Evil Mirror

 I'm starting the next one. Same size, 16 x 20 but this time I'm using hardbaord cradled with cheap michaels canvas stretcher bars and painted with Rublev Tempera Ground from Natural Pigments.

So far it seems really good. It goes on pretty smooth and creamy straight out of the jar. 3 coats was enough to cover thoroughly. I did some light sanding. Pencil doesn't clean up as easily as clayboard but it seems like a small price to pay since the texture is so much better. I haven't started painting yet so I can't say for sure but it seems much more like traditional gesso.

This the digital sketch

I'm sure it will change a lot by the time I'm finished. With that in mind I am not doing much drawing. 

I will probably ink in some shadows.

I will let you know

May 23 note:

I have painted the first layers over everything. So far all the blue and green undercoat from yesterday have been lifting. I am hoping that it is just one of those things where I have to build up more layers and then it will adhere better. I had a similar (but different) problem with the clay board.

So note to myself: see if it and when it improves

May 29 update:

I'm so disappointed. I really wanted that stuff to work. It went on so easily and sanded nicely but when I tried to do the layering on the sky it kept lifting. I waited for layers to dry, I tried different amounts of egg etc. but it would not adhere. I finally tested it out on an old traditional gesso board and it worked right away.

I was suspicious for a while so I didnt actually get a lot of final painting done. I was still fiddling with the composition so I didn't really wasted too much painting time. Now I have to figure out the best way to gesso a 16 x 20 board as quickly as possible so I can continue. I might end up trying a smaller one.

 April 2 2022 Update:

I haven't checked back here for awhile! I started again and finished on gessoed panel

The gesso does work better than the pre made stuff however as I am going along I am finding that regular illustration board (extra thick) is working just as well for my style. Also it gives me the option of using gouache and/or watercolors in some areas that I want more blendy. If I had this one to do over I would do the sky differently. See entry on "Fighting"

Snow queen clayboard pt2

 These are my thoughts now that I have finished this one.

While the clayboard was good for the graphite it is really too slick for egg tempera. It took several coats to get to the point where I felt like it was adhering properly. It was very fragile and scratchy for a long time. I, of course, ended up putting plenty of layers on it since I was designing as I went along. I hope it will solidify as time goes by.

 This was the original ink drawing on clayboard. I changed it several times as I went along

I was designing the costume as I went. I also changed the alcove a couple of times.

Finally ended up with this

Also got to practice using my camera for decent pictures. 

So my overall review of the clayboard is a negative. They advertise it for egg tempera but its really not absorbent enough. On the next one I am trying something new!

SNOWQUEEEN portrait Clayboard

 Writing some notes about the process of creating this painting. Im usng clayboard just to see how it acts. Its very smooth, dont know if thats good or bad. So far I like the way pencil goes on and comes off more than true gesso. But thats probably because it is not as soft and absorbent. This is what I have so far. I will try to keep this up as a journal so I remember what i have learned and dont have to make the same mistakes over and over.

Snow Queen Illustration

 Working on my illustrations for the Snow Queen.  I decided I really like the style of orthodox icons. I love the lines and the shapes. 

Of course I would be taking all the religious meaning out of it. It would be purely aesthetic reasons. I hope I don't offend anyone. Its meant as an appreciation not an insult. I don't think it will actually end up following all the rules anyway.

This is the drawing.

It is the Snow Queen flying away with Kai and kissing him. I am just doing this as a test to see if I want to continue this way.

Botticelli Skin Tones

 This page is just a note to myself. Sometimes i mix colors and do things a certain way and then I forget what I did so I am writing this down as I work on my copy of a Botticelli.

This is what I have so far:

I changed the composition slightly to fit on the 2 panels which open.

Atlas completed

 This is the second and and last part of my blog about this project. 

After all the clay was dry I put a base coat of a greenish dark brown all over him. The only hard part was making sure all the white parts were covered. In the future I would like to try putting color in the clay while wet so it is not so obvious when I miss any spots while painting. If I know it will be a dark color I think that would make it easier.

brown undercoat

For the top I printed out an old map the right size for an 18 inch circle. I use modpodge to seal it so the ink wouldn't run. I put it on both sides but That made it harder to glue down smoothly to the wood. I think I will try just doing the top side next time. I just have to be really careful not to damage it when I am gluing it.

I then used Martha Stewart craft paint (she makes the best) Citrine Gold to glaze him. It was a nice greenish gold.

So here he is:

I will have to keep experimenting with the structure and formula of the clay but overall I am pretty happy.

Atlas Table

 This is my new project. We got a new couch, finally, and I noticed that we really could use a table to go on the side since this couch is much smaller than the old one. 

I suddenly saw the vision in my head: Atlas holding up the world. Ok but this is a demilune table (that is half a circle) so I guess he is actually holding up half the world. This is somebody else's work and not my property at all and all that copyright stuff but this was the kind of thing I wanted to make:

 Since I have no power tools and cant cut a straight line I ordered an 18" wooden circle off of etsy and asked her to cut in half, which she did at no charge (thanks 😊)

Following the paper mache process I learned from Jonni on Ultimatepapermache.com I created an armature using wire and aluminum foil

wire, foil, masking tape 

I glued the foil on with hot glue and used some newspaper and masking tape too.

I then used paper mache paste of flour and warm water with a layer of newspaper and then a layer of paperbags.

Paper bag layer

It was already pretty sturdy considering but to make it super hard and add detail I used Jonni's papermache clay made of white glue, joint compound, toilet paper and flour. The problem is that you are not supposed to use DAP brand joint compound because it's got some ingredient in it that makes a weird chemical reaction that gets all rubbery. Apparently DAP is taking over the joint compound market in Los Angeles because I couldn't find any other brand in stock anywhere so I ended up using Fixall.

Its a powder which I like so I can save it and it won't get ruined but I'm not quite sure its the same. It gets VERY hard when dry which is good for strength but its not very good for sanding. I'm not sure if it was because of his or just the proportions of glue/fixall/flour but the clay came out fairly easy to work with over the paper bag but rather rough and hard to sand out bumps etc. In the future I would make everything smaller and more like an innercore and then use more of the paper clay for the outside. It is kind of expensive and a little soft and fragile when dry but I haven't found anything that is as easy to work with. It sands and carves nicely with the min rotary tool. On this guy I think I didn't leave enough room for the paper clay layer so I wasn't able to put in as much detail as I would like.

I will have to experiment with other DIY recipes for paper clay.

Here he is with the layers of paper clay:

Today I put his toga on and covered him with a layer of Jonni's gesso which is mostly glue and fixall. We will see how that dries.

gesso