Medusa's new lair

[melluvssnakes]

So we've just about finished Medusa's new tank. She's our 3yr old BHP. The enclosure is 1800Lx700Wx900H. Because she has got a grecian name, I'm thinking of doing a grecian theme for her enclosure.

So far, my idea is to have her basking platform as a short colum like you could imagine an ornamental vase sitting upon. The background will be 3 arches, the first sitting behind the basking colum and the other two stretched over the rest of the background. I plan on making these out of the styrofoam and cement method so that they are 3D. Within the other two arches, I'm trying to find some pictures of Greek statues that I can blow up, laminate and stick to the back wall. So you've got the 3D arches, then the 2D statues within them.

I'm having a little trouble finding the right pictures to use and I'm not sure how I'll blow them up to the appropriate size.

Any ideas?

Cheers,
Melissa.

 

[Dallas]

Sounds like a great idea! Have you tried searching stock photography websites? They have pretty much anything you can think of. You can purchase files in different sizes and they are usually pretty cheap.

 

[melluvssnakes]

yeh I don't really want a photo of the statue. It's a little hard to explain, but I want a drawing of the statue, rather then an actual picture. Like you know when you do a colour-in picture and it's just a fairly simple outline, well I kind of want the same thing, but in a bit more detail. Found a statue that I like. I'll try and post it soon. Just don't know how to get the effect that I'm looking for.

 

[melluvssnakes]

 

[J-A-X]

do a google search but select the clipart / line drawing option to narrow the search down.

 

[melluvssnakes]

Jax you're a genius. Love that one that you've got there too btw

 

[melluvssnakes]

I didn't even know you could do that on google. Huh.

 

[snakes123]

can do anything on google.

 

[maanz641]

google is the answer to all of lifes problems

 

[melluvssnakes]

Does anyone know the name of a programme that could change that photo of aphrodite statue to a line drawing?

 

[melluvssnakes]

OR, the other idea that I had was to put this picture up, rather then having a half-naked lady in my snake's enclosure...

Would really like a body to go with it though. Don't suppose anyone is talented enough to do something like that?

 

[J-A-X]

How about a compromise ? LOL, a half body...

 

[melluvssnakes]

I love that one Jax. Where did you find that one? I haven't been able to find any of the ones that you've put up lol

 

[Virides]

Also, I recommend that if you choose to eventually have this printed go to a Sign Shop which has a "UV Printer". Most sign shops have Solvent Printers, but these are harsh chemicals which, if not correctly dried and laminated, will bleed off fumes, even through the laminate, but this is onto sticky vinyl which is restricted by what it can adhere to.

The UV Printer uses plastic ink which sets instantly under UV light (on the printer this is a CAT1 Light - the strongest commercially available). This all means you have a non-fuming, rather non-toxic solution. Even better if you can have it clear coated or have clear plastic/glass over it to protect the ink. The ink sits on the surface only (it does not absorb into surfaces).

The biggest advantage is, these printers can print on almost anything - concrete, stones, pottery, glass, wood, carpet, various plastics, metals, etc. Most UV Printers can do materials upto 30mm thick aswell.

This way you could have your medusa appear to be etched into the stone backing of your enclosure.

If you want to eventually go down this path, and you can't find someone up near you that can do this, I work for a nationwide signage shop who has these capabilities - send us a PM and I can organise it.

 

[melluvssnakes]

Virides, I was just going to probably blow it up, transfer it onto stiff cardboard and then paint it using water based paints. Origionally we were just going to blow it up, laminate it and blu-tack it to the back wall,. Using the UV printer that you were talking about, I guess we could actually get it printed onto a poster or something, which would look pretty cool properly in colour. But I guess I would still have to laminate it??

 

[Sawowie]

i took that photo of the statue and did this in photoshop
the picture wasnt the best qualit tho :\

 

[melluvssnakes]

Hey thanks Sawowie! I had no idea how to do it myself. Don't even think I've got photo shop on my computer lol.

 

[melluvssnakes]

Ok so we've done some fiddling around and I'm pretty sure we're going to use the picture that Jax put up of the medusa wearing a dress-thingy...
Only we've decided that we'd like to have it in colour. Red eyes for all the snakes, and her. Pale blue shirt with gold snakey looking design on the bottom. The hem will be two strips of cream with the same gold colour in between. For the actual snakes, we're tentatively turning them into BHP's cause that's what Medusa (the snake) is. I printed the actual picture out and spent about half an hour at work doing a colur in sheet lol. Will try and scan it so that you can see what we're thinking.
I'm assuming, but can anyone tell me for sure if a company like Big Colour Works (or even the one you work for Viridis ) could actually put colour to the picture before blowing it up and printing it out?

 

[Virides]

There are several ways to go about it. The way you describe is one of these ways of course, and is perfectly ok. Just keep in mind, if you use a UV light, which is basically a "Sun" in the enclosure, this will made the ink fade as if it was outside like any other print would.

The UV Option is likely to last several years. We can laminate it, this is no problem. But the UV to paper is not really necessary, it is more about printing to hard substrates, like wood, concrete, metal, etc.

I merely mentioned this technology since most people don't know it exists.

You can still do what you were going to do, but now you know there is a comprehensive option.

 

[Virides]

I'm assuming, but can anyone tell me for sure if a company like Big Colour Works (or even the one you work for Viridis ) could actually put colour to the picture before blowing it up and printing it out?

I have printed images that were from mobile phones (from years ago) to 10m x 4m banners... true it was horrible to look at, but effectively anything can be blown up - it is more about how good you want it to look?

I personally either attempt to blow it up with the best combination of resolution and image size, but for the medusa, I would even re-trace it and that way I could make it the size of the moon and it would still have smooth edges