[John]

We have this on the list of stuff to improve but my idea was to have, along with the slide show, thumbnails of the six images that always show so you can just select the one you want to view. This would stop the slide show and display the selected image.

[John]

While it is a struggle to get the dark pieces to show against the black background there are a couple of reasons why we do it that way. The main one is that the colors are just richer when shown on black instead of a lighter gray and the second is that I want to maintain consistency in the way the pictures are shot and appear on Ebay so there is less confusion as to what is a Windstone auction and what isn’t.

A big factor, which we try to compensate for but can’t control, is the quality of the display on someone else’s monitor. We try our best to get a bright enough image for a poor monitor but some dark colors come out pretty muddy no matter what we do, and we have to take these pictures pretty quickly. I (or Pam) might spend 10 minutes on six views of an Ebay piece whereas I might spend half an hour or more getting a shot that I think suitable for a catalog cover or ad. In both cases the dark pieces take longer to set up and light than the white or more neutral pieces. The worst are the pieces that are both black and white.

[John]

Blackdesertwind wrote:

Jennifer wrote:

Actual gold leaf is real gold, and would not tarnish, so there is never a need to seal it.

The gold on Windstones is plated gold, and apparently there was a problem. 😮

Going to move this to Ask Melody just so she knows this is an issue!
Melody knows since Susie sent me a replacement but unfortunitly the other one has the same problem. I didn’t want to tell Melody or Susie because I didn’t want them to send another replacement.
I just wish I could do something. I’ll have to sell this one for less then what I paid because of it. 🙁
I don’t want someone else to have the problem either.

Hi Natalie, I am stunned every time I see the beautiful pictures you take! But I am not too happy to see these, even though the green on the eggs is kind of nice… if it had been intentional.

I have been thinking over what could be going on with the plating, and I’m not sure I have the perfect answer yet, but we don’t seem to see this on our archived pieces like it has shown up with these new ones you received. I want the second one back as well to see how bad it is and if cleaning and sealing would restore the plating and stop the corrosion. Or we will replace it, or the egg.

After viewing the horns that were speckled all over I am thinking that the environment (whether here inside the boxes or in someone’s home) has to be part of it. The reason I am thinking this is that with horns there is a right and a left that are cast from different molds, maybe even on different days, they are kept somewhat separate during plating, etc. and for a right and a left to behave exactly the same is very suspicious.

The gold is plated over nickel which corrodes to green and the gold plating is very thin so if there is a spot where the gold doesn’t cover and there is something to cause the metal to corrode then green is what you will get. I have seen corrosion bloom from very small pits in the pewter that are hard to see after you remove the corrosion, and if sealed with oil or lacquer so moisture cannot get to it again the corrosion stops. I Think we will look at sealing the gold in the future with lacquer or wax but it is odd that this is happening all of a sudden.

I am going look into what would be the best thing to put over the plating and see if there isn’t a wax that could be applied that would be easy to put on and still seal it well enough. Lacquer is a little trickier to apply because it will ruin the paint if it drips and it may be hard to brush it out smoothly.

[John]

You can do that as long as you get our permission and recognition of the Windstone copyright is posted.
If you don’t mind putting in a link to Windstone somehow we would be very grateful. Email me: John@Windstoneeditions.com

[John]

ruffian wrote:

I am wondering about this?

If you scroll down to the part that says “hacker beware” there on their logo is the Sentinal Gargoyle, is that allowed?

http://www.calgarypugrescue.com/

No, that is not fair use. They have no contact link so this will take some digging. Thanks!

[John]

Blackdesertwind wrote:

drgnlvr wrote:

I just saw a “circle of friends candleholder” with 6 cats in a circle around a votive candle on Activa made by creations. The cats don’t look much like Windstones but the concept is extremely close. If you tell me where to forward it I can try to do that. I”m not good at posting. drgnlvr

Is this the one you meant:
http://cgi.ebay.com/New-Circle-Of-Friends-Assorted-Breed-Cats-Candle-Holder_W0QQitemZ260360885407QQcmdZViewItemQQptZCandle_Holders_Accessories?hash=item3c9eb7d49f&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

This is part of an old line that we did go after with a lawsuit, and settled in our favor. Thanks.

[John]

dragonlairqueen wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Replica-Of-Windstone-Male-Dragon_W0QQitemZ120450994301QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item1c0b70507d&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=65%3A10|66%3A4|39%3A1|293%3A1|294%3A200

Sure looks like infringement to me. The seller is aware that it isn’t Windstone, but unaware that it shouldn’t be sold.

I asked the seller to take it down and destroy it. It was in a collection of dragons she was liquidating for someone and had no idea where originated. Thanks for the heads up.

[John]

I sure hope we aren’t opening a big can of worms with this. The reason we glued the eyes in to begin with is so we could more easily identify any knock-offs from pictures that didn’t show the bottoms of the pieces. We really can’t stop anybody from putting a different eye in them and that is going to confuse the issue. Just what we were trying to avoid in the beginning. So the choice was to glue the eyes in so well that you would surely break the piece getting them out, or ship them with the eyes out and hope for the best.

We have such a pervasive community of PYO fans and collectors now that we will trust that any knock-offs will be quickly discovered and reported to us, as has happened with our regular pieces.

[John]

The short answer is that publication, even for personal use, requires permission from the copyright holder. There are exceptions such as usage for certian refference material, like a school assignment, that may be fair usage, but not reproductions for the enjoyment of the copier or for publication. I think you can find and read the law at the U.S. patent and copyright office website.

[John]

Tyrrlin wrote:

John wrote:

Great stuff! Reminded me of a violinmaker’s website that I had come across a while back. Take a look. (and scroll down to the pics.)

http://www.cranfordpub.com/otis/gallery/pages/other%20pages/menagerie/menagerie.htm

Very cool!

I hope it’s not considered stealing his idea? I didn’t even know that website existed until now. Incredible artwork and beautiful detail.

I really don’t thing you need to worry about that. I just really like this kind of stuff and thought you would enjoy it. In a slightly different vein, we used to manufacture mouthpiece ligatures for a guy who also had a retail music store and he would pick up old brass instruments that were on longer repairable, take them to someone with a big metal press and have them completely squashed flat. Hung on the wall in his shop as artwork he could get hundreds of dollars for them.

[John]

Hi, You really need to do a little homework and get more familiar with the intellectual property laws. I think that the Patent And Trademark office has very good easy to understand info. on their site. You might also check Wikipedia for info. and links to legal sites. I think you will find that trademarks are quite different from patents and copyrights in that they are governed by use and you will probably find that your usage is different enough that Hasbro’s trademark filing has no influence on your usage of the name for a different product or service. As long as it is different enough.

Also, all original artwork is automatically protected by the copyright law, even without registration, but registration gives you more rights to recover damages. You don’t need a lawyer to register your work and, again, I think you will find the info. you need on the patent office website.

[John]

We have a pretty professional studio with all sorts of soft boxes (fabric diffused reflectors that go over the strobes) and other attachments for the lights so I can get a diffused light from any direction or direct, hard light from any direction. I don’t waste a lot of time with the eBay pictures because I don’t want them to ever look better than the piece really is. For ad shots I spend quite a lot of time getting just the right amount of shadow detail and brightness to show the shape of the piece and bring your eye to the faces.

The basics are:

Direct hard light from the front will bring out the color but give bright specular highlights.
Direct light from the top or side will give shadow detail.
Diffused light from the side or above will give less vivid color rendition, soft highlights and less shadow detail.
The larger the diffused area the softer the highlights.
Lighting through fabric can give a diffused and directional light combined while a white reflector is less directional and a Mylar or mirror reflector will give a harsh directional reflection.

I use a combination of all of the above in the studio and, sometimes, even a honeycomb grid in a direct reflector to shoot a narrow beam of light. The eye sees many more shades of grey than film or digital can record so you need to learn to “see” the lighting as you imagine it will appear. I now have a very accurate digital camera and capture directly to the computer so I can see each shot on the monitor as I work and that helps a lot.

[John]

Great stuff! Reminded me of a violinmaker’s website that I had come across a while back. Take a look. (and scroll down to the pics.)

http://www.cranfordpub.com/otis/gallery/pages/other%20pages/menagerie/menagerie.htm

[John]

skigod377 wrote:

Happy Birthday!!! We should have sent you another cake… 🙄

Shaun took care of that with a local bakery here. Thank You Shaun!

[John]

starbreeze wrote:

Melody, what has Maya Hill been up to recently? We haven’t heard from her in a long time. 🙁

I just spoke to her today and, having recently moved, she has been setting up a new studio. Ask her on her forum or PM her to get her attention.

[Author]

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