365/2013 - Day 39

gah -- it's that time again

It is that time I dread most ... gesso and/or paint time.

I am working on finishing seven plaster cloth guys.  I was invited to participate in an upcoming show and I don't know yet how many of these guys will end up there.  Heck, I am not even sure what most of them will look like yet.

Tonight I gesso coated the Atomic Fireball Happy Hour guy.  I know he will get a new name eventually.

before -- waiting patiently for gesso

 

 

after -- gesso applied (hopefully he won't need a second coat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The master plan for my weekend:

• get all of the plaster cloth parts done
• gesso the guys that are ready
• start thinking of what these guys will look like

365/2013 - Day 32

enough with the gesso-ing

Gah -- I think probably no matter how many coats of gesso I put on the cat-ish king that alcohol ink is just going to keep bleeding through.  It is quite a bit lighter, but it is still there.  I think this is plenty enough gesso...maybe the color bleed-through will be interesting with the real paint.

3rd coat of gesso -- still wet

3rd coat of gesso -- dry

4th coat of gesso on cat-ish king -- dry

Note to self:  never, ever spray alcohol inks onto as a first coat...ever.

Four coats of gesso on the cat-ish king is kinda ridiculous.  The bear-ish guy only needed one to cover the dry plaster cloth.

Yikes -- now I need to start thinking about how I want to paint/color/finish these two.

365/2013 - Day 31

gah -- it's a gesso night

I mixed some blue paint into some gesso (so I can see where I've been) -- now it is just a night full of painting, waiting, turning the item over, painting, waiting, repeat...

That is all.

2012/365 - Day 4 (plus update)

gesso day

Today I am applying 2 coats of gesso to the cat-creature and the head and 4 body sections of the studio snake. The cat-creature is done is four sections...top and bottom, front and back.



I did the first coat(s) in the plain white gesso. I did the top half of the cat-creature and the top half of the studio snake's head and 3/4 all the way around on the body sections of the studio snake.

It is very bright white and hard on the eyes. It is also hard to see where I've already painted.











I have seen tinted gesso online but it is sort of expensive.

I decided today to try tinting my own small batches. I added a little bit of acrylic paint to the plain white gesso -- looks good!













Wow -- that is SO much better! And now I can see spots I've missed, too.



Now I need to hoist the cat-creature back up onto the table to gesso two coats on the base and also finish off the studio snake parts.










I shot the cat-creature from several different positions so that I could print out pages to practice color combinations, etc. in my sketchbook. That is what I will be doing for the rest of the evening because I still have no idea what I want to do with this guy -- except I do have one idea for the tail.

Hopefully I will take a break and work on the next five Animal People collages (for Art-o-mat) tonight.


UPDATE: Oh, wouldn't you just know it? I got around to the last part of the base of the cat-creature and there are two areas that need plaster cloth repair. Darn it.




This is a spot of the tail that attaches to the body on the front/side.















This is a whole edge of a section of plaster cloth that wasn't smoothed down all the way.

Oh well...at least I can repair them. I am glad I saw them now -- before I started the finish painting.

365 Day 101

more work on 'Nipped and his companion piece









'Nipped, partially gesso'd











I didn't mean to still have this much work to do on my Meth & Hot Dogs 2 pieces by this date. Life happens, more unexpected work needed to be done on 'Nipped (and had to dry), other deadlines happen...today 'Nipped gets gesso'd and base coated.

The companion piece is partially done. You remember how I really dislike painting? Well, I had an idea for the stripes on this guy yesterday that I think turned out pretty darn well and saved me from painting. Tonight I will be painting his face and head. Then he will just need to be sealed.





this guy gets a face tonight

365 Day 57

poor "unloved" Twink...

Today I gesso-ed over the practice snakey guy so that I can try out different color combinations again tomorrow for Piece #1. That deadline is getting close!













And here is Twink looking at me like "THIS is why you can't hold me while you are "working"?!?"

Twink is posing next to today's pile of 40 Tookies -- the finger puppet series I make for Art-o-mat.

365 Day 55

not much to see today

I did a lot of driving and running around today.










Tonight I am:

• giving my hands a break from sewing
• putting several coats of gesso on Piece #1
• thinking of how I want to paint Piece #1 (working in sketchbook)
  
• taping pennies to the Tookies boxes (weight for vending)