[jameswalker85]

You may know I love Shenmue (as evidenced by my being here). You may know I make bead art. You may know I make YouTube videos (like this one):
http://youtu.be/lyUDmOVLOJU

Put them all together, and what do you have? I'm making a Shenmue bead art video! I just ordered a whopping 84,000 mini beads (1/4 the size of regular fuse beads), and made sure to order enough of each colour required to make three of these:


I'm planning on making one for myself, which I will record and upload to YouTube on December 3rd. As for the other two, well... ideally I'd like to sell one (since the beads cost a lot to order), and the other I plan to give away as part of December's tweetathon.

Let me know if you are interested in buying one. I'm always willing to make more if demand is high enough.

Also, if anyone has any other ideas for Shenmue-themed bead art, feel free to let me know.

[Shenmue Stare]

We have a contest for December's Tweetathon already, but we could do this for January. Can you make it say #SaveShenmue instead of just Shenmue? How much total cost are you thinking?

[jameswalker85]

I can do it for January, sure. As for making it say #SaveShenmue, obviously that would be much more difficult due to size limitations; I don't want to make the piece any larger, and the "Shenmue" part is already as small as I can get it without it becoming illegible.


Cost? Well, I am going to be charging £0.01 per 2 beads. As this piece is 100x100, it would normally work out at £50 for 10,000 beads. However, I was thinking half that because it's for a special cause.


At the time of posting, £25 is almost exactly $39.99.

[Shenmue Stare]

Cools, and thanks! We'll get back to you soon on this.

[jameswalker85]

Awesome. I'm hoping to record the video soon, since these just arrived this morning:

[jameswalker85]

So, I started making one, to see how it would go with filming.


Since it's taking so long, I doubt filming would work. Instead, I'm thinking of either doing a stop-motion video of it, or just filming it in bits and stitching them together. Or possibly even changing the project to make coasters instead (since each panel is the perfect size.


Basically, I did not anticipate the difficulty with using such small beads. With the regular beads, I can use my fingers. With the mini beads, I have to use tweezers, and the slightest touch can destroy a good deal of work; even breathing too heavily can scatter them.


Anyhoo, this is my progress so far:

[James]

When you're basing it on an image that's blocky/pixellated to begin with, is it still necessary to position all the black beads first? I imagine it being less fragile if you built it a whole multicolored row at a time, following the template that the image provides.

[jameswalker85]

I have tried doing a row at a time before, but with having so many colours it slows down the process. I think maybe I should have done a panel at a time (which I will do if/when I make another one). However, I'm going to have to do the title a column at a time, since it's so much bigger and more complex.

[Son ALA]

What is the size on that thing? It looks huge.  Is it 9x9?

[jameswalker85]

It's approximately 9.5" square. By comparison, a single panel made from midi beads is 6" square.

[Andrés]

That looks lovely, what are the requisites to be eligible to win this on December's tweetathon?

[jameswalker85]

The plans have changed, due to the project being so much work, the cost, and personal health (I've got a suspected herniated disc in my spine, and hunching over my desk to make them is agony).

[James]

Damn, if there's one thing I didn't expect to be back breaking work... Hope they get you repaired soon!

[jameswalker85]

Me too. Going to see someone on Tuesday. In the meantime, I'm on a go-slow. Although, I did finish the background of Fangmei's panel this morning. So... progress!

[Son ALA]

I just watched thw full vid in between commer breaks and wow, it's even tougher than i thought. I imagined there was a color coded template and then you put each bead in the specified spot but nope, a lot tougher and it was awesome seeing arthur come together