Zentangled Bike

I promised to post pictures of my son's bike with the Zentangled chain guard, and here they are!  We had been warned not to spray a clear protective coating onto the piece directly, but to test it first.  The first test we did with a spray lacquer blasted the marker right off the test piece.  Sherry Barello, our current Guest Artist at Art 'n Soul, advised using a spray fixatif on the piece first (2-3 coats) to protect it.  We obtained some fixatif and did a test spray with that first.  The fixatif did work to protect the piece, so anyone who is interested in trying this, be sure to take this step.

Photo by Austin Johnson

 Here is the bike; isn't it a beauty?  It's made by Public, but he has made lots of changes to it.  The knitted piece is from the Netherlands.

Photo by Austin Johnson

 He painted the chain guard piece first with white primer; then spray painted it with white paint.  I used a fine point sharpie to do the Zentangle.  I'm afraid it will fade, and would like to find a better pen that won't fade.  I don't think the bike gets left out in the sun much, but it does get ridden a lot!

Photo by Austin Johnson

 I had given him 5 different samples, drawn to scale so he could choose the tangles he liked the best.  I love how this turned out.

Photo by Austin Johnson

 He used leather washers so as not to scratch the artwork!

Photo by Austin Johnson

I told him now I want to do a whole bike!  He may try to find one to refurbish so we can do that.

I'm working hard on some samples using the new Magenta stamps!  Stay tuned!