365/2013 - Day 35

not quite there yet, but definitely getting closer

I have been avoiding getting back to work on the Atomic Fireball Happy Hour guy -- I needed to fill out his face in front of his ears and a bit by his jaw.  He also needed eyes.

Since I don't have any taxidermy eyes for him I looked around in the studio for something I could maybe build an eye with.  I grabbed some bottle caps of various shapes and sizes and then I remembered the little toy capsule that came in the chocolate eggs Sue and I got today.  The tops of the capsules were great!  But the cats had taken one of them and it took a while, but I found it!

I was trying to coax my Universal collaborators to join me but I wasn't feeling them so I at least started the prep work of cutting the plaster cloth triangles and getting the area ready and getting the hot water.  I also played around with the idea of using this wonderful striped cone that Ingrid Dijkers gave me from a project she did that she didn't need anymore.  I love it as a hat on this guy but it also makes the piece four and a half feet tall and -- for various reasons -- I don't think I can deal with the problems involved in transporting something that size right now.  I even tried making a mock up of a smaller version...nah...it is the stripey cone that makes it.  I will find the right project for it eventually.

I wanted to use more plastic bags, etc.  I tried wadding the pieces up again and taping them in place but nothing was working.  I couldn't get the sides anywhere close to even.  Then they arrived!  I/we took the wads off (my right) side of the head and I/we snatched up a wad, pulled off the tape and just balled the plastic up a little.  Using one hand the plastic was held in place while my other hand picked up a larger plaster cloth triangle and got it reeeeeally wet and just laid it on top of the wad and held my hand there for a few seconds...no smoothing, just holding it and feeling how it felt...then the plaster cloth was smoothed out and I picked up another piece and did the same thing in a slightly different spot to anchor the plastic wad.  With this handful I got more of a sense of the round feeling I was looking for.  Hmmm... 

Then we did the eyes differently than we've done them before.  I/we just held the capsule top in place and started laying and smoothing the tiny plaster cloth triangles...anchoring and smoothing as the cap was covered.  Normally I would sit and cover both caps and set them aside to dry a little, filling in the underside, too.  But I decided not to fight the urge to do it the other way and just gave into tonight's way of doing things.

I wasn't able to take any photos of the making of this side -- I was too busy listening -- but here is how it turned out.

Wow.  It still needs some work in spots -- but wow.

Here is the other side.

Again...there are still areas that need to be blended in.  I am really very pleased with the way this turned out tonight.  And it is fairly symmetrical again...yay!

This guy is truly a collaboration...I mean it.

2012/365 - Day 32

four small projects, one blog post

Although I have been reunited with some of my television shows, I still don't have a dvr back yet (arrives tomorrow -- fingers crossed) and that means if I am to watch anything, I have to watch it in real time...how quickly I became used to recording everything and fast forwarding through commercials and saving shows for later, more convenient times. I totally forgot what it was like to not be able to back up or pause something I am watching.

SO -- I wanted to work on a few smaller projects and blog about it so I can be done for today and settle in front of tv for the evening.

1. addressing the legs on the wolf-ish guy wrapped in a towel



I needed to decide what to do with this guy's legs...I kind of wanted to leave them as they are -- wood and old debris -- but the old debris is really sharp.

















I also need to fill in the gaps between the body and the legs.










This is the sharp stuff...I took the wolf-ish guy downstairs and tried to sand the old debris but it is really thick and old and just a tad scary...best to cover it up.
















I started to lay the plaster cloth down, trying to be careful on the inside of the leg so that it didn't get too thick to work with.



Then it hit me -- duh!...












...these legs screw right off!

I could make them smooth and thin on the inside sections because now I could easily reach everything.















a leg, setting up enough to move it











When the legs were dry enough to touch I screwed the one back on and set the wolf-ish guy on my desk to dry.













2. further de-creep-i-fyin' the canid

Okay...this guy is somewhat less "Mr. Creeping Me Out" than he used to be, but he still needed work.


Part of the problem is that now that I have built up parts of his face his eyes are too sunken and small.







Ta-daaaa...plaster cloth eyes.

















Again...he still needs quite a bit more work. I am not sure he will remain some sort of canid...we will have to see how things turn out.














3. giving the dream beast eyes

Oh. My. Gosh. I cannot believe how adorable this guy is!




















AND he is very, very flirty!













I love his eyes.












He still needs ears...and maybe a tail.















I hope I don't wreck him!












4. revisiting an old "save it for later" project from last year

When I was making Chime Cat for the "Come Play With Me" show at Paint Creek Center for the Arts last year this guy was also under consideration...but Chime Cat took waaaaay longer than I anticipated.














This guy's base is one of those Fisher Price roly poly chime balls.

I set it aside for later back then because I couldn't figure out the balance of it.
















Not that I can now, but I am more willing to work on it now.


















I love the sounds this ball makes...very ethereal.














I originally bought the ball for my niece when she was very young, probably in 1981 (or so). Now I have it again.

365 Day 364

trying to make plaster cloth eyes

I am not sure how well this will turn out, but I am going to give it a shot. I might be able to change it if I need to...pull this construction off totally if I can't work with it. We'll see.



I started out with aluminum foil over felt balls.















Then I put the paper rags over that and taped them.











I did a couple of layers of plaster cloth on them and put them up to the cat-creature's face but they were way too round...they bulged over its cheeks. I had to cut them in half.









Back at the plaster cloth area. I removed the felt balls and just had the aluminum foil and the sill-damp plaster cloth left.












I put on two layers of plaster cloth triangles that were larger than the eye and smoothed them out.











How the underside looked...I was going to leave myself some flat plaster cloth edges to make it easier to put the eyes on the face.













...like this













But darn it...they were still too round when I put them up to the face. I had to cut them down with scissors.


Then I really needed to get working quickly before they hardened too much.






Attaching the first eyeball to the face...stopping long enough to take a photo for myself. I smoothed out the edges after I put the camera down.

And I placed the other eye in position and attached it.







Not too bad.














They are both pretty even and smooth and the lid-ish parts are decent.

























BUT, right now the cat-creature is looking a bit Gollum-y to me. I think I can fix it somewhat -- maybe not. I also think I should still be able to peel the eyes off if I decide I can't stand how they look.

I have some pre-painted taxidermy eyes I can use if I am not happy with the final look of these. I kind of want these to work out but I also want to really like the cat-creature's face and at this very moment I am kinda creeped out by it...this is the most "sculpting" I have attempted so far and I am still feeling my way with it.

LOL -- I can hear Gollum squealing.