layer semi-transparent and emphasizes the dark parts) they got Screen (similar to multiply but light instead of dark). I totally cheated on the bat symbol. That’s just Photoshop. I didn’t feel like manipulating the ink into the very pointy and specific shape required. The symbol got the same treatment as the eyes and poof! It’s Batman!