In the back seat with my four year old niece I pulled out my travel Spirograph.
Traveling with the Travel Spirograph
We were on our way to Six Flags and I thought it might come in handy. She got the hang of it after a few minutes, then I started planning for a way to get it back from her. I said “That is Auntie Becca’s Spirograph.”
Then she said, “I wish I had one!”
Of course I let her have it. She LOVED it. She even asked me about it the next day. I completely understand. I love it too.
Keeping on Track
The travel Spirograph is designed to fit Post-it Notes. They are supposed to stay stuck in place until you open it to remove it. However, they do slip away from their original position sometimes. This is a minor issue. Although I had never seen white Post-it Notes in stores, I found them on the internets.
A few days ago I finally discovered why my spirograph wheels would “jump the track” and cause a wreck in my design often. It turns out that there are several reasons for this:
- The shape of the pen tip. The needle type tips are the ones that jump the track. The tapered shaped tips cause the wheel around to stay level.
- Holding the pen on an angle. The directions show that the pen should be held at a 90 degree angle.
- Any warps or wrinkles in the paper will cause accidents.
- Going too fast will also cause the pen to slip. It is very tempting to spin the inner wheel quickly but I have to force myself to move slowly.
To counter this, I use pens that have tapered tips, give the post it note extra staying power with washi tape, deliberately go slowly and try to remind myself to hold the pen on a 90 degree angle. This is unnatural, but helps. Also starting with the lighter colors first helps the mistakes to be hidden by the subsequent rounds.
Attempting to Put Spirograph Designs in My Sketchbooks
I have always loved the Spirograph’s designs and I bought the biggest set they offered. This is the one with the outer wheels and the inner wheels. My intention was to use the spiral designs in my sketchbooks, but the large set is designed to work with a sheet of paper on a flat surface and the flatness of the surface is key. I tried using the putty that comes with the set to keep the outer wheels in place in my sketchbooks, but it was almost a total failure.
The travel Spirograph is the answer. After I get a result I like, I take the sticky note out of the case, cut the excess paper off and glue them into my sketchbooks like stickers.
Here are some examples of how I use the completed spirograph designs in my sketchbooks:
It just occurred to me that I could use the large set on a flat surface and cut those out and paste them in too. This would give me bigger designs. I am ready to try it.
Supplies Used to Make These Drawings:
The artwork in this post was made with ink, markers, glue, a travel Spirograph and God given gifts of seeing things that others don’t.
- A gift of an intense love of colors, combinations of colors, and patterns.
- A gift of hypersensitivity to sounds, textures, and light levels.
- A gift of seeing clearly slight differences in color and tone and also feeling vibrations and tones in others.
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