365/2013 - Day 146

the curious part

I am a creature of habit and routine.  I love it, I need it.  Weekends are always bothersome for me because my tv schedule (daytime) is messed up...not what I am used to.  Wah, Poor Took.

Today I've been pulling images from magazines for an upcoming return to my Animal People series for Art-o-mat.  Still the prep stages.

Then I was thinking about the curious object that Leann brought for Joan and me to "fight" over.  It is a donated radio part of some sort that Leann's husband Mark thought one of us might enjoy using.  Joan liked it a lot, too -- but she didn't have a plan for it right away, so I "won"...yay!  Of course, it is a snake part...anyone can see that!

the curious part -- thanks, Mark!

I wanted to use a tube that has a lot of surface to the edge to hold the part better.

While wrapping the tube with masking tape I found that there was a long glob of some sort of glue...I decided to leave it.  Maybe it will show up through the layers of plaster cloth.

The curious part affixed to the tube -- it is really firmly in place!

I didn't know what kind of head to make for this snake...a balloon didn't work right.  I couldn't find any shapes around the studio that I liked, so I wadded up some plastic outer wrappers from paper products...this is just the sort of occasion that I save them for.

Well, so far he has turned into a sort of rattlesnake and I am not fond of viper-shaped faces...so he will be changing, but this is how he looks right now.

Straight on he is a little less viper-looking.  I will absolutely be changing his head shape...but not tonight.

365/2013 - Day 58

done, done, done, and done!

I managed to pull together four pieces for the upcoming show.  The plaster cloth snake, the Atomic Fireball Happy Hour guy, the manikin, and the stuffed spikey creature.  Until they are in place at the gallery, they are feeling a wee bit shy.

Whew -- I need a break!

365/2013 - Day 57

finally!!!

YAY -- the blue paint on the snake finally turned BLUE!!!  Now I can finish him!

365/2013 - Day 56

uneventful day

More of the same today/tonight...applying little pieces of paper to the manikin and trying to turn the snake from purple to blue.  I think the manikin is done.  The snake is getting closer...hopefully tomorrow!

365/2013 - Day 38

plaster cloth stuff

I had several sessions in the temporary plaster cloth studio today.  I needed to work on stuff and get this blog entry posted because Ruth is coming over tonight to work on our pages for the house book in our ATC group.

First, two guys got the eyes I made yesterday.

the first eye

the second eye -- I liked this one better

pulling the first eye back off, scraping down to the bottom and popping the eye loose

there...that's better...they are pretty close to the same shape

he looks a little cross eyed in these photos but in person he is really cute

this guy is hard for me to photograph today -- too much stuff on the table

Next I decided I wanted to do something with the original "studio snake" head that has never become the Studio Snake yet.

 
This guy is just about 5 feet long -- the other snake is longer.  

Last, I went back in and plaster cloth'd a few items onto the snake.  I have a story in my head about it and I wanted to give this a try.  I am not sure if I like how it is looking yet.  It either needs more things or just a couple.  Not everything I tried worked because it either stuck too far off of the snake or the details were lost in the plaster cloth.  I am disappointed with the zipper right now -- it was the first thing I tried.  I will figure it out.

He looks happy to finally be in the process of becoming a whole snake.

365 Day 344

working on a couple of plaster cloth snakes

I spent about an hour and fifteen minutes tonight re-shaping the Studio Snake's nose and face and layering the long-bodied snake's head.





Here they are in their "before" state(s).

















I liked the Studio Snake but the more I looked at the flat part of his nose, the more it bothered me.

I needed to make it rounder...or try to.







I went with my preferred method -- aluminum foil and masking tape.
















Adding on another piece of foil.












And one more.













Then the foil was completely taped. I realized I needed to keep the upper and lower parts separated or I would totally lose the laid-on mouth.












I had to tape the other snake to the table and prop that tray behind him to keep him mostly stable and upright.

Ready to start!








This is the second (larger) eye. These photos are so I can remember how I did this.

There were a lot of dips I needed to fill in and I thought I'd try to just bunch up the plaster cloth and fill in with it...then cover over it with triangles and smooth them out.






It worked pretty well on the other eye so I wanted to document/photograph it on this eye.



Bunching up the very wet plaster cloth triangle and smashing it into the low areas.





The smoothed out triangles.





(This is an odd angle or mistaken camera setting...the nose wasn't flat and tilted in like that.)






Rounded!












Now the long-bodied snake.













Taped to the table...I am also showing myself how his face looked.















This was just a matter of placing and smoothing the plaster cloth triangles...no re-shaping.


















All done (for tonight)!












Ha -- one last look at the Studio Snake's rounded nose!