Tuesday 14 August 2012

Off for a week....

Hey Everyone,

I was hoping to have time to create something new and share it before I left for Florida, but I'm sorry to report that I have been unable to do so.  In celebration of the tropical south, I decided to post some pictures with the same type of subject matter.  The first one was taken in St. Thomas I believe, the second one in Aruba, and the final in St. Kitts.

I will return in a week's time.

Until then...here are a few more of my photographs to tie you over!  Enjoy!






A.A.

Saturday 4 August 2012

Monster Mash!

What would a Monster Mash birthday party for a 6 year old be without a monster?!

I couldn't say no to creating this monster for my nephew's 6th birthday party!

So I'm not gonna lie...this little guy was a pain in the youknowwhat....but.....I can't complain with how he turned out.....If you're interested in creating something similar, be prepared to spend a few long days working away on it...especially if you're a perfectionist like me...

All you need: Acrylic paints, plywood, gesso (for acrylics), paintbrushes, water, paper towels, varnish, overhead projector (optional), pattern (optional).

So I'm not going to lie.  The first time I did this, I spent about 8 hours doing the first coat of paint...but I did half of it and the the other half.  Stupid me!  Don't make this mistake.  Because I did half and half and only mixed enough paint for the first half and had to eyeball it...and painted the rest during sunset....the tones weren't quite right...so....I went over it with gesso so I could re-do it.  Use gesso first before painting so that the plywood recognizes that it's acrylic paints that will be going over it....and it works as a primer.  You can use it on canvas and other surfaces you may use as well.  It just acts as a base.




Because I was working on a time constraint, I found a pattern and threw it up on the overhead.  I did modify it a bit.  I eliminated the shorts (had to modify the body outline) & eliminated the teeth as well.  I also changed the eyes a bit.  so I traced my monster up on the plywood.  Now, this is where you'll want to through gesso down (unless you're like me and decide to throw it down to erase the whole thing because you don't like how it looks....).  Then I chose my first coat of paint...a blueish green colour and painted it over the entire monster.  Next, I took the colour I chose for my spots (purple) and painted them in various places, and in various shapes.  Once they dry, I used a combination of dry brush and sponges to give a bit of a fur-like texture to the edges around the spots and throughout the entire body.  I also added some white highlights to the body as well.  I also created a mixture of paint a shade lighter than the purple and dabbed some of this colour over the spots to create some accents and definition to the spots. Next, I approached the claws and the eyes.  I decided to use silver for the claws (I painted these with a fine spotter brush).  My final step was the biggest pain, and it took a full day of work.  Outlining.  Always my least favourite thing to do.  I mixed and created a paint colour a shade darker than the main body colour and went around the entire body of my monster.  Then I made my touch-ups (which also takes forever).

The final step: Varnish!  I used a matte finish varnish and sprayed this bad boy with two coats of it outside.






A.A.