Stern and Songful Birds; fountain pen, UV-cured epoxy finish

[Bob in SF]

Longstanding fascination with birds since I built my first makeshift tree house (eons ago).

Steps:
Created original artwork with stippled pen and ink, and water colors - 4x4 inches.
Scaled down the paintings and inkjet printed them onto Sunnyscopa brand white inkjet decal paper.
Spray-sealed the decals with 3 coats of Krylon UV Archival Varnish Gloss, 1 day of drying between coats, 3 days of drying after 3rd coat.
Turned some ordinary-looking hardwood (no sanding)
Brushed on 1st coat of Alumilte UV resin, then cured it with a 365nm UV bulb x 4 minutes.
Applied the decals.
Decorated the barrel ends with alcohol inks.
Brushed on 2nd coat of Alumilte UV resin, then cured it with a 365nm UV bulb x 4 minutes.
Assembled the Virage fountain pen.
Gave it to an ornithologist friend to thank him for telling me about Cornell University's Merlin Bird ID app - here:

Merlin Bird ID - Home

Bird ID Wizard—Step-by-step Answer three simple questions about a bird you are trying to identify and Merlin will give you a list of possible matches. Merlin offers quick identification help for all levels of bird watchers and outdoor enthusiasts to help you learn about the birds in any country i

merlin.allaboutbirds.org

Warm regards to all - Bob

 

[Jim15]

Absolutely beautiful work.

 

[mark james]

Sublime!

 

[LouCee]

Beautiful work!

 

[Curly]

Always our pleasure to see your work. And thanks for the tip on the app. Downloaded it.

 

[magpens]

UNSPEAKABLY . . B*E*A*U*T*I*F*U*L . . Bob !!!!!

And, thank you very much for the technical details . . . . VERY interesting indeed ! ! !

 

[TDahl]

Very nice.

 

[Alan Morrison]

Your ornithologist friend should treasure these works of art, Bob.
Your watercolours are excellent.
First class pen.

Alan

 

[CjG78]

Awesome!

 

[RichAldrich]

Unreal and amazing!

 

[TonyL]

outstanding!

 

[Bob in SF]

Many thanks to Jim, Mark, Chad, Peter, Mal, Tim, Alan, Casey, Richard, and Tony; and to those who looked and liked!

I'm currently enjoying Jennifer Ackerman's most recent book:

The Bird Way: A New Look at How Birds Talk, Work, Play, Parent, and Think

Best regards to all makers, and gratefully - Bob

 

[KenB259]

Beautiful work. I'm thinking I need to get some of that UV resin for some ideas, floating around in my head

 

[Bob in SF]

Thanks, Ken!

Ken: "I need to get some of that UV resin for some ideas, floating around in my head"

(Give wings to ideas inside the head - makes room for new flock)