Fairy Unicorn Rainbow Headband, what silliness!

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Holographic glitter vinyl pvc unicorn fairy headdress by Suzanne Forbes February 2020I made this ridiculous rainbow glitter iridescent PVC headpiece so impulsively!

I saw the iridescent headband lying on a shelf in the bathroom just after I’d been admiring some holographic vinyl fetishwear on Instagram. I remembered I had some small sheets of glitter and holographic pvc I ordered as samples in my “sparkle” drawer. I grabbed those out, turned on the glue gun, and started cutting shapes out of the pvc without any pattern, plan or design whatsoever.

Holographic glitter vinyl pvc unicorn fairy headdress by Suzanne Forbes February 2020I had a vague idea I could fold or pleat the vinyl to make fans, and it turned out that was possible.

Holographic glitter vinyl pvc unicorn fairy headdress by Suzanne Forbes February 2020Intriguingly, the pvc could also be manipulated to create curving dimples around the folds. I made some fans and then poked a hole through their bases so I could use wire to secure the pleats as well as create an attachment.

I used my Tack Life mini-dremel to drill three holes in the headband, ran wires through the holes in the plastic icicles, and wired them on, then glue-gunned them stable.

Then I added the fans around them, using their wires and then the glue gun.

It actually worked!

After one has been making stuff for long enough, an invisible DOS of How to Make Stuff just runs in the brain.

I tried to take photos but I am so bad at that, so I made a bad drawing of how I did it!

Vinyl fan how to by Suzanne Forbes Feb 24 2020I was moving so fast I just grabbed a used emery board off the desk top to make a stem or handle for the bigger fans.

I snapped it in half and stuck it between the pleats, then wire wrapped it, which facilitated attaching the pleats to the headband. I used the gluegun almost exclusively for construction, which is bad because glue gun glue is heavy! But I love how fast it is.

Holographic glitter vinyl pvc unicorn fairy headdress by Suzanne Forbes February 2020 detailI did use my UHU alleskleber to attach miniature braid around the edges of each fan, which gave a nice finish.

And I used the Alleskleber to attach the various iridescent and rainbow shift rhinestones. I glittered the silk flowers by swabbing them (literally, rather than using a brush I just grabbed a Q-Tip) with Interference Paint in blue-violet, then dipping them in lavender micro-glitter.

Holographic glitter vinyl pvc unicorn fairy headdress by Suzanne Forbes February 2020 leftThe poufs of glitter tulle and color-shift organza are stuffed with holographic plastic Easter grass I had had since at least the late ’90s.

I can’t believe I finally used it!!! I just secured each stuffed pouf with wire at the bottom to make an enclosed bundle, then gluegunned that on.

All in, this project still took me a good ten-twelve hours. But imagine how long it would have taken if I had thought about it first or made some kind of plan for it! That probably would have added hours! Better to just dive in, for me 🙂

Feb 2020 Unterwegs – Valentine’s lovebirds, grayscale and Pencil Cleanse!

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Unterwegs with Valentines lovebirds Feb 20 2020 by Suzanne ForbesMy husband and I saw this sweet couple on the U-Bahn on Valentine’s Day.

The elegant lady was giving her partner a comforting touch on the shoulder. She noticed I was drawing them and I gave her my card, I hope she sees this!

Unterwegs Feb 20 2020 Grayscale by Suzanne ForbesTen years ago Brody, a cool person I knew in the Bay, did a Grayscale costume and makeup for Santacon.

It was so incredibly good that I have thought of her look (also known as Desaturated Santa) every time I see or type the word “Grayscale” ever since. I thought of her when I drew this grayscale unterwegs on gray paper! You really don’t see anyone reading a full-size or even a tabloid size newspaper on the subway anymore, and I miss it.

Pencil cleanse WIP by Suzanne Forbes Feb 24 2020I am conducting an occasional Pencil Cleanse.

Before I started working as a courtroom artist and then in comics, there was a period, ’89 to ’91, when I carried a sketchbook everywhere but only a mechanical pencil to draw with. All of my drawings were pencil only, or ballpoint if I ran out of leads. And they were great! They had a slow magic and a loose rhythm that my faster, rough-pencil-sketch-which-is-immediately-inked drawings of today lack.

I’d love to take a month to draw ONLY in pencil, but I just don’t dare. I don’t want to lose the chance to document a great performer because I can’t move fast enough with pencil. So instead I am doing pencil-only drawings when the stakes are low, like with unterwegs.

IT TAKES SO LONG!!!

This one is in process, with a couple hours on it already, and hundreds of corrections, perspective adjustments, and scale fixes. And yet it doesn’t look like much, right? It is the bones and vitamins of drawing, though.

You can see hundreds more unterwegs drawings celebrating life on Berlin’s public transit system here. All unterwegs drawings are courtesy of my Patrons on Patreon whose monthly financial support allows me to make this free art available!