365/2013 - Day 92

back to painting

Tonight I got back to working on the painting on the sugar glider-creature's side design.

There are a few deadlines coming up for shows I would possibly like to submit entries to.  I would like to finish this guy for one of them, but this will require a lot of fairly labor intensive layers of painting.

it has been a while since I worked on the sugar glider-creature and I don't remember exactly how I was achieving the circles

I don't think I did it this way...

...but I got to pretty much the same place in the end tonight

I know I will really like this guy when he is done, but why oh why do I set myself up like this?  Geez.

365/2013 - Day 55

awwwww, nuts

I had a feeling I wouldn't be using all seven of the plaster cloth guys.  Some just aren't far enough along.  Some aren't turning out as I'd hoped.  A couple are beyond painting in the amount of time I have left.  But I am still hoping for a few.

You wouldn't think so, but tearing paper takes a LOT of time.  And then adhering the little pieces to curvy surfaces takes time.  Man.

I am really falling in love with this guy now.  I want to do a really good job on him...and that means he will not be going into the upcoming show...just not enough time.

Another plaster cloth guy that will not make it into the show is the marsupial.  One of the several reasons why I am having trouble with his painting is the complicated task I set for myself.  Another is that I have never tried to do this before.  And yet one more reason is the uneven surface of the plaster cloth.  This painting design/style is hard enough but the bumpy surface(s) make it very hard to:

• get the edges on the layered circles sharp
• the gazillion tiny dots that go in between the larger layered circles are becoming textured when I try to put them on with the other end of the brush or with an eraser on a pencil -- I found a tiny sponge brush that will probably work but I need more time

I discovered last night that the millions of small dots I want to add (to represent Australian aboriginal-type art) are going to be painstakingly difficult due to the nature of the plaster cloth surface -- I don't mind putting in a lot of time, I just don't have that kind of time for the upcoming show.

More tearing of paper for the manikin guy.

I can't add any more paper bits right now -- he is too wet -- needs to dry a bit so I don't tear the pieces I already applied.

And another thing I learned tonight about painting/using colors...if you have a carbon black snake and you try to add phthalocyanine blue to the dry surface to make it look blue, it actually goes waaaaaay dark purple.  WTF?  

It LOOKS like a beautiful dark blue when it is wet on top of the very dry black paint, but it goes purple as it dries.  Even a second and third coat stay purple.

So -- another stab at going blue taught me that turquoise deep will stay blue...at least on top of the other blue (now dry as well).

They are both very appealing blues...it's just taking longer than I anticipated to get to the next step!  Gah!

I will finish all of these guys...but at a more reasonable pace.

Ah well -- live and learn. 

365/2013 - Day 54

still working...it'll be a l-o-n-g weekend

I got a lot done on the marsupial...okay, one more little peek.

And the bear-ish creature got a couple of layers of paper from the underarms down.

I realize it doesn't look like it, but a lot of work got done (so far) today and tonight.

365/2013 - Day 48

more painting and some sewing

I base coated the marsupial today.

And tonight I am working on the head of the stuffed spikey guy.  He needs eyes, ears, a mouth, and to have his circle of head spikes attached.  I probably won't get to the ears and mouth tonight.

I am going to try to give the underside of the plaster cloth snake a base coat of paint before I go to bed.