So i’ve continued with the sign.  I alternate between being really happy and really distraught.

i mixed the purple with the varnish and it came out poorly.  So i figured it must have been the stain on the Hogwarts sign,  and i mixed it and began.

whatever i did before, it was NOT that.  I tried more ink.  Not purple enough.  So frustrated, but needed to protect the rest of the work, so i varnished just the body of the tentacles and moved on to the belly of them.

this time, no varnish or stain, just the ink, diluted with some water for a paler look, and painted it on.  THAT’s what i should have been doing.  Fuck. Okay, but let me varnish that and protect it.

so i continue, and i use a maplewood stain on just the letters.  I figure if i do that and then use a golden pecan stain on the background, the letters will pop, and the reddish tone will pull it together with the red tones in the tentacle….but the reddish tones aren’t really coming through.

honestly, i had a black cherry stain that was super dark….i should have gone with that for the tentacles.  Anyway, i varnish the letters, and then the tentacles to protect them all from what comes next, and i start noticing bleed.  And to make matters worse, i must have had some violet ink on my thumb, because there’s a thumbprint on the bottom left.

i’m hoping the bleed and the fingerprint will come out with a little sanding.  I’m optimistic…unless it’s soaked in deep it shouldn’t be a problem.

if it has, i’ll cross that bridge when i get to it.