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I cannot recall or find a dedicated thread here for my masks and Mylochka's collaborative painting of same, so I thought it was past time.
I do now have a Masks folder where I'll look for it, and that's going to end up saving me a lot of aggravation, eventually.
Below is the first thing I ever did in plaster, back in 1988. Most of the people in the class did lame crap with paper plates. You will be shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that I totally got an A. It doesn't fit me all that well, because I caved the cheeks in a little as part of the face-shaping. Mylochka says it's still recognizably me, which I can't believe.
The third is a paper mache impression I did of it a teeny bit more recently. Looking at the base, you can imagine how much fun it was to separate and mend the back of the horns intact, so between that and having fondness for the somewhat fragile original, I may not do any more copies. I don't think it's one of M's most inspired paint decoratings ever, but the little dancing devil silhouettes on the face are pretty teh awesome.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15727;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15729;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15730;image)
I'm the first to admit that this isn't a fantastic mask, taken as the mask I made and not Mylochka's excellent paint job. I was starting to resolve, towards the end of the last burst of making, that I needed to be making everything decidedly thicker and more inclined to hold shape around the edges, and stop trying to show off how thin and light I could go and still have a solid result.
I note that for anything I photographed myself, I still have the ridiculously-oversized original pics w/o size/cropping and whatever processing I deemed needed, so detail shots are very doable where anyone asks for a closer look.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15733;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15735;image)
And for good measure, attached is one Mylochka shot all fancy-like, that's also the only other pic I have readily to hand. I need to just go through the three boxes near my office and shoot everything ad-hoc as I did above...
There would definitely be some interest, not least on the part of youse fathers of four year-olds, if I had Mylochka photograph the next time I made anything and wrote up my process/techniques, wouldn't there?
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Hmm. Since I did this for six pages at the Pond in 2011, let's see how hosting on Solver's nickel works out:
(https://www.weplayciv.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2011_11/011.jpg.c87ccc120aa044e503659e17a0dba37e.jpg)
Eeexcellent. I believe this one now hangs on one of Uno's walls. He will confirm that it doesn't feel very substantial and wants to be wavy around the edges a little, but obviously, Mylochka did a very nice pseudo-Mayan decoration.
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Here's a group shot of a bunch of recent ones at the time... This one embiggens when you click - and many will make a popup window for your closer look needs.
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10866&d=1320450599;image)
I'm definitely saving copies of everything as I go through that thread. For some reason, I've a disturbing lack of faith in my friend Solver...
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It IS the one on Uno's wall - here it is modeled by one of my favorite models...
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OKZBgLoYVHo/TvYxBv5v4BI/AAAAAAAAKz0/1PyP78U3pHA/s800/IMG_6020.JPG)
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8)
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Hmm. Since I did this for six pages at the Pond in 2011, let's see how hosting on Solver's nickel works out:
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=10861&d=1320443868)
Eeexcellent. I believe this one now hangs on one of Uno's walls. He will confirm that it doesn't feel very substantial and wants to be wavy around the edges a little, but obviously, Mylochka did a very nice pseudo-Mayan decoration.
what year was that? I have a pic of Talia in it.
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Duh, you already posted her pic...
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Lifecast of my ugly mug sent in return
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-RYWiiQ28E6k/TxIGtgGNg1I/AAAAAAAAd4s/hrUwybnD_fk/s800/IMG_6039%25255B1%25255D.JPG)
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what year was that? I have a pic of Talia in it.
2011.It IS the one on Uno's wall - here it is modeled by one of my favorite models...
(https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-OKZBgLoYVHo/TvYxBv5v4BI/AAAAAAAAKz0/1PyP78U3pHA/s800/IMG_6020.JPG)
Duh, you already posted her pic...
;nod
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(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-bzMiQ34eEcA/TyFoQ8cBL6I/AAAAAAAALTY/l463MOJOoKM/s800/DSC00426.jpg)
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Yep. Saved that one today. I'm logged in over there right now - there were two attachments I wanted, I PM headhunted Arnelos, (should I do Big Dork?), I'm updating some files in Downloads, I need to search your Halloween Workshop thread, where I no doubt posted more masks - and I'm considering a well-crafted troll in Site to taunt the staff into getting off their dead behinds and doing something to stop letting me prove my superiority over here quite so clearly and easily... I probably won't work through that list tonight...
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I have some more pics of your masks somewhere, but I'd spend days searching.
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Drat. This was attached on the very first page of Uno's Halloween workshop, and so I'm logged in again. There's definitely going to be some stupid, stupid Staff Room drama - if it didn't start last night already. -And at that, I've kept Solver informed of what I'm up to.
(Still planning to shoot everything in the boxes, so I hope to put something new up today.)
Below is Buster and a certain relative modeling some pieces they collaborated on. She painted.
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Uno, since you encouraged me in the past to post pictures of my sculpture-type work here, this is a shot I call Diego, Diego & Diego. Left to right is Dora the Explorer's friend, my sister's dog and a mask I made of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera- also known as Frieda Kahlo's husband. The latter two are connected, as I created the mask for a show about Frieda Kahlo my sister was putting on.
I sculpted his face in paper pulp and painted it. Then I made the mask in a more conventional paper mache' process on that base, and painted the result with colored latex. I use at least a thin coating of latex on all my mask work- it results in not only waterproofing, but a stronger, more flexible mask. I've not done a lot with latex only, but have done a little.
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1844&d=1259020654)
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That looks like a grumbledawg
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That there's a Real Dog, Alkie.
I'm posting some stuff I made substantial comments to go with now, because I don't want to be going back searching every time I get around to wanting to post.
My mom has been occasionally making life-size paper mache' men to sit in cars with women driving alone (she's a doll artist and I don't think this is really any different). I started collaborating with her a few of them ago, because my faces are a lot better. The one before last, I took several pictures of it in process. This is built on a stick frame, something new she was trying successfully, and the hands are my work. The head was both of us, and the rest is all Momma. Enjoy.
The faces are essentially my masks filled in - she did one, at first on her own, by using a casting of my face for the top, and Mylochka's for the rest -my mold stopped at the top of my face fur- and I pitched in building up the jawline to masculine proportions with pulp covered in paper strips..
EDIT: See my next post for the other three attachments...
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1906&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1907&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1908&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1909&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1910&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1911&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1912&d=1259367385)
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=1913&d=1259367385)
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I see a lot of X's.
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I think Buncle lives in "That house"
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I see a lot of X's.
Dang. You're not logged in at the Pond, then. I should have thought of that. I'll do an edit and attach.
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I logged out when I left and deleted my bookmarks.
So that's how the X's work? Somebody links a picture to a site where I don't belong?
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Something about the vBulletin settings - attachments are only displayed while you're logged in these days, which is why I'm curerently logged in while I search, and didn't notice. -Didn't used to be like that, and I blame that lazy jerk Donald. ;nod
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Uno, since you encouraged me in the past to post pictures of my sculpture-type work here, this is a shot I call Diego, Diego & Diego. Left to right is Dora the Explorer's friend, my sister's dog and a mask I made of Mexican muralist Diego Rivera- also known as Frieda Kahlo's husband. The latter two are connected, as I created the mask for a show about Frieda Kahlo my sister was putting on.
...And I call this one "Frida, Frida - Fritos". I'm eating the prop right now.
There's an actual mask of Kahlo I made later for one of Mylochka's shows - but a half-mask, and I don't have a copy if I don't find a pic. She made me do one full-face, but it wasn't very good...
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So, I mentioned a while back about Buster being afraid of skulls. The &^%$#@! innerwebs just ate a nice long post about my careful program of desensitizing her, (she was so afraid that you couldn't take her anywhere without running into Johnny Depp and a certain pirate movie(s); it was a real problem).
It isn't supposed to be anatomical; I wanted to suggest a skull in a less-threatening way. Rounded off/enlarged the eye sockets and left out a lot of detail. I let her control her first exposure to it, set up to be seen from a safe distance - and wonder of wonders, it did the trick! I finally found a picture of the mask. This was taken half an hour later:
(Click to embiggen)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15784;image)
(Uno then posts a pic of Talia in a t-shirt w/ a skull design.)
See, that t-shirt would have been exactly the problem; Buster would have seen someone wearing that and turned it into a great big thing. She used to be so terrified of pumpkins that she could barely leave the house in October - until, as a demonstration (after a Halloween episode of Bernstein Bears) of how it was all pretend, I carved a jack o'lantern out of an apple in front of her...
See, we were alone in the house when some bad older boys were doing Halloween scaring stuff on that cartoon, so I carved the face in the apple, made a spider out of wire and chewed up toilet paper and showed her how to make a lame Halloween ghost out of a ballon and a blanket - just like the bad boys had used. It worked so well that years later she asked me to make something new she was afraid of. Her parents were quick to destroy the apple and the spider when they got home - one was dangerous pokey wire and the other still perfectly good food, so I won't kick about it.
...Incidentally, Buster's Aunt made me make her six more, which she painted as Day of the Dead masks. This is the wall over her desk in her office at college:
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I'd really been hoping to find that shot of Buster wearing the skull mask so soon after I first showed it to her, so very happy about that.
...I had a mask that I'd done off the casting of Mylochka's face (which I always called "Dead [Mylochka]" because of the uncanny valley effect it had once I coated it in latex [w/ realistic colors because artist w/ OCD tendancies] for ease of mask separation) that I'd painstakingly painted with fleshtone latex and shading to match the base, and which I later gave to Buster once upon a time as part of a mask goodie horde I'd taken her on a visit. She'd never put it on, preferring all the bare newsprint masks, until it was close at hand when her mother was in the room, whereupon she held it over her face and growled. They later painted it something garish, to my colossal regret at seeing good (and hard and lengthy) work covered up - but I suppose that was necessary part of letting her control the things she feared...
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... They later painted it something garish, to my colossal regret at seeing good (and hard and lengthy) work covered up - but I suppose that was necessary part of letting her control the things she feared...
Who is "her"? Buster or your Wacko-in-law?
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Both ;nod a thing I have absolutely no criticism of my sister-in-law for is that she painted things under her daughter's direction from a very early age. This is a basic getting-them-started-and-interested-and-confident later thing. The child just turned 12, and is already a pretty credible painter...
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SO - when Uno was making his boy Alex some Alexander the Great armor, I explained how to make good helmet plumes. (I'm no SCAer, but I LUVs me some armor, and I worked this out for myself long ago.)
Tough to describe, but roughly, you cut some foot-long lengths of rope -maybe 8-10, but it depends on the thickness of the rope- loop them through whatever's attaching them to the helmet (I tied them to a small bracket I'd riveted onto the helmet) and tie them into a bundle. Start unraveling the strands. (This part is easy, but takes forever.) When you've finished, tie a hangman's knot an inch or two wide around the base - it hides the attachment and covers a multitude of sins - and start brushing out the strands.
For a Grecian look, you wanna go a lot shorter than I did. I was aiming for a medieval knight look. Too get a good Greek fan/bush look, you really ought to fold the lengths of rope along another length, sandwiched/sewn to a strip of leather.
Hold on - I'll see what I can sketch in a hurry. I wish my helmet wasn't a thousand miles away.
(My helmet is no longer 1,000mls away:)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15790;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15791;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15793;image)
(That's all hammered out by hand w/o special tools or training from roughly 14 gauge sheet aluminum the month Buster was born on the back of a common home workshop vise - I wracked up my right arm for a couple years doing it. Never again.)
Sounds a little more involved than I really have time for. (Wed was the original due date on this, but it got pushed back to next week)
It may be. The unraveling and brushing is time consuming.
Here's a very rough representation of the plume I made for my helmet:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=16333;image)
And without the hangman's knot wrapping the base:
(http://www.weplayciv.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=9876&d=1298909927)
And here's the basic idea for the Greek-style plume. The rope is in black and the thick wire it's folded over is reddish and the leather it's to be sandwiched between is yellowish:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15788;image) (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15789;image)
Now, I find myself wishing I was back in America, where I have the raw materials and tools, so I could try to make a brush plume...
Hmmm.
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A thing I'm struggling with as I skim through Uno's Halloween workshop is resisting the urge to stop and look and read - how many hours have I been reposting quotes today? I have to selfishly scan for my avatar and only look at those posts; and trying to do that, I'm only on page 67 of eighty-some...
Uno, I was reminded to ask Mom to find a picture of one of the macramé owls we did in the late 70s. Me and my little brother made $100 dollars apiece one summer making nice macramé plant hangers that an older cousin was selling at work for $2 a pop, when they were worth 5-10 times more even at 1977 prices. We were 10 and 12, roughly, and thought we were making out like bandits. I started my first bank account.
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ok, what's that fake body made of?
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Stick frame (with eyelet joints, IIRC) some cardboard under the foam rubber - the white bodysuit is really part of the structure/support/joints, too.
She did quite a few over the years with pure paper mâché over cardboard, w/ embedded cloth & duct tape joints, but those were a lot heavier... This way was my idea, and she ended up liking it better.
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As soon as I posted the helmet pics I realized I hadn't gotten a face-forward shot - so I took one, but needed to wait until I found time to take a lot more pics before I went through the waiting for the slow camera to show up as a drive to upload - it's not worth it for just one shot.
Anyway...
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So I've got a couple I just took and already size/cropped - but I realize I need to search my email and see if I can find pics of the Guernica masks, 'cause they're how I came to create the components of the two shots of a mask I have ready, and they're a better story...
I notice that a couple of the key bases I use have yet to turn up - I wanted to lead with the current version of Dead Mylochka, and place all the half masks on it for photographing, so more digging for me...
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So in mid-October of 2007, I got this email from my sister and already established frequent collaborator (I came up with a line she used on a colleague who was going to review a show I did the masks for that masks transform the performer from a person on the stage to a more universal iconic figure representing an idea) Dr. Mylochka, saying that a colleague at work was doing a show around Picasso's Guernica painting:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15812;image)
You've all seen it, and the cow was what I always noticed in the shot, and that's what Dr. Coworker wanted a mask of. I had a month and a ridiculous offer of $25 for a high-skill time-consuming custom job. No sweat, though they knew not what they were doing to me wanting those horns, and I did. I had an animal snout, because Buster, that would almost have served fine, but I had to make from scratch to add the gaping mouth and lower lip. [shrugs] It was a pain, all of it, and they wanted two, so I had to go through the agony of getting it off the horns and then closing the slit back up twice.
I figured out how to do the Picasso eyes-both-on-the-left effect without leaving the actors blind (white gauze behind the eyeholes, of course, and paint the Picasso eyes separately), and after Mylochka improved the paintjob I did with some subtle shading and shine to further the eye camouflage, we has this:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15813;image)
Also attached is a red bull I did off the same appliances. I'm gonna have to photograph a bunch of those for Uno once I find the bases they were made to sit on...
(Fortunately, I found what Frida Kahlo mask pic I have while looking for the Guernica, so that's next...)
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Still looking through old emails, and nothing to do with masks, but I cast the resin pieces of the set, and the board is a square bit of pine I shaped and Mom and I painted the squares on...
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The Frida Kahlo show and the masks I did.
The full-face of her sucks, not least because that nose was designed for the half-masks versions and I had to do some tapdancing not entirely successfully on short notice to work around those edges.
You will also notice the monkey masks I did. Some minimally decorated featureless white ball masks appearing are not my work.
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Mylochka did an interesting thing in this show - it heavily featured reproductions she did of Kahlo's paintings, and she got the cast and crew involved in spotting blacks and such because a lot of paintings and work - which had the unanticipated effect of causing them to become very invested in the paintings (to the point of nearly fighting over who got to keep which one after the show) and the show itself.
Note the large man (and an actress in the third pic) sporting my Diego Rivera mask -a good likeness.
And you can imagine my considerable annoyance that I did a truckload of Frieda half-masks that were pretty good, but they were either never used, or I got sent no photos of them in action.
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Those Guernica masks are cool. That had to be a challenge transforming that surreal 2-D image into 3-D. That super-imposed face and profile. Great interpretation!
I don't care for Picasso, mostly. Don't seek him out. I know he's talented, but I'm convinced he's lazy. Whenever I see his Spanish bull stuff, I see him in an entirely different light.
He's captivating. I get it. He's not the most over-rated artist of my life-time. He's a transcendent genius.
Thanks for sharing! I haven't seen this painting since...30 or 40 years ago.
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That's my face as the base of the bull masks. (And I think maybe the monkeys are just more ball masks Mylochka painted [very well, BTW, though Frida and Diego needed less shine in the finish] to match the ones frequently in Kahlo's work, and nothing of mine at all.)
They like to say that Picasso learned how to paint properly before he started fooling around with the minimalist both-eyes-on-one-side stuff, but I've never seen any of those. [shrugs]
You know, an angle you'd find interesting here is that a lot of the modern art movements that sneer at stuff like prettiness and demonstrating technical mastery of portraying anatomy and perspective (particularly Dada) - were all born in the ashes of the horror of WWI, a truly awful affair, being Vietnam for Europe, long before the Vietnam war. People by the millions had (barely) survived stuff no one should ever have to even see, and it warped them, turned much of a generation into nihilists. -And thus, Dada, and all the other artistic portrayals of/protests against the horrors of a world that had hurt them so...
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Here's a base I'm rather unusually proud of, an old person face done in sculpey for the first show I masked for Mylochka in roughly 1997, on Mayan folktales (and modern tourism and performance of native culture for tourists - you'd have loved it, Uno). -Obviously, it was a little dirty.
I broke the nose off later making a plaster half mask off it - and the bit of wire you can see a little in the nostril was a hanger I contrived for display that pulls up and doesn't show on the walls. Not my best lips to date, either, but otherwise solid work, I think.
I need to do a mold and casting of this one -not so fragile- to make paper mâché masks off, 'cause this is some of my better base work, and the full mask for the show rocked hard - there was also a version with different painting and the bottom of the chin out to make room for a male actor w/ beard to talk.
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That's my face as the base of the bull masks. (And I think maybe the monkeys are just more ball masks Mylochka painted [very well, BTW, though Frida and Diego needed less shine in the finish] to match the ones frequently in Kahlo's work, and nothing of mine at all.)
They like to say that Picasso learned how to paint properly before he started fooling around with the minimalist both-eyes-on-one-side stuff, but I've never seen any of those. [shrugs]
You know, an angle you'd find interesting here is that a lot of the modern art movements that sneer at stuff like prettiness and demonstrating technical mastery of portraying anatomy and perspective (particularly Dada) - were all born in the ashes of the horror of WWI, a truly awful affair, being Vietnam for Europe, long before the Vietnam war. People by the millions had (barely) survived stuff no one should ever have to even see, and it warped them, turned much of a generation into nihilists. -And thus, Dada, and all the other artistic portrayals of/protests against the horrors of a world that had hurt them so...
That is interesting. Didn't know that.
Some stuff affects people, hard to see how it wouldn't. Usually, you don't know what it is torments the artist, or leaves them permanently twisted.
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Gas. It was poison gas and the sight of dead bodies in the street. I believe Mr. Picasso was exactly the right age...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15827;image)
Several variations of this are in the pipeline, one already photographed and size/cropped. Look for the plaster half mask version later today.
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I think you posted this one before too... but is shows a lot of masks
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I had that shot in the queue to post, yes, but you just saved me the trouble.
Since so much of your work is featured here, I'd really really really like you to go through the thread thus far and make comments on this and that as the fancy strikes, not least on the show masks for shows I didn't get to see and don't know much about... You can img-link pic attachments for clarity of what you're talking about in the posts by copying the shortcut and pasting into tags with ";image" added to the end - or just ask me to edit them in...
Pwese for your baby?
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Here's the plaster half-masks. The sculpey base original I gave to Dr. Mylochka back when I made it in the late 90s, so most of the time it was hanging on a wall slightly over 1,000 miles away from me, and I only did half-masks off the plaster one for the paper mâché versions.
I don't think she has wall-space for it anymore, and although I think I did a credible job of putting back the detail on the thick plaster, the original is better even for future half masks...
I already have a bunch of pictures of the latex version I still have, and I'm about to take some of the latex-painted mâché version that looks pretty similar.
Uno, I had an idea I never ended up using in the renfairs employing the plaster copy and the latex one - and I think it's pretty you. I'll relate when I repost the latex ones...
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UNO!
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I did it all for you Uno!
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I think I intended to do more with the flames -- add orange and red inside the yellow to make them more dramatic... Not sure if I decided not to do that or just never finished this one... The stick figures were supposed to be suggestive of runes or ritual figures
I cannot recall or find a dedicated thread here for my masks and Mylochka's collaborative painting of same, so I thought it was past time.
I do now have a Masks folder where I'll look for it, and that's going to end up saving me a lot of aggravation, eventually.
Below is the first thing I ever did in plaster, back in 1988. Most of the people in the class did lame crap with paper plates. You will be shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that I totally got an A. It doesn't fit me all that well, because I caved the cheeks in a little as part of the face-shaping. Mylochka says it's still recognizably me, which I can't believe.
The third is a paper mache impression I did of it a teeny bit more recently. Looking at the base, you can imagine how much fun it was to separate and mend the back of the horns intact, so between that and having fondness for the somewhat fragile original, I may not do any more copies. I don't think it's one of M's most inspired paint decoratings ever, but the little dancing devil silhouettes on the face are pretty teh awesome.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15727;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15729;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15730;image)
I'm the first to admit that this isn't a fantastic mask, taken as the mask I made and not Mylochka's excellent paint job. I was starting to resolve, towards the end of the last burst of making, that I needed to be making everything decidedly thicker and more inclined to hold shape around the edges, and stop trying to show off how thin and light I could go and still have a solid result.
I note that for anything I photographed myself, I still have the ridiculously-oversized original pics w/o size/cropping and whatever processing I deemed needed, so detail shots are very doable where anyone asks for a closer look.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15733;image)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=1295.0;attach=15735;image)
And for good measure, attached is one Mylochka shot all fancy-like, that's also the only other pic I have readily to hand. I need to just go through the three boxes near my office and shoot everything ad-hoc as I did above...
There would definitely be some interest, not least on the part of youse fathers of four year-olds, if I had Mylochka photograph the next time I made anything and wrote up my process/techniques, wouldn't there?
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The colors somehow suggest that you may have had something a little celtic in mind to decorate my Christian Devil?
Maybe I should cast a new base I'm not afraid of ruining and you could do The Horned God, a bull-man fertility theme? I wouldn't mind running that face off by the dozen if it wasn't for the horns...
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I think I've posted these before here at AC2, but a cursory keyword search yields nothing and the chance is, the attachments no longer work.
Uno, the renfair idea I never used is this: I have a nice hooded black Dominican/Devil-worshipper robe, because Mom sews and it's a handy costume piece. (I actually wore it a few times in the show when I wasn't really working [and once for a gig as a hawker for a leather booth] and didn't want to suit up in rendrag for whatever reason.) The notion was, I walk around in the robe wearing the white plaster crone mask-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15852;image)
-Not talking or anything - sorta writes itself - creepy death figure or something, and I've seen people do just that reasonably effectively with a black robe and ghoul sorta makeup since. (The fellow who slowly walked up -I recognized him; it was Walter- and then sonorously said "I'm going to kill you" I shot back "What's taken you so long?")
The TWIST comes when at key moments, I remove the mask to reveal I'm wearing the below-attached latex version underneath (or probably an improved thinner [and better skin-tone match] version to cover more of my face and require less makeup to have a realistic face illusion for at least a second or two of shock).
Too much work to make work day-to-day is why I never explored it further. It's a cheap shock act, and I already had two characters that didn't take FX to work, though I'm sure I'd have come up with a lot more stock gags in a hurry in practice...
(Again, this was modeled a little impromptu w/o any makeup supporting the look, and I couldn't find any rubber cement or spirit glue, so the edges weren't glued down at all and I was trying to balance on my face. Also, I should have made it inside the plaster cast of the sculpey original, not outside, for better detail and fit.)
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Found this picture when I was looking for something else...
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That red one is GORGEOUS.
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Thanks! I liked the way all of these turned out.
I used to have them hanging in my office. Need to find a new home for them now...
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Let's see what I've got to post this time...
Okay. Here's the Buster family chilling out in their palatial California estate. I don't actually recall for sure how the monkey mask first came to be, but it may have been for this Curious George mask...
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I think I've posted these before here at AC2, but a cursory keyword search yields nothing and the chance is, the attachments no longer work.
Uno, the renfair idea I never used is this: I have a nice hooded black Dominican/Devil-worshipper robe, because Mom sews and it's a handy costume piece. (I actually wore it a few times in the show when I wasn't really working [and once for a gig as a hawker for a leather booth] and didn't want to suit up in rendrag for whatever reason.) The notion was, I walk around in the robe wearing the white plaster crone mask-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15852;image)
-Not talking or anything - sorta writes itself - creepy death figure or something, and I've seen people do just that reasonably effectively with a black robe and ghoul sorta makeup since. (The fellow who slowly walked up -I recognized him; it was Walter- and then sonorously said "I'm going to kill you" I shot back "What's taken you so long?")
The TWIST comes when at key moments, I remove the mask to reveal I'm wearing the below-attached latex version underneath (or probably an improved thinner [and better skin-tone match] version to cover more of my face and require less makeup to have a realistic face illusion for at least a second or two of shock).
Too much work to make work day-to-day is why I never explored it further. It's a cheap shock act, and I already had two characters that didn't take FX to work, though I'm sure I'd have come up with a lot more stock gags in a hurry in practice...
(Again, this was modeled a little impromptu w/o any makeup supporting the look, and I couldn't find any rubber cement or spirit glue, so the edges weren't glued down at all and I was trying to balance on my face. Also, I should have made it inside the plaster cast of the sculpey original, not outside, for better detail and fit.)
There was an old...I'm not sure if it was Night Gallery or Twilight Zone, but I lean more Night Gallery. Rich dude's will stipulates the heirs must wear a mask custom made for them for a night. When they peel them off, their face has changed underneath to be the mask.
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I was wrong, it's a zone. I've seen a colorized version, which threw me off thinking it was a Gallery
! Twilight Zone: The Masks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex7DpZe8_Eo#)
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Oh, I'm sure it would have been a very effective shock gag -actual screams- but it just wasn't practical in the context of a dirt-floor theme park with me being at large. Maybe you can do something with it, though...
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I can't find a picture of the half-masks either (although I know we used them) but here is a scene of Frida with monkeys from the show...
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Second shot I posted. Had I not created the monkey base at this point, or did you get out to Texas and realize you hadn't asked? At least one is just a ball mask cunningly painted.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15826;image)
Note the one in profile.
I'm extremely relived the Frida half-masks were used. Those I was happy with. Pity you didn't do anything with the cut-up puzzle face idea; it seems to me very like her.
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Let's see what I've got to post this time...
Okay. Here's the Buster family chilling out in their palatial California estate. I don't actually recall for sure how the monkey mask first came to be, but it may have been for this Curious George mask...
I don't know about Curious George, I've seen some foreign horror film (french?) featuring a group in similar masks. Hoods and all.
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They do look familiar - without actually looking much like Curious George. That one could have used a more sophisticated painting, but I no longer recall who painted it. I definitely made the mask, and Momma sewed the hood; I can tell that from looking. I've handled a LOT of sticky strips of newspaper, though, over a lot of years.
We should have done something clever with Velcro to make the hood work better.
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Just oversize the cowl a bit and have the mask up inside it more for a good Halloween look.
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Dunno. The hood was a bit too small on Buster's Daddy and a bit too big on Buster, but it exposed the forehead in the same spot on both.
Something might could have been done almost as simple as a drawstring around the face - though George, IIRC, having a widows' peak (and two more on his cheeks) complicates things.
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Thread juxtaposition begs the question-
"Did you ever do much in the way of masks for dolls?"
Now I'm pondering whether that would make them more or less creepy, and I conclude it would depend upon the particular faces involved.
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There are photographs. I will take it to Mylochka right now.
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I mentioned it, but nothing yet. Insane number of balls in the air - and I ain't found all my mask supply boxes yet; there's one in there.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=15778;image)
That looks like a grumbledawg
He totally was. He said he ruled me. He certainly bit me enough times.
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Below, a paper mache casting of the crone plaster mask - heavily latexed, and looking a lot like the all-latex version. There are advantages to each, but this one was less work and would obviously be easier to put on...
Less obviously, I'm not colorblind; I made this one years ago, and the latex has darkened/yellowed considerably in the long run, making it much orange, unlike the peachish I painted it.
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Here's one of the skull masks Mylochka hung on her office wall for years.
A lot can be done for individualizing shape with the trimming, and since the latex is water-heavy, it softens the mask and I often cheat the shape a little while applying the protective layer inside and out. It takes a painting on top surprisingly well, though I usually rely on the paint job for humidity protection.
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Not a very good mask, but pretty good paintjob...
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An undecorated Diego. -Like this, you can see it obviously would make a good more-realistic old man mask.
Also obviously, the time in boxes hasn't been good for the shape of the masks...
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Here's one of the skull masks Mylochka hung on her office wall for years.
A lot can be done for individualizing shape with the trimming, and since the latex is water-heavy, it softens the mask and I often cheat the shape a little while applying the protective layer inside and out. It takes a painting on top surprisingly well, though I usually rely on the paint job for humidity protection.
I really like the color pattern on this particular mask more so than on some of the others. It has more bright contrast on it. The contrast of those particular colors give it a tropical feeling ???.
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There's a similar one from the same set in the pictures I have in queue to post, only pinker and looking even more like a giant DotD candy skull.
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Here's a monkey mask, undecorated - and again, life in the box has not been good for the shape around the edges. This was obviously from after I cut a great pile of paper strips on an office paper cutter, but before I realized I needed to used torn strips on the top layer if I didn't want those straight edges poking out so much/showing.
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Not a mask, but a sculptural project -which is what the masks are to me- of a carving I did in the head of a dogwood cane/staff.
-Which I can't find, so far, but here's a lead casting, copper-plated chemically with instrument polish, of the same face that hangs on my bedroom wall.
I gave my perfect niece a bunch of plaster castings of same, among other things, as part of a gift-a-day goodie horde on a visit. We painted one together on the porch of her house, rainbow, her favorite color besides pink, and I told her "Jesus is full of love and rainbows". -Guess what was the first thing she said to her mother when SHE got home. ;lol
The camera really fought me about taking pictures of this palm of-your-hand-small work in-focus...
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A Japanese Oni mask.
For a wonder, has done very well in the box; for some reason, the finished-and-stringed ones tend to. Note the profile of the nose - created for Mylochka's Mayan folktales-and-tourism show in the late 90s. The horns --- I think she asked for to make oni masks. The straight cone shapes are pretty easy to get out of the paper maché, but a girldog to get to sit in place on the smooth plastic generic half-mask I use as a base until I've got a few strips of paper on them holding them still.
People notice the DoD skulls in our work, but I may be proudest of the fairly-simple Onis. Those horns look great, and I've always been proud of my noses.
(-I should do a Jesus mask, come to think of it. That would need to be a full face base, not some appliances -- maybe.)
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A Japanese Oni mask.
For a wonder, has done very well in the box; for some reason, the finished-and-stringed ones tend to. Note the profile of the nose - created for Mylochka's Mayan folktales-and-tourism show in the late 90s. The horns --- I think she asked for to make oni masks. The straight cone shapes are pretty easy to get out of the paper maché, but a girldog to get to sit in place on the smooth plastic generic half-mask I use as a base until I've got a few strips of paper on them holding them still.
People notice the DoD skulls in our work, but I may be proudest of the fairly-simple Onis. Those horns look great, and I've always been proud of my noses.
(-I should do a Jesus mask, come to think of it. That would need to be a full face base, not some appliances -- maybe.)
In my amatuer opinion, I think that the Oni mask appears well painted :).
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The oni masks were my favorites... except for all the other masks that were also my favorites....
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;nod :D
...I've only got one set of pics left before I have to take more...
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Here's another Day of the Dead mask from Mylochka's office wall collection.
-Also a fancy shot of the last one I posted.
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Let's seem what I've got that I haven't posted yet...
Okay. Here's something made for herself, and herself modeling a similar one...
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Hmm interesting. I paint myself.
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What colors do you paint yourself?
-I thought the markings on the Kingdom Come Von Bach were tattoos.
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I paint miniatures. I used to play Games Workshop but now I mostly paint for fun.
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Start a project thread if you've got pictures you want to share. ;nod
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The oni masks were my favorites... except for all the other masks that were also my favorites....
:-D :-)
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Hmm. What to show today?
-This was actually just one in progress that I had Mylochka photograph to crack up a colleague who's a huge comic book geek. Note the red pinheads added for appearance. Take THAT, pathetic Captain America!...
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NO love for the Red Skull? -It's just like if he was real...
Here's another Mayan mask.
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I enjoy the subdued colors on this particular mask more than the brilliant red mask. Also, the colors remind me of orange sherbert and vanilla ice cream.
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SVINEHUND!
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The red mask looks like a Spalien.
That Myan one is really cool. I'm going to see the ruins of Tulum, near Cozumel, later this year.
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A red Oni.
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Orange Oni.
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What paints do you use?
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Mylochka's the painter, but I believe it's all acrylics.
Obviously, she goes in for lots of scrollwork and busy decorative design - she does the same thing designing magazine and webpages. She LOVES pre-revolution Russian stuff, with all the lacy Faberge gilding detail, also the sort of thing medieval monks did in their calligraphy, giving a name to that sort of decorative bordering detail. I've been challenging her to do some work in Islamic argle-bargle; they do some pretty stuff.
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Has she ever tried highlighting,or an airbrush? Then the detail painting?
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Not on one of my masks, no. She dabbled in airbrushing in the late 80s, but I bet she lost track of the equipment before you were born.
-Great idea, though, if she still has the gear somewhere in working order. I'll pass that along and try to get her in here to talk painting with you.
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What mask will Mylochka and BUncle wear today (figuratively speaking)?
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Well let's see what's next in the mask pictures folder, shall we?
Ah. Speaking of Dr. Mylochka's affinity for, and virtuosity with, busy decorative detailing, here's a monkey mask -a poor impression of this base, by the way; I should have gone thicker, especially on this design that's unforgiving about holding edges shape- done on an Indian motif.
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I use acrylic paints and paint markers. I don't have an airbrush... but wish I did!
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An airbrush is overrated honestly. But you can get a decent one for a couple hundred bucks. that includes the compressor. Normal paints work just fine. You might want to try highlighting the base color then detail painting.
Though I'm used to painting things much smaller than that.
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I have utilized heated wood engraving tools in the past. A okay tool with very basic temperature controls starts around $100 and goes up from that point.
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Here's one with an airbrushed sort of look to the paint job... Pity it's not a better photo.
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Here's one with an airbrushed sort of look to the paint job... Pity it's not a better photo.
The mask vaguely reminds me of Frankenstein's Monster. :)
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Really; the next time I go on a mask-making tear, I GOTTA make the things thicker. The shape of the outside edges are distorted on that one; it's just a face.
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I'm pretty proud of the nose on this one. Mylochka painted it in a red commedia del arte' style.
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I think this is the next-to-last pic in my Masks folder before I have to dig through the boxes and take more...
Blue kitteh. Buster was asking for animals a lot right before she moved to California and after. Make a little muzzle, and easy enough to do. I can't be sure, looking at the shot, if it's not a dog - there is a difference in the muzzle, though.
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My first impression was a dog. It could be personal bias,
That's the thing about dogs, though. Due to human managed un-natural selection, they have more variety than any other species. Quite a snout spectrum between bulldogs and speed hounds.
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Definitely - but there is a big difference in a cat muzzle, whiskers details aside. Cats have a prominent flat nasal ridge.
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I've found treating the eyes more feminine help read "cat".
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Good point. Rounder eye holes definitely read more 'dog', and pointed ends, shorter and pointed end turned up on the outside, 'cat'.
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If you told me it was a seal or sea lion...
I'd say "that's cool, I like the blue."
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I think this is the next-to-last pic in my Masks folder before I have to dig through the boxes and take more...
Blue kitteh. Buster was asking for animals a lot right before she moved to California and after. Make a little muzzle, and easy enough to do. I can't be sure, looking at the shot, if it's not a dog - there is a difference in the muzzle, though.
I fervently support the idea that BUncle sort through boxes to find more masks. Dig, BUncle, Dig! ;woohoo :clap:
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Smilie idea!
I will.
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And for the last thing before I take the take more pictures, a DotD mask Mylochka did in a black and white design...
She had me trim them in a variety of ways, for the variety.
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And for the last thing before I take the take more pictures, a DotD mask Mylochka did in a black and white design...
She had me trim them in a variety of ways, for the variety.
I think this mask would fall under Unorthodox's area of interest because it relates to Día de los Muertos. I further have a hunch, based upon the variety of masks shown, that BUncle's family has participated in the creation of costume pieces for a mulitude of occasions.
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I have a 12 year-old niece who used to be even younger, and Mylochka wrote/directed a lot of academic plays before she retired.
I'm and actor, and of course, Momma, who sews like crazy, has done a LOT of costuming.
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I found a great picture to complement the festival described above.
(https://img1.etsystatic.com/043/0/9836048/il_fullxfull.642930997_qpql.jpg)
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Someone should paint some real dogs like that.
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Or make a real dog a mask and vest and paint it like that.
That does look really cool.
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I think this is the next-to-last pic in my Masks folder before I have to dig through the boxes and take more...
Blue kitteh. Buster was asking for animals a lot right before she moved to California and after. Make a little muzzle, and easy enough to do. I can't be sure, looking at the shot, if it's not a dog - there is a difference in the muzzle, though.
I fervently support the idea that BUncle sort through boxes to find more masks. Dig, BUncle, Dig! ;woohoo :clap:
Bad news - I finally went through all the boxes I have, and I'd actually already took pictures of all the masks I can lay hands on. (Did a little organizing and threw away a lot of packing material that made it hard to know when I'd reached the bottom while I was at it, so not a waste of time.) We gave a couple to aunt Pokey back in February -and were rather thrilled she liked some enough to ask, 'cause she's a real, multi-talented, artist with an actual art degree to boot- and there's some stuff missing, for sure, from the move from Texas - but all I'm certain of is some plaster bases I use a lot, at very least to hold up half-mask store templates while I'm working on them. I wanted all along to take photos of those for Uno and anyone else interested in actual details of how I work, not least with various snouts, human noses and other sculpey facial appliances designed to fit them.
All I remember having a picture of that I haven't already posted now is a small feminine wig-dummy face I cast in plaster as a possible base, but have never used. Today I found the plaster gauze outer mold and latex lining I cast it from, so I want pics of those, too, but that's all I've got until some missing boxes turn up in Mylochka's stuff. -I really want those missing bases before I work up to making more masks - I'm used to them and all the appliances already on hand fit them.
There's actually a whole lot left of various things I use in the work left to shoot, but the two bases are central to my process.
The boxes tended to be packed in a MOSTLY organized way, so there might be a few more masks to photo when the bases turn up, but don't hold your breath. There are definitely a few I don't know about giving away, and we never actually sold one...
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BU:
I only had time to skim your thread for pics, holler if there's specific ones you want me to add over there.
http://www.halloweenforum.com/for-sale-by-merchants/144010-jk-studio-masks.html#post1794788 (http://www.halloweenforum.com/for-sale-by-merchants/144010-jk-studio-masks.html#post1794788)
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...I got a late start today, and am still not 100%. I just found the DeviantArt page Mylochka set up, that I'd forgotten completely. I need to sort through what we've got on hand to compare to the superior shots she put up there - there's stuff we gave away pictured and not everything I have included.
I think first, I need to go sign up at the Halloween forum...
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Done. I'm writing something now, good Lord willing and my innerwebs connection stops acting out long enough...
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Hey - am I gonna have trouble if I post more shots of individual masks?
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Kinda depends how quick you do it and how many.
They don't want to see someone bumping the thread every day for a month type thing. Get organized and post a bunch at a time. IIRC, there's a 10 picture limit per post, so you might HAVE to post several posts just to get them up.
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...I need to get organized about this anyway. I really thought Mylochka would do more, but she's already sweatshopping a million dolls to sale at the show, and I guess she's too focused on that right now. I was never supposed to bother with the sales end...
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I struck a little gold with the DeviantArt account (http://jkstudio1.deviantart.com/gallery/) - there's eight slick pictures of masks that I've either never posted, we gave away, or are just nicer shots than what I have posted.
-Ordinarily, I'd post these one at a time, once a day, on the same strategic writer's principal Mylochka taught me many years ago of "Don't blow all your ideas at once in the same story", but here, I'm going all-in as part of a first draft for my next post at the Halloween Forum...
All of these have "A paper mache mask. Painted with acrylics. Sealed with a matte finish. Partially lined with felt." in the description. I don't recall why she kept using my email for everything -I got spam from Etsy just the other day- when I wasn't handling any of that. Probably because I was online all the time, and she was still trying to have a real life; also, that was several cyberstalkers ago - I'm tempted to alter the pics, but time's a-wastin', I've got too much on my plate at once, and I have unlimited blocking at that account.
Evil Eye DoD Mask
(http://pre02.deviantart.net/a433/th/pre/i/2011/282/b/b/evil_eye_dod_mask_02_by_jkstudio1-d4cblhv.jpg)
Green Day of the Dead Mask
(http://pre03.deviantart.net/394d/th/pre/i/2011/282/7/9/green_day_of_the_dead_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4cbkhh.jpg)
Candy Skull Mask
(http://pre14.deviantart.net/f2a8/th/pre/i/2011/282/5/4/candy_skull_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4cbfm4.jpg)
Red Oni Mask
(http://img06.deviantart.net/f6e3/i/2011/282/3/9/red_oni_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4ccomu.jpg)
Heart of the Jungle Mask
(http://img05.deviantart.net/29ba/i/2011/290/0/3/heart_of_the_jungle_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4d49wn.jpg)
(The rest of these are given away, as noted, or I don't remember seeing this next one in what I have, so not going up over there unless I find it. Pity, too; its a much nicer mask under the painting.)
Heart of the Jungle Mask 02
(http://img05.deviantart.net/1172/i/2011/290/9/e/heart_of_the_jungle_mask_02_by_jkstudio1-d4d4z8e.jpg)
UNT Eagle mask
(http://orig02.deviantart.net/f157/f/2011/288/4/e/unt_eagle_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4cxd0k.jpg)
"This mask was done as a present for a friend at school. Caw!!" (Dr. Treat actually said "Caw!" when we gave it to him.)
Princess Mask
(http://pre14.deviantart.net/16f9/th/pre/i/2011/288/1/2/princess_mask_by_jkstudio1-d4cxcmn.jpg)
"Our niece asked for a princess mask. This one turned out looking a little like Peter Max threw up a My Little Pony... but we hope she likes it!" (She did - I believe I posted a shot of her wearing it not long ago.)
First, I gotta go cook supper. Next, get the mask out and look at everything. Next, go back through the thread...
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Grilled steak, and it turned out very well. Delicious.
Now to go get the actual masks and have a look-through...
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Crap. No wonder I'd already taken pictures of everything I have - this doesn't cover more than half of what I'm sure we haven't parted with. I'm sure this isn't even everything I pulled out to show people earlier this year, let alone what's still not turned up from Texas. Need to do more rooting around...
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What a relief - two more boxes-worth in plain sight that I've been walking past for a month. I count nine that I've photographed, and 28 to go. Roughly four are blanks.
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Okay, one mask is a surprising amount of work/time-consuming to get one usable shot full-face and one usable three-quarter/profile with this camera, crop/size and post. I am Officially Stressed Out - I wouldn't have started this if I realized there was so much Left To Do, and a need to Get It Done it last week.
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Grilled steak, and it turned out very well. Delicious.
Now to go get the actual masks and have a look-through...
Crap. No wonder I'd already taken pictures of everything I have - this doesn't cover more than half of what I'm sure we haven't parted with. I'm sure this isn't even everything I pulled out to show people earlier this year, let alone what's still not turned up from Texas. Need to do more rooting around...
What a relief - two more boxes-worth in plain sight that I've been walking past for a month. I count nine that I've photographed, and 28 to go. Roughly four are blanks.
I remember saying something about that a month ago. My intuition has not failed me yet with regards to the situation over there.
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Officially Stressed Out... I thought I had things lined up and ready, or I wouldn't have started this...
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Officially Stressed Out... I thought I had things lined up and ready, or I wouldn't have started this...
If you feel stressed out about a large project, than a method I use to deal with it is to think of it as an elephant in your head. You cannot tackle the whole elephant at once, but the stress becomes manageable if you cut the elephant into smaller pieces.
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Good advice. Wise.
I took everything up to Mylochka's and she wasn't as much help as I hoped, but I got better sorting done sitting on the floor in an open space, left everything I'm certain we've got pictures of taken and posted there with her, 'cause I'm done with those. -And we decided one painted mask was incomplete and crappy enough to only charge the $15 blank rate - and that a few others are too nice to do that with, but not in good enough condition to sell, so lay aside for repairs later and not offer now. (More than one is a good job from me, and well-painted by her, but has been warped too much sitting in boxes for years.)
SO - I'm just not going to get everything done tonight that I need done yesterday, and not going to give myself a stroke trying - with all the, for instance, DOD skulls sorted together, I'm going to see if I can lay the lot in a neat row and crop individually from a group shot. (Which won't take care of the need for profiles, but cuts down on time, work and disk space for the full-face shots if it works.)
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Good advice. Wise.
I took everything up to Mylochka's and she wasn't as much help as I hoped, but I got better sorting done sitting on the floor in an open space, left everything I'm certain we've got pictures of taken and posted there with her, 'cause I'm done with those. -And we decided one painted mask was incomplete and crappy enough to only charge the $15 blank rate - and that a few others are too nice to do that with, but not in good enough condition to sell, so lay aside for repairs later and not offer now. (More than one is a good job from me, and well-painted by her, but has been warped too much sitting in boxes for years.)
SO - I'm just not going to get everything done tonight that I need done yesterday, and not going to give myself a stroke trying - with all the, for instance, DOD skulls sorted together, I'm going to see if I can lay the lot in a neat row and crop individually from a group shot. (Which won't take care of the need for profiles, but cuts down on time, work and disk space for the full-face shots if it works.)
A lot of the stress sounds as if it originates from wanting to have everything completed in a single day even if it is not reasonable. It appears you have managed to realize this fact and implemented appropriate stress management measures.
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Yeah, Momma gimme a happy pill a couple hours ago, too... I wish those actually made you happy...
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uh oh. Which brand?
numbitall type?
Don't stress on this. IMO, SPRING would actually be the 'hot' time for your particular brand of mask on the forum. It's 40 days out. You've seen ME on 40 days out often enough. We're focused on getting stuff done and up and working, and if it's not an immediate need, it's not on a shopping list right now. Now spring is the oh lets see what is out there and decorate our walls and make a theme time.
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Something beginning with an L. --Lorazimpam. Doesn't have a lot of kick for me.
Well screw it, then - if you say time is not of the essence, I'm done for the day. Kinda burned out, ATM.
Rather take my time and get it right, if fast isn't of the essence...
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uh oh. Which brand?
numbitall type?
Don't stress on this. IMO, SPRING would actually be the 'hot' time for your particular brand of mask on the forum. It's 40 days out. You've seen ME on 40 days out often enough. We're focused on getting stuff done and up and working, and if it's not an immediate need, it's not on a shopping list right now. Now spring is the oh lets see what is out there and decorate our walls and make a theme time.
;lol
The use of contractions has always annoyed me because they often contain more than a single meaning. I prefer formal English writing, and the utilization of sentences with a verb, a subject, and a complete thought.
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;lol
The use of contractions have always annoyed me because they often have more than a single meaning. I prefer formal English writing and the utilization of sentences with a verb, a subject, and a complete thought.
My sig line is there for a reason.
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If I stop using contractions and slang, it's a sign I'm upset, or at least taking a post too seriously...
Y'know? ;)
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If I stop using contractions and slang, it's a sign I'm upset, or at least taking a post too seriously...
Y'know? ;)
I remain uncertain about the reasons that I prefer to type in a formal manner. I have always associated the application of contractions in written communciation as superfluous information unless it provides additional depth to a character.
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Over-formal writing style, always, makes one sound like one has never even HEARD of humor, let alone grasps the concept...
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Over-formal writing style, always, makes one sound like one has never even HEARD of humor, let alone grasps the concept...
I tend to find humor in unusual or annoying actions.
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Ah. I must be a laugh a minute.
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Ah. I must be a laugh a minute.
I think you finally understand one of the reasons that I spend a lot of time on this board.
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I'll be here all week. Enjoy your meal, and please be good to the waiters.
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What types of materials were Greek masks typically made from in classical periods? How would a Greek Mask sell today? I imagine it requires a significant quantity of work to produce an accurate recreation of the masks because the masks cover the majority of an actor's face. I saw an interesting example in the movie seen below:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZUCgq8LfhY#)
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I don't know and I don't know. I imagine they'd at least have some wall art appeal, at least if we did a good job. Various sorts of theatrical masks -comdedia del arte', for example- are something we discuss doing from time to time.
My guess would be something like paper mache or plaster, but those Greek dramas were derived from religious festivals, and there's no telling what sort of tradition holdovers that could have caused. The original religious festivals probably featured something elaborately-made and precious - no telling by the classical period. If anyone left any records of what the masks were made of, it's escaped my attention.
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I found several sites that reference the plausible application of natural materials. An example of the materials appears as the Greek Theater website states "The masks were most likely made out of light weight, organic materials like stiffened linen, leather, wood, or cork, with the wig consisting of human or animal hair." I suppose it makes sense that the masks were made out of natural materials like the above materials because they were the materials that originate from available resources.
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Hmm. The ancient Greeks weren't exactly geniuses with chemistry, but I would have guessed they'd figured out something cleverer than that...
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I guess I presumed sheet copper. I thought I'd seen some partials in museums. It's possible. I was on tour in Greece for about 10 days in 1974. But I really don't remember. It was my impression. It would be easy enough to confuse a piece of a sculpture's head with a piece of a mask or a helmet, and ancient copper with ancient bronze. I really have no vivid memories of artifacts.
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News flash - if I do Greek, it'll be paper mache.
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Since the objects were never preserved, the majority of authors appear to think that the masks held ritualistic purposes. The ritualistic purposes often involve offering them towards the gods in ceremonies. The only surviving examples remain decorative terracotta reproductions. I did find a few examples of authentic images from pottery that display the masks. I found several recreations of the masks in modern times. It appears that several frescos of Roman reproduction survive from Pompeii. I will attach the images below:
(http://www.beazley.ox.ac.uk/images/pottery/painters/keypieces/tiverios/33-p197-medium.jpg)
(http://web.uncg.edu/dcl/courses/eyeappeal/images/unit2/img9.jpg)
(http://pegasus.cc.ucf.edu/~eshaw/pix/tragic%20masks.jpg)
(http://bottega.avalonceltic.com/rep_immagini/prod/maschera_commedia_tragedia_1.jpg)
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The fresco from the Pompeii site appears as follows:
(http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/Tragic_comic_masks_-_roman_mosaic.jpg)
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Yes - as I said before, Greek drama had its roots in religious festivals. That could have left behind a lot of traditions and (unexamined) residues we no longer associate with theater. Derivative Roman theater could have been a different thing, mind you.
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I'm working on a new mask form.
-I need to find the molds for mine and Mylochka's faces and cast new ones; the bases are clearly not going to turn up, and I have nearly 20 years worth of noses and snouts and various semi-forms that were made over those noses and won't sit right on anything else...
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This is the idea I talked about in the cat thread - wresting masks for Mylochka to go wild decorating.
So my first try at this, with Sculptamold (paper pulp), turned out sorta shapeless.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1603)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1604)
It's pretty impossible to get a smooth surface with the stuff, so I put a layer of paper on top, which has worked great before for something smaller like building up a jawline - but the whole face took too long, so it was starting to set up before I could do the fine shaping. -Also, it's pretty big; the face casting I'm working with is a big face to begin with, and it was a mistake to build a shell over the entire thing, making it bigger.
I've made a good start on something I think will turn out far more satisfactory...
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So, starting with the face-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1605)
I wrapped it in foil-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1606)
And applied a few layers of mache-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1607)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1608)
Tonight, I begin filling in low points with Sculpey. When I'm satisfied with that, I'll lay another layer of paper over to hold all the bits together and put a few layers of latex to smooth and waterproof, which should make for a durable shell to fit over the base and make masks over.
This is something I've never tried before, but the simulating of the way a cloth mask smooths out features it covers called for a lot of small pieces that would be a nightmare to keep track of and in place and have to individually pry out of each mask copy each time - a real pain. I have high hopes for this...
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^
The mask looks wonderful and the product will look even better. I remain certain of the skills you possess on the topic.
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I've done the sculpey fill
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1609)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1610)
and paper layer. It should dry overnight, then I can start painting on the latex layer.
Hopefully, I can start making actual masks by Wednesday night...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1611)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1612)
Latex application initiated...
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Second layer drying now...
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3rd layer - and I've started work on a base for something else...
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Been working on this all day, but not a lot to say about dabbing yet another layer on and waiting for it to dry.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1614)
The little child-scale one, I cast off a wig dummy back in Texas. I'm going to build a complete kitten face base over it - the latex coating is for ease of getting a mask back off once it's dried, masks being made partly of glue. No plans to make a mask of that face, but might as well...
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So, starting with the face-
Ugly [progeny of unmarried parents].
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It's a great face, I kid you not. The broad nose and strong chin and very deepset eyes all have a lot of character/personality - and just drip masculinity... I know a lady online who I'm certain thinks so, too...
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Well, the first wrestling mask -and the shell to build the kitten base on- are drying now...
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Mask dry and off the base.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1621)
-Uno, that's a local Christian free paper on the top few layers... I pick a copyup most months for the high-quality paper it's printed on...
Here's the back, though the flash ruined the perspective:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1622)
I have some construction paper I cut up in Texas -cut paper's edges show if used on the last layer, but are fine for earlier ones- and I use the thickest paper I can for the first layer for sturdiness...
I believe -and Mylochka agrees- that since I got carried away and covered everything, I'll trim this as-is w/ small eyeholes and leave it a mouthless face...
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Okay - I'll take and post another pic when Mylochka has done whatever she does to decorate the mask, but my part of this one is done, now.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1623)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1624)
Note the shell for the kitten base behind the shot of the inside. More of that as I get something done...
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...I'm getting close to turning up all my tools and materials...
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We need to get you a more complete form.
How close to life do you really need?
My "near life cast" forms are about 1/10th the cost of a true lifecast.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/j0U-nVOkkGCReTByN9cMwWd_Fd2ZpcJLg4t_b40z-PSyWgUG39Ct9s-gP0rj3wIjePNjd_HjxF6_gYPZUscne7vGhdF_t4od_DSo-mFciu1wk5_vOIykfeY1pKnVw8pE2mt10TU30M4BQSRZuoIOun0brDdUvBrMPDI7wCaVIz2pSwzTH18QnLtyecACqy69KElDS3b8e9tB9zmFpXJMQSECW9FtQpt5Gzcpw_6ri_e_AJFKeZPWpN1qoDwgDLNZ-MA1vuFTunRWaVk6pjnIkTRMhoL8xvXECNLZRPcV1dZivmqwwYFDnPacFik6IhglRoeY0Nx237uTyV360OOGBXzn-AG52HXqFzKGYd8qQ8gEkeoNKDfTYoj6JVkd09BNWoGOEGBkRwC3bYCowRTI7F1LemrWDOTWfJC055f5AxTb2SPdh5mTF3xydfcC-FtLK5WtuSMR105PO7Tjd6q3FbT7BH2ZJwceZyR6D3Ax6ajQB73POJSph8bOH9nkRVF39jeDSgRDZr-1EvNGSKDjMOSMQQYyrhXg3OaO94O7XV4CzN48-7aun97Urf8PimY82oaOSk6IMtU2eoksC019tjm8xFnjaiDA7LquXgx5e9bzwarRvg=s862-no)
Heavy as all get out though.
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I don't know what I'd do with an entire head, or I'd have made some already.
Two more masks are dry and ready for trimming. I got a very late start today, but I'll get pics before that. I wonder if I should stop, here - need to talk to Mylochka about that.
Planning to cast new bases of her and my faces today, and start making that cat face base...
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You could take the wrestling mask idea all the way, like I did with that latest, have them lace up the back.
Surprising how comfortable that is, really. Though it's either stretching or my head got smaller. Gonna have to redo the laces.
In fact, I think a little decoupaged fabric and paper mache would mesh together really well, and mod podge lets that fabric stay flexible enough to work as a mask. (though dragon skin would probably be best)
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Hmmm. There's a thought to think on...
Mylochka says to finish up the two new masks, and leave off that for now until she painted these three and sees if she has more design ideas...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1641)
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...I'm reminded of why I don't particularly care for working with plaster -though it was really more the shortcomings of the molds at fault- but the face bases of me and Mylochka have been cast, which makes a lot of facial appliances on hand practical to use again...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1642)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1643)
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All plaster is not created equal. Hydrocal is my nemesis.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1644)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1641)
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Finally got started on the kitten base:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1645)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1646)
The muzzle is way too big. I think I'll have to break out the dremel when it's dried enough and do some grinding down before I do some filling and fine detail with sculpey...
Everything about those ears is going to be a pain to work out - far from least, getting masks off the base when they dry...
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Definitely reading more canine there. Muzzle length and width, or building out the cheeks more to cover the width.
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Yeah - some of that's the shape, too, which shouldn't taper so smoothly back into the rest of the face. It's just a roughed beginning, and that part's going to have to be made smaller.
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This is beginning to come together...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1647)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1648)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1649)
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Little more rounded on the top brow, and you could be right into furry territory with that.
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;nod Saw the same thing in the pics...
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Baked and outer layer of paper drying. After supper, the first layer of latex...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1650)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1651)
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It's sure to be a colossal pain getting masks off the kitten form, because of the ears, so I'm still adding layers of the latex cover, for strength and thickness. Might be tomorrow before I can begin making masks...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1653)
Another thing I'm working on -this is new today- is making a solid sculptamold (hereinafter refered to as "spitwad") base cast from the big face I've already been working with.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1652)
-I've always intended to do a modification with a pronounced jaw for the Captain character in comedia del arte'...
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Try mixing some drywall mud into the spitwad. Had really good luck with that.
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I had something like a handful of plaster left - I added that to the water before the pulp. We'll see if that helps, because spitwad is a pain to carve...
-Incidentally, for a mold, I simply made a thickish paper mâché mask w/o holes and lined it with latex as I always do - it seems to have worked...
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I've had a rush project drop into my lap.
There's this art galley/artists' collective in town that Buster's Daddy has gotten us involved with -part of why I've gotten active again with this suddenly- that's doing the Christmas window decoration Friday, and Mylochka wanted to do up a couple of mini-masks to hang on the tree. -This is an old spitwad cast from a store-bought mask that I can't find anymore, pictured about life-size. Something else to put a couple of layers of latex on before I can knock out some masks...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1654)
All that white didn't much want to photograph.
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I could see a bunch of...not sure the term for that type mask....
female masquerade types. Done up painted like poinsettias (spelling) instead of the more traditional feathers looking good on a tree
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The feathered ones here:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/eQ61Mp8QxfFWMCvuVnSHpD-oAqBxbMlHgGDncdIXbymlqwcr5IL4_l-qYRmQ349Hj2kG-fDqZuwyPpq-74C7oFjjATrIU79QWFw7Ceiase1HWxjoLWNC2iadd9geHAlZJTEYLnTTWe4HDEZy-9p2cnPlKBoBEvhmK8LANJ99Ezp-aFGZgLXSJmoS6SC8aKoc1wej7OaxZh-OWhktoJKT4jrDTjZ_8wXj9pfmMiXSTWV5r7Qv5GwN73Jy61uD6xa4yiDCOcrsUjA9XdK8LREBV2w6F1_MOpWgeQ2anwtSEX8fAeAtd4hsuIMcAOJGsxuYpe6Du2yPWElz90WFQkKLj6rX2ab-FzpGfbWys0bFKh1Q3xbHO4pa-pKotUlNsX-XSCdIuVZyBlSyIftaQSfd7kxsG3JihR4OWuTLW_IM3WXTTmHw9H0ctxg34T3537C3ngcluCjJikEVlL7hbhz8-Lm7Fmun_EHvZaFs8hXjDUos6DKkC40SIwftFhUC7wp8cef2uBEOpHctUH4QPzHD0qInICLHabKPdXobf7Cv8emDLYKF-Izytl_vR8rXJRTwTADmQEn-057zGT7sqOoDjBr9thIiDpvKiT4-1l7CP0UnVuclIw=w800-h536-no)
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Reindeer ish ones could work too...
In my circles, a straight up POTO tree would do well. (phantom of the opera) with masks and roses. This would work well in a window box if you themed everything to it as well.
DO NOT underestimate the possibility of going Nightmare before Christmas.
Lock, Shock, and Barrel masks.
https://www.google.com/search?q=poinsettia&biw=1229&bih=588&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgrc7q0prQAhUT9WMKHZ2IBQcQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=lock+shock+and+barrel+masks (https://www.google.com/search?q=poinsettia&biw=1229&bih=588&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjgrc7q0prQAhUT9WMKHZ2IBQcQ_AUIBigB#tbm=isch&q=lock+shock+and+barrel+masks)
(http://pre00.deviantart.net/8056/th/pre/i/2013/284/d/f/nightmare_before_christmas_masquerade_masks_by_maskedzone-d6q3m8j.jpg)
In an appropriately themed box...(license issues might come into play however)
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Again, that one's pictured about life-size. It's doll-scale, not human.
-However, we do have one or two appropriate ones to work with. As you say, there's a lot of possibilities...
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Good night and God bless.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1655)
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What I've gotten finished today...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1656)
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don't want to show that one...
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?
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...If you mean didn't display, try this...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1657)
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That works.
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Nice craftsmanship on those masks, I really like some of them. Do you watch anime? There's a lot of masks in an anime called Tokyo Ghoul that are pretty badass. There's a lot of cool ideas for masks out there, I like Samurai masks and Oni masks. Here's the Owl Mask from Tokyo Ghoul, I found it on google images.
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Not familiar with Tokyo Ghoul, no.
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Never seen it either. I'm now interested though.
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With Mylochka's painting.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1658)
These are to be part of a Christmas season window display. -I punched holes as if they were full-size masks to wear, so they can be hung on a Christmas tree that way...
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A related thing I'm working on:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1661)
I've got various small figures I've worked up over the years, and these I had molds for. Plaster castings for Mylochka to paint...
I'm also making a new mold on the Jesus staff:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1660) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1659)
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A mask dry and off the form - which was a trial; I think I'm going to have to make this one in two parts, in the future...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1669)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1670)
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These did not turn out all that well - way too many surface bubbles to fill in.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1680)
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Ready for Mylochka...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1681)
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NICE!!!
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1682)
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I'm recalling an evil Christmas cat suddenly...
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(https://www.google.com/search?q=yule+cat&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS627US628&hl=en-US&prmd=isvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjku4bxzKTQAhVC5GMKHS5xDDEQ_AUIBygB&biw=320&bih=492#imgrc=XMEjZtETqeQGUM%3A)
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?
(http://pre13.deviantart.net/f725/th/pre/i/2015/343/d/4/the_yule_cat_by_peterfrancisfahy-d9jjth7.jpg)
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Yeah, that's the thing. It's among my potential Christmas builds. It follows with Gryla and the yule lads.
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This one fought me even harder than the last...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1684)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1683)
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But, you did get the eyes right, which from the masks I have seen is usually the part that seem to be wrong.
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Another one's drying right now; let's see if I can keep up the good work...
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Kat Frend Project dividends.
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;nod
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So here's what I've been working on today:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1685)
The nose part of the nose/brow/cheek assemblies are 19 years old; I made them for masks for a play Mylochka wrote/produced/directed. Sculpey is great to work with, but turns out to be mighty brittle for hard use like prying out of a paper mache mask (made of glue, after all) formed over something made of it.
The reason both those appliances are multi-colored is because they went though a lot of repairs and evolution in the ensuing decades. I've repeatedly added more while I was replacing thin edges that broke off.
-Now, I hit on something I find promising while I was making the shell base for the wrestling mask. I'm going to encase these in paper mache and coat that in latex. Not least of the benefits should be that a flexible shell base will be a lot easier to pry back out of a dried mask. Another is that the plastic store-bought halfmask that's the rest of the base won't be trying to slide around underneath while I'm laying paper. -Which relates to those two cones, which are horns for oni masks. Those, added to the facial appliances and the halfmask base, have made for some super, super-cute masks that Mylochka loves, but it's a -girldog- to keep them still and in place before a couple of layers of paper are on. I'm going to mount them on a strip.
The latex casting of the upper part of my face isn't integral to all this; just a convenient surface to place the rest on while I work.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1686)
The first thin paper base to set a nose/brow/cheek assembly on, dried.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1687)
A second, for the other, drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1688)
The first set, glued together.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1689)
Another cat mask, drying. I hope I've finally worked out a good way to make them that isn't such a struggle to get off the base, and so traumatic to it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1690)
A paper shell to mount the appliance for a skull mask on. If you look closely, you can see the diagonal crack running across the left side of the appliance. It's the second skull mask appliance, far sturdier than the original, and has already broken once...
As soon as the second halfmask shell base is dried enough to retrieve the plastic halfmask, I begin covering the outside of the first nose/brow/cheek appliance...
For weeks now, it feels like I spend all my time waiting for prep-work to dry, instead of making many masks...
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Set in front of the dehumidifier to dry:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1691)
-Now to glue the other set together, pry the kitten mask off the base -it'll need more macheing work tomorrow before trimming, because of the way I made it- pry the shell off the Mylochka base and glue the skull appliance to it --- if all goes well. And then, to bed.
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Here's where I am now:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1692)
These are dry and ready to start coating with latex.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1693)
I don't remember what the deal is with the nose - I'm going to fill in some gaps around the bottom and build up the brow and make some cheeks for it. The skull shell is dry and ready for coating...
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Oh - and my part of this is finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1694)
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This is gonna be fun to finish up encasing tomorrow...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1695)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1696)
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Oh - and my part of this is finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1694)
After watching some of the TV series recently...
Drop the ears and slight modification, you'd have some of the lesser quality planet of the apes masks. (not meaning your quality is lesser, but some of those ape masks were completely stiff and non-articulating)
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Oh - and my part of this is finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1694)
After watching some of the TV series recently...
Drop the ears and slight modification, you'd have some of the lesser quality planet of the apes masks. (not meaning your quality is lesser, but some of those ape masks were completely stiff and non-articulating)
I think I'd make a base from scratch for that...
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(http://pota.goatley.com/stills/mtb-tv-04/TV_Seeds_Family.jpg)
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That's basically something to build over the skull mask - same shape...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1697)
Mylochka asked for more doll-scale half masks this morning, so there. They dry pretty fast, so I'll be able to get one or two more dashed off before bedtime.
The nose halfmasks have gotten three layers of latex, and the one above is almost ready to begin with that.
-She also asked for an old man face, but the base for that has gone missing just recently - I'm sure I've seen it in just the last few weeks while I was rooting through masks and supplies...
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I can't imagine doing doll size. My hands hurt thinking about it.
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Here's the third drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1722)
Really, the only challenge at that size is needing thin paper strips. I can knock off a nice thick copy in little time, 'cause it's not much area to cover. The face is roughly 18" doll size - not incredibly small, and the base is low detail w/ gentle curves, which is easier to work with and dries more smoothly.
-
-Besides, it's my neck that's been hurting since I took this back up - all the time spent hunched over something, and size doesn't matter...
-
The fourth of the day, just put down to dry...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1723)
-
The fifth, drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1724)
The first three, finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1725)
The old face, 3/4 version:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1726)
The original I wanted to do it on that's gone missing...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1602)
-
The three that I finished today:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1727)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1728)
-And the oni horn mounting commenced and drying:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1729)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1730)
-Coating of the other facial appliances continues...
-
There's an open house thing at the gallery, and we're supposed to do demonstrations - Mylochka pointed out that the sculpture part of what I do ought to be a lot more interesting than the paper mache, so I'll be working on that ape thing. It also has the virtue of involving a lot less mess and supplies...
-
Almost time to go -it's a pain when you google a thing, and there's a more recent version you don't want polluting the image results- and I'm taking the camera. I've never been to this place...
-
I'm back - it went well, and I got something worthwhile accomplished in a new base. Photos forthcoming...
-
Okay, I've got some pictures of our booth and the storefront and Buster and Buster's Daddy's work, but that's for later.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1731)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1732)
I didn't think to take a before shot prior to beginning work - first thing I did was fiddle around with setting up while I thought about the job. The latex coat holding the cracked original skull appliance together was in bad shape anyway, and needed to come off for the new sculpey to bond. I'd only began actual crafting shortly before Mylochka asked about the camera and snapped a few shots.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1733)
Her painting setup with me working in the background.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1734)
Note the tatters of the latex coat to my left and right.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1735)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1736)
The basic shape roughed in. If you look closely enough, you can see where I whittled down the cheekbones a bit. -I only had thrown in an exacto knife with the tools and supplies in the shoebox by chance. for the heck of it.
I was really noticing at this point that the nose wasn't coming out right; I'd always thought the need to leave room for a whole nose underneath was the weakest part of the skull base, and for this, it was positively in the way.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1737)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1738)
-So I began whittling, and ended up removing that whole business...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1739)
And while I was filling back in to get the shape called for --- it hit me that completely nose-less would make for a great alien face, in the style of Jim Starlin in comics, or, Buster tells me, Cad Bane from Star Wars: Rebels.
This is back in the shoebox - and then I wanted a profile...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1740)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1741)
...I hope I can devise a workable chimp nose as a separate/addable/removable component to make (Planet of the) ape mask. I'm kinda excited about the inspiration and how it's turned out so far. More as I refine this....
-
Our booth:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1742)
All the wooden stuff was made by Buster's Daddy. The little fairy dolls are Buster's work -she made one today for the open house demonstration- and the knit toboggans are Mylochkas's work.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1743)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1744)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1745)
This is a crap way to display the masks. I'm going to have to talk to Mylochka about what can be done in the available space - I think something could be rigged with poles and lines or netting across the back to hang some on, which would greatly increase the visibility of the booth.
-
The Buster's very own hands making a fairy.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1746)
Her daddy rushed the shaving horse to use today, and here it's undergoing minor repairs...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1747)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1748)
My first impression of the place was, there's a woodcarver involved that --- we're not worthy. I have some talent, and I'm good at what I do, and I know it, and am a pretty good woodcarver myself; but - WOW.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1749)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1750)
This place has a marketing problem - that Valdese is not a great location, and that nothing about it stands out so anybody knows it's there. Not a lot of people turned out and saw us in the 2+ hours we were in back demonstrating. (Though it was pleasant enough that I would have stayed a lot longer if Buster hadn't run out of anything to do and the florescent lights were getting to Mylochka's brain. Buster's Daddy, at least, seemed to feel supported, and was very pleased - and I got a lot of work done on a nice base, so definitely not a wash.) I'm thinking about it. -For one thing, it needs a website. If only there were artists involved with some .htm skills who owned a webs domain...
-
Hmmm. There is a website: http://www.valdeseheritageartcenter.com/ (http://www.valdeseheritageartcenter.com/)
-
Lots of stuff on that website. I agree that displaying the masks on a net above the back would display them better and attract attention.
-
...We'd been talking about working up a site for our masks already - we ought to buckle down on doing that...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1751)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1752)
-
Huhuhuhuh huhuhuhuh - I turned my sister into a noseless space monkey. Huhuhuhuh huhuhuhuh huhuhuhuh.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1753)
Now to do a little trimming and start the coating process...
-
Something to do while other stuff's drying:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1754)
Nothing new, but I wanted to try out the encased/coated form...
-And a couple new plaster castings...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1755)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1756)
-
monkey!
-
I'm itching to get that base to the point I can get a mask or two off it, then work on a nose...
-
Last night's mask, finished and ready for Mylochka...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1757)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1758)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1759)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1760)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1761)
-
Hmmm. There is a website: http://www.valdeseheritageartcenter.com/ (http://www.valdeseheritageartcenter.com/)
Don't see you guys listed as artists.
"Custom Halloween costumes...."
-
Yeah; those are impressive, aren't they?
-I don't see us listed, either...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1748)
Ok. Those stained glass BETTER be backlit at night.
That is begging for a marquee up top as well. Some color up there now would help draw the eye.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1749)
The one place we get some color and we're hiding it with golden ribbon on those wreaths. RED! Need RED to accent those wreaths, not gold, which blends too well with the stone façade.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1750)
ACK! those silhouettes need to go. Valuable advertising real estate being eaten by white blandness.
-
Yeah; the Christmas window design event a week and a half ago - there was no one in charge...
I regretted that the stained glass windows didn't show up better in the photos. Agreed on all counts. The sign over the door is a local historic tourist trap style - but needs color on the craftsman figure at the top, and/or "Heritage" bright red; something like that to give it a little pop.
-
Here's something I just finished...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1762)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1763)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1764)
-And here's the next three forms I have lined up to make masks on...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1765)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1766)
I had an idea that I think will prove a masterstroke; have Mylochka paint up the first mask off the noseless space monkey form that I largely made at the center with a Valdese Heritage Art Center motif, probably based on the look of the sign and storefront, and donate it to the shop. If it goes over well, not only is it a great diplomatic move with the committee that runs the place, it ought to get heavily featured, and that would promote us at the same time...
-
Finished:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1767)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1768)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1766)
From that angle, that monkey mask isn't terribly far from creature of the black lagoon...
-
Hmmm.
-
Finished
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1769)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1770)
-
Oops. I finished this one this morning, but forgot to get a pic until it was already moved to Mylochka's painting studio in the playhouse...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1771)
This one isn't to give away/promote the gallery, so I trimmed the eyeholes the shape they naturally want to be - with the first, I deliberately made the eyes bigger and rounder; friendlier-looking...
-
While I was there, I took a few shots of the mask painting studio space.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1772)
Mylochka's taken to leaving the screen door open while she's in there working, because sometimes kittens wander in...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1773)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1774)
I count an eighteen mask backlog in these shots - and that's at least one mask light, 'cause I only see four of the five mini halfmasks I made on short notice a week ago...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1775)
-
The Captain is a comedia del arte character -think The Skipper on Gilligan's Island- and we've been talking for years about doing up a set of the stock characters from that genre. When I first got the face I used in the wrestling masks, I knew it would modify into a mighty fine Captain.
Work on that has commenced:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1778)
Since I'd already stared on a corner before I thought to get a before photo, I included the mask I used for a mold to give an idea of the original shape...
-
Roughed in:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1779)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1780)
-A non-trivial portion of the work I put in is thinking about a thing I haven't done yet, or aren't quite ready to finish. This, I built up the chin a little, and built up the left side underneath where it doesn't show, but improves the symmetry. There's smoothing left to do, and it needs to wait for everything to dry thoroughly first. There's a couple of ways I can go from here to build up the cheeks and mouth to make a faint smirk -paint on more plaster or shell-and-sculpey- and I think I'll show it to Mylochka and get her input first...
I deliberately cast the face in a light plaster mix -1 to 1 in stead of 2 to 1- to make it soft enough to carve easily; but that resulted in a pretty fragile base. I'll definitely be coating the end result in mache and latex for strength...
-
So for comparison, this is the original casting of the face I'm working from.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1781)
And here's where I am now with the Capitan:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1784)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1782)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1783)
I do believe I've reached the practical limits of what I can do with varying densities of plaster - time to paper mache over the base, smoothing over some roughnesses in the process, and alter the mouth and cheeks in sculpey...
-
Okay; I glued the base to a piece of plywood for stability on the soft underside, put a layer of mache on - and totally ran out of gas after supper and sunset with the kittens. I've only spent an hour and a half on this this evening.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1808)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1807)
Looks more like Dick Van Dyke than Alan Hale.
-Anyway, I want to build up some full lips before I bake, mache, and start applying latex.
I'm also ready to start work on the ape nose optional appliance on the alien base, but in the thinking phase. -I've realized that doing it this way, as a separate thing, means I can make a separate gorilla nose. Those are very different, and now I can do General Urko as well as Galen...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1750)
ACK! those silhouettes need to go. Valuable advertising real estate being eaten by white blandness.
You'll love this - The Facebook VHAC page updated the cover photo yesterday...
(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/15179198_1397575353608779_4650314695798577952_n.jpg?oh=8b99437aa531262485c912c2c68da79d&oe=58B37BED)
Never put a schoolteacher in charge of anything creative, I say...
-
Ready for the first coat of latex before I go to bed:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1809)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1810)
-
The masks appear to progress at a decent rate. The products of the labor remain under your control.
-
;nod
I also finished up the mold into a mask - and managed to make him smile, too.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1811)
-
Here's what's drying tonight:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1813)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1814)
The chimpanzee nose came off well enough.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1815)
I did a halfmask directly on a face base, really just for something to do while other stuff dried.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1816)
I do hate all the waiting before new bases and appliances are ready to do something with... This one might be done tomorrow...
-
;nod
I also finished up the mold into a mask - and managed to make him smile, too.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1811)
That could go scary clown real easy like...
-
Ha. I did notice how much it looked like John Wayne Gacey, and thought same...
-I went back and trimmed more from the top and bottom edges since that shot.
-
Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1820)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1821)
-
Got sorta kinda sidetracked today looking up Planet of the Apes gorilla faces - and ended up watching related videos.
Reminds me of WPC (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_BfmPdut2x4#)
-Anyway:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1824)
-
Battle for....
has been on a lot during my latest insomnia spree.
-
You gots to luv the mutant worship service if you're not completely dead inside...
Speaking of creepy-looking mutants, I think the Captain might be ready to make a mask...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1825)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1826)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1827)
-First, I smear a lot of vaseline on the base...
-
I need to find Return to POTA (the cartoon series) at some point. I recall that vaguely but fondly from my childhood.
On the reboots:
Rise was OK
Dawn was borderline good.
Looking forward to War for.
-
You gots to luv the mutant worship service if you're not completely dead inside...
Speaking of creepy-looking mutants, I think the Captain might be ready to make a mask...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1825)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1826)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1827)
-First, I smear a lot of vaseline on the base...
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp6yQb3vXNU#)
-
Ooh! I DO see the resemblance - and wish horns were less of a nightmare to peel dry mache off of...
-
I need to find Return to POTA (the cartoon series) at some point. I recall that vaguely but fondly from my childhood.
On the reboots:
Rise was OK
Dawn was borderline good.
Looking forward to War for.
I watched the first episode of the cartoon on YouTube last night... They made some strange creative choices...
As for the reboots, ... I sat through Planet of the Marky Marks once -it was okay- but never felt any great need to seek out the others. As is typical of remakes of that sort of flawed-but-genius original --- the Shiny New Thing was infinitely more polished and the pacing was probably a lot better, and I care that the makeup designs were done by people who actually knew what orangutans look like - but something was still missing...
-
I've never gone into my macheing process...
So first, as previously mentioned, I smeared vaseline all over the base. The paste holding all the paper together is glue, after all. Next, I stuck some dry paper around in key places, sticking (poorly) to the vaseline.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1828)
-This has two effects; A) it further helps the mache layers I'll apply on top separate from the base when dried - most of this paper will peel off the back while I'm trimming. B) the paper soaks up much of the vaseline, saving me aggravation during the latex coating of the back later.
Next, I pulled on the rattiest old pair of overalls I own.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1829)
The paste gets all over my hands, and though I lay a big rag over my lap while I'm working for shielding and hand-wiping, an apron, or work jumper, or this, is called for to save the washing machine a lot of work. -Same goes times 10 for when I'm working with latex; it don't wash out once it's dried, and good luck picking all the specks and drips out of the fabric of your pants and shirts...
So, I started on the edges with pre-cut strips of construction paper.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1830)'
I would have started around the outside edges anyway, doubly-necessary because the vaseline strips want to move around, and these strips pin them in place more and more as I add strips that glue them in place.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1831)
The single biggest lesson I've learned since I took this up as an adult almost 20 years ago is - the paper needs to lay flat to make good, dense, durable, neat mache. Sometimes you have to let a strip go where it wants to go, not where you meant for it to - or pull the strip up and try again. You don't want wrinkles or edge-bulges, and sometimes you need to tear a split in the end when you're wrapping around a complex shape, to separate or overlap, depending.
I continue to work in from the edges, covering that first layer...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1832)
I'm starting out with construction paper, cut, because I cut up a huge pile of paper years ago, before I figured out torn is completely better except for the work of tearing a lot of paper fairly straight - I have a lot to use up. -Like cut, extra-thick paper doesn't want to lay as smoothly around the edges, so I start with this stuff and finish with thin torn newspaper, which encourages the layers underneath to lay down flat. I'm not just burning off the thick construction paper, either - it strengthens the mask, causing me to spend a little less time putting on more layers for strength.
This is where it was (and is) when I knocked off for lunch (and cat session, and unscheduled helping my little brother trim off a dangerous high-up tree branch - and writing up/posting this much).
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1833)
I prefer to do a whole mask in one sitting -takes an hour or two- but my mommy was calling, and it does no actual harm to let it sit a while, as long as I don't take so long it dries completely...
More later. It's time to go visit the cats again before I get back to work...
-
I need to find Return to POTA (the cartoon series) at some point. I recall that vaguely but fondly from my childhood.
On the reboots:
Rise was OK
Dawn was borderline good.
Looking forward to War for.
I watched the first episode of the cartoon on YouTube last night... They made some strange creative choices...
As for the reboots, ... I sat through Planet of the Marky Marks once -it was okay- but never felt any great need to seek out the others. As is typical of remakes of that sort of flawed-but-genius original --- the Shiny New Thing was infinitely more polished and the pacing was probably a lot better, and I care that the makeup designs were done by people who actually knew what orangutans look like - but something was still missing...
I need to find Return to POTA (the cartoon series) at some point. I recall that vaguely but fondly from my childhood.
On the reboots:
Rise was OK
Dawn was borderline good.
Looking forward to War for.
I watched the first episode of the cartoon on YouTube last night... They made some strange creative choices...
As for the reboots, ... I sat through Planet of the Marky Marks once -it was okay- but never felt any great need to seek out the others. As is typical of remakes of that sort of flawed-but-genius original --- the Shiny New Thing was infinitely more polished and the pacing was probably a lot better, and I care that the makeup designs were done by people who actually knew what orangutans look like - but something was still missing...
The other reboots have practically nothing to do with the planet remake. Give them a shot.
-
Ooh! I DO see the resemblance - and wish horns were less of a nightmare to peel dry mache off of...
You'd have to slush cast them in an absorption mold like I did with Talia's
-
I do not know what that means.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1834)
I finally got the first layer finished. Most everything in the middle of a face curves in two directions, and noses are especially bad to fit the paper around, especially with thick, cut, not-terribly-narrow strips of paper - but I got it done w/ a minimum of wrinkles and disjoins. I don't always bother to get the entire middle of a face with construction paper...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1835)
-Note that I'm not covering the entire face, leaving off the top and bottom. An arch has more flex to get off the base later -and beLIEVE me, that MATTERS- and is more comfortable to wear. Including the very top of the face would also cover too much, unless the Captain was supposed to be bald - and I can actually cut out a nicer, square-jawed, profile during trimming if I leave out under the chin.
-It doesn't stand out in the pics, but I went over the outside edges with another layer -the edges are where I've always by far had the most problems with masks holding shape- before I switched to the newsprint.
So, it's not necessary to do all the strips in a layer in one direction -and some troublesome shapes let a strip lay flat better in a particular direction; the lips would work better for horizontal than this vertical- but it IS easier to keep track of what's covered and what isn't this way,
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1836)
Like the first layer, I start the second -cut newsprint, now- on the edges. I'll do a few rows on one side and turn the base around and do a few on the other, working inward. -With the construction paper beginning, I tried to avoid overlapping strips as much as was practical -that thickness is surprisingly forgiving about a double-thickness, but still- to minimize distortions to the final outside shape. I went for touching, not overlapping, where I feasibly could. Newsprint is thin enough that overlapping is desirable; stronger that way, and an overlapped edge can't decide to stick up while I'm not looking.
Note here, the latest strip went up against a nostril and needed to curve around, so I let it veer off over the lips at a funny angle.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1837)
When I get to the cheeks and brows, I start tearing off/ending strips as I reach them and doing each row in two parts. The cheeks and brows are double-curves that are trouble to get a strip to lay flat over, and I'd be breaking up the rows even if I wasn't leaving cursory gaps -which will save me a minute during trimming- over the eyes. When you tear off and end a row early, you can continue in a slightly different direction; a great help in negotiating the complex shapes, like around the nose.
Sometimes, I can rub out a wrinkle with the blunt end of a sculpture tool.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1838)
This gets used most around the top of the nose, where it's curving into the brow/forehead, and down the inside corner of the eyes next to the nose, a deep bit tough to cover without making sloppy wrinkles in the paper.
The forehead covered now, I begin on the nose - it gets separate rows from the top and bottom...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1839)
The nostrils are a [girldog] to cover, pretty much every single time.
Covering the complex curves at the bottom of the nose left many strips haring off over the lips and chin at angles...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1840)
Not a lot left to cover at the bottom of the face, now...
A closeup under the chin, layer finished. The yellow paper is the vaseline-separation strips...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1841)
Note how the strips converge and overlap under the chin.
They do so to a lesser extent at the top, but converge non-trivially, they do - and must, lest that edge come out all wavy...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1842)
Layer two done.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1843)
Taking pics and writing it up is adding to how long it takes, considerably. I began over eight hours ago - and should have finished by six or less ago, normally.
-Losing patience, methinks I'll switch to torn paper a little early, and hope wrapping it up a layer or two sooner is made up for by I don't always bother with the tricky bits in the middle in the first layer...
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Yes...describing the process and picturing sucks.
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Oh yes, oh yes - but I get to share the big knowledge and show off at the same time...
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Something more than one more layer - especially around the edges of the face.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1844)
What would hEt think of this handsome devil?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1845)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1846)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1847)
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It came off the mold base fine this morning, without a lot of trouble.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1848)
Now awaiting trimming...
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Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1849)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1850)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1851)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1852)
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Here's a rainbow go-rilla for your enjoyment...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1853)
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penny for the guy?
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I'm not English and don't get the connection...
Oh. Do a V for Vendetta mask? I dunno; those are everywhere and a dime a dozen. It's actually a pretty generic mask...
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Drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1854)
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Drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1854)
(https://alfieiam.files.wordpress.com/2013/05/willow-pigs_528_poster.jpg)
(edit: this is not meant as a critique, just throwing ideas out. Pigmen masks are actually a THING lately amongst Halloween oddballs )
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I'm not English and don't get the connection...
Oh. Do a V for Vendetta mask? I dunno; those are everywhere and a dime a dozen. It's actually a pretty generic mask...
That last one could certainly be painted along those lines though. Much preferred to the overly angular ones that have become standard.
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Drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1855)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1856)
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Mylochka liked that halfmask I did last week on the plain face - so...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1857) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1858)
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Drying:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1859)
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Just finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1862)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1861)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1860)
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I had an idea for the mask we're donating to the gallery....
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1863)
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Oooo, that's a good idea.
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In fact...let me see if Jim still has that in his albums...
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Not as many as he used to.
http://www.jim-skullgallery.com/Tapas (http://www.jim-skullgallery.com/Tapas)
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Well, I don't have much of an idea for Mylochka's painting of the rest -doodle in some typical crafts from around the shop against a rock-wall background, maybe- but I think not fixing up the discontinuities in the mache look to the central showcasing of the storefront and sign would underline what I do on these...
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...I'm at a point where I have no masks in the queue, and no bases or appliances in production. What I am doing is thinking about candles and a pig snout - that's basically imagining working on a thing over and over until I have it worked out just exactly what I want/how to do it. -With candles, I need to think of a few figures that are -very roughly- cylindrical, but mostly, it's trying to figure out practical molds. There's no one at the gallery doing candles, and I've got everything to make some french vanilla-scented ones if I can work those problems out w/o spending more money. Latex works best as molds for no seams and ease of removal, but doesn't take the heat for very many copies before it gets aged into tearing up - and the molds are too much work for that. Plaster is cumbersome and messy and there's always a problem with edges chipping off. The best luck I've had in the past is with sculpey - still annoyingly prone to breaking, but not as messy to fool with as plaster...
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Never understood the figurine candles.
that said...
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMziZr9Bz8#)
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There's some 2 part quick mold silicone stuff. I'm not sure if it would work for hot wax or not, but I've had good luck with it so far for smaller items.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Amazing-Mold-Putty-Kit-.66-lb/37715229?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1453&adid=22222222227026019283&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42971653232&wl4=pla-81463970792&wl5=9029826&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112550049&wl11=online&wl12=37715229&wl13=&veh=sem (https://www.walmart.com/ip/Amazing-Mold-Putty-Kit-.66-lb/37715229?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=1453&adid=22222222227026019283&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42971653232&wl4=pla-81463970792&wl5=9029826&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=112550049&wl11=online&wl12=37715229&wl13=&veh=sem)
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The binary mix putty stuff? I've got some of that, and have had good results. I think it's similar to those flexible cake molds - if so, it would take heat pretty well. -I ought to do some google research before I try it with the modest amount I have at hand...
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Never understood the figurine candles.
that said...
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqMziZr9Bz8#)
Haven't I told you about the massive head-wound Ken candles one Halloween back in Texas in the late 90s? I've still got the mold...
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...Finally clicking on your link, I find it's Amazing Mold Putty, which is exactly what I have, and is alleged to be a heat-resistant mold for wax.
I'm gonna need more of the stuff...
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I've used it to cast eyeballs out of hot glue and it works well for THAT, so should handle the wax fine.
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...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1866)
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Glowing halo jeebus?
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Sure.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1867)
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Flaming Olmec head!
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Stupid memory time.
Mom had a candle we lit on christmas eve. It was one of those '7 day candles' in the glass jar with a fancy jeebus design on it. Always loved that thing. I remember refilling it one year, but don't recall seeing it much after that. Dad started working regular and we started getting fancy stuff. I missed the candle.
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I actually did an Olmec-head candle a long time ago - no idea what became of it, though. That's actually a plaster casting in back, w/ a bit of wick glued on top in prep for making a mold. I need to score a lot more Amazing Mold Putty first...
Those Massive Head-wound Ken candles I've talked about, incidentally, were painted - on some of them, the latex paint left a shell after use, and I was able to refill them. -Others, the paint caught fire, so I can't recommend trying this for safety reasons...
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Use enamel paint.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1868)
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I was instructed a couple of months ago to take about six inches off the top of the holly.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1899)
For about the last month, when we have a rainy week, I have to go out and pinch off the buds on the new shoots on top every few days - I took a lot longer just now catching up on that, the second rainy day in a row, than I did taking this picture.
Still hoping to get the bottom to fill in...
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Here's a little something I'm fixin' to get back to...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1900)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1901)
Back in mid-December, just as I was running out of mood-gas, I'd been making candles and thinking about designs for more - I decided on a skull and a laughing Buddha, and got as far as crumpling up an aluminum foil core for the skull before my initiative ran out.
-I've been working on a website/marketing/promotion for a cousin for about a week now - and her girlfriend came in for Memorial Day weekend - and left this morning, but now the cousin's stepdad has just dropped dead, and so there goes my chance of timely feedback again after a frustrating weekend of waiting, also waiting since Friday for input from my brother on a business card design for our art collective --- and screw projects that involve waiting on anyone. Time to do something by myself instead of stewing in my impatience and having it ruin my renewed mood.
Any ideas that would make nice candles? I'm aiming for palm-size or a bit smaller. Heads are basically a good shape for that - animal or human, though Uno; I'm not terribly interested in doing the boogerman. -Not opposed, exactly, but rawhead-and-bloodybones is nothing I want that badly to spend a day staring/poking at...
Any ideas, though?
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To be honest, I've never understood the whole shaped candle...thing. The carving part gets ruined if you light them.
So, I'd be partial to ironic types if it were me making them.
Snowman.
Wicked witch
Ice cream cone
etc.
But since you asked for boogerman...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeT9EtpZxzc
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That said, if you can swing the spine candles from harry potter, I'm pretty sure I could market them.
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I'm inclined to agree with Uno about the shaped candles in general, and in particular there is something appropriate about watching a snowman or ice cream cone melting.
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Double layer candle. Outer layer doesn't melt. Make it in the shape of a pumpkin. Inner melts. Turns into a jack-o-lantern.
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Jack O'lantern and Snowman are good ideas.
They're just nick nacks done in wax, ultimately. I don't really get what the deal is with women and scented candles to begin with - but women see to like giving and receiving them just fine, despite not actually lighting them often. Casting figurines in wax with a wick, instead of plaster, adds value...
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Jack O'lantern and Snowman are good ideas.
They're just nick nacks done in wax, ultimately. I don't really get what the deal is with women and scented candles to begin with - but women see to like giving and receiving them just fine, despite not actually lighting them often. Casting figurines in wax with a wick, instead of plaster, adds value...
Yeah, I don't get the scented candles to sit and never light either. Candles have a purpose, I don't understand NOT lighting them any more than I understand people who collect toys to keep them in the original packaging.
I know it's a THING, I just don't get it.
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Incidentally;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1680)
I did the figurine of toddler Buster up as a scented candle for Buster's Momma for Christmas about ten years ago - she said, rather delightedly, "I can't burn this!" I imagine it's still on a shelf; it was for a long time two residences ago...
I wish castings of that weren't such an awful trial to get out of the mold without snapping the head off - my brother has overalls so firmly established as artists' working clothes for us -he and Buster wore matching ones to the open house when I made the space monkey base, and I've started doing it, too when I'm over there- that I put an overalls icon on the business card. Branding matters...
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I made the skull last night - here with the first layer of latex for the mold almost dry.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1902) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1903)
It certainly not my most precise and detailed work ever - not all that symmetrical, and the teeth are too big and not enough of them. -Also, it looks about half Neanderthal, when I was aiming for 100%. Still, the flaws give it a certain hand-made charm that wouldn't be there if I'd taken more time.
Here it is with the pie plate left in for a sense of scale:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1904)
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So, there was a toddler Buster in her overalls figurine among the stuff that's been waiting forever for Mylochka to paint -that's exactly what the pic above was of- and she got on the stick Tuesday and painted it, and set it out in the booth beside the little business card rack. Images get people's attention, and branding matters.
Now, my vision is that my brother makes branch-section base for it about 4-5" across, and we glue the whole thing together along with sorta scale representations of out art (though it was wise to set out what we already had and not wait for him, believe me).
And that's where the part of especial interest to Rusty comes in a doll mask (probably for li'l Buster to wear until the Fink comes through with his part).
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1905) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1906)
Drying now. I may do a butterfly trim of the outer edges, depending on what Mylochka thinks.
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I made the skull last night - here with the first layer of latex for the mold almost dry.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1902) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1903)
It certainly not my most precise and detailed work ever - not all that symmetrical, and the teeth are too big and not enough of them. -Also, it looks about half Neanderthal, when I was aiming for 100%. Still, the flaws give it a certain hand-made charm that wouldn't be there if I'd taken more time.
Here it is with the pie plate left in for a sense of scale:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1904)
Looks somehow familiar.
(https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelmovies/images/5/5c/MeetTheRedSkull-CATFA.png/revision/latest?cb=20131117065959)
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And that's where the part of especial interest to Rusty comes in a doll mask (probably for li'l Buster to wear until the Fink comes through with his part).
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1905) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1906)
Drying now. I may do a butterfly trim of the outer edges, depending on what Mylochka thinks.
Just tell the haunted Barbie that it's a facial, or a sleeping mask. That should appease her.
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Looks somehow familiar.
(https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelmovies/images/5/5c/MeetTheRedSkull-CATFA.png/revision/latest?cb=20131117065959)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=16334;image);nod
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1907)
If you lean in and squint hard, you might can make out the overalls in the left background of the business cards...
...And the overalls on my brother in the newspaper pic...
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Looks somehow familiar.
(https://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/marvelmovies/images/5/5c/MeetTheRedSkull-CATFA.png/revision/latest?cb=20131117065959)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=16334;image);nod
Dots in the eyes. Pet peeve. Like how everything has to put an LED in there.
Seems a popular choice if it's for sale, though.
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Those are just pinheads put in for the photo. I don't know what became of that mask.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1907)
If you lean in and squint hard, you might can make out the overalls in the left background of the business cards...
...And the overalls on my brother in the newspaper pic...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1907)
If you lean in and squint hard, you might can make out the overalls in the left background of the business cards...
...And the overalls on my brother in the newspaper pic...
Those flower girls are insufferably cute.
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Buster made those.
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Celebrating Bustermas casting her present -she's in California, so no hurry- the first skull candle
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1909)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1910)
Almost time to take it out of the mold, two hours later.
The foil beside the jar is the core for a laughing Buddha. I'm thinking also, a seated Ramses, a'la' Abu Simel. Snowman and Jack O'Lantern are still good ideas...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1911) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1912)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1913)
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what ye estimate burn time to be on that?
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what ye estimate burn time to be on that?
Oh, an hour or two. I think the Massive Head Wound Kens are the only candles I've made that I actually burned, so I'm wildly guessing. The Kens were just casts of actual Ken heads, smaller than this, and I think they all lasted over an hour.
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Hm, not long enough.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1914)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1915)
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I REALLY want to burn those...
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;D My office stinks of perfumed hot wax.
Shall I make another mold and send you?
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...Or for that matter, I could just do a plaster casting, make some fixes, and mail you that - you make your own mold on it...
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I don't really have the time these days. too much work at the house still.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1919) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1917)
This is what I was able to do so far for a laughing Buddha with my bare hands in bed last night by the reading lamp.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1916) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1918)
I didn't get all that much sleep, but it probably would have been worse if the sculpey hadn't needed some firming up time before I did more detailing w/tools. It's most of the way there, needing big-lobed ears, toes, more of the hands, and attention to the robe... I think bulk out the legs, and the bottom in general, a bit more, too...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1920) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1921) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1922) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1923)
Ready for mold-making...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1924)
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Here's something that had dropped out of my plans, but popped back up yesterday.
Back in December, the last new thing I was working on before I ran out of initiative was a Barbie bust - seen here in the periphery of a photo of the first Jebus candle.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1930)
Well, I came across a resin casting I did off the very same doll nigh on 20 years ago:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1925) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1926)
Resin is a girldog to work with, as was getting the head through the neckhole of the mold, which was eventually ruined. -But this was a much better cast than the flash pic indicates, and more translucent.
So, the idea late last year was to do the same as before -make a mold over Barbie with an unbaked Sculpey hairdo- only with much longer hair eliminating the neck bottleneck. -But man, her head kept moving, and it wasn't working out.
So when I looked at the resin bust, it hit me that I could modify the 60s/mawmaw 'do into a longer Doris Day sort of thing, and it should be easier than doing it on the actual jointed doll...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1927) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1928) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1929)
On these two new molds I've commenced in the last couple days, I've included a bit of wire on top, which should allow me to eliminate a candle-making step, and clamp a wick in place for the initial pour. Easy enough to work around for non-candle castings...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1931)
Looks like a bikers jacket, somehow. I think the skull might need to sit in back at the sto'. The Olmec head is crying out for a casting in Mexican red, green and yellow.
-
less biker, more bowling, I would think.
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It's just a good thing I don't know of a feasible way to pour the wax in a Confederate pattern...
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Patriotic jeebus.
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File name of the photo: 'Merican.
-
Wonder how many sins burning that would get me for.
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It would get you right with 'Merica, sir.
-Now what Jebus would think of how you say his name may be another matter...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1932) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1933)
Spent a little time at sunset roughing the next thing in - it's not really speaking to me yet, but I think I see what needs doing, and in about two weeks, I ought to have begun to have me a selection of wax figures going...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1934) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1935) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1936)
The white/clear wax really doesn't want to photograph...
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To celebrate July the Fifth...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1937) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1938)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1939)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1940)
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The two on the right are new -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1941)
They're supposed to be uncolored, but the colored wax stains the molds a little, mostly the green. It tends to only be noticeable at all when I follow with uncolored or white.
I've got a blue pair almost ready to come out of the molds...
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File name of the photo: 'Mexican.
Corrected that for ya. :D
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Somebody's reading these?
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1942) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1943) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1944)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1945)
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Finally one that will photograph properly...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1946)
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File name of the photo: 'Mexican.
Corrected that for ya. :D
No, that was the file name for this one.(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1937) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1938)
For real.
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I think it's time to move on to the next thing, unless people actually start buying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1947)
My recent output, 'cept I gave Buster the 'Merican skull...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1948)
It seems that bottlenecks and deep bits that don't want to separate are what tears up molds - I think I'll have another run at Barbie, with slightly different hair...
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...I needs to score me some Amazing Mold Putty...
-
Where do you buy it?
-
Hobby Lobby, alas, in the past...
-
They close down near you?
Wonder how the smooth on version stacks up...
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No, it's an annoying distance from the interstate, and not a very well-maintained Hobby Lobby...
The Jebus mold is made out of the stuff, and it's worked pretty well - there is a split in the indentation under the chin, but it hasn't seemed to affect the castings much so far. -Sign that the stuff will suffer a fatal tear all too soon, though.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1949)
I can see a very modest flaw on the casting from the tear, that doesn't show in flash photographs at all - and the other flaws, minor, all appear to be tiny bubbles in the plaster or knife marks on the wooden original...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1950)
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I would think a two piece mold would actually work rather well for this process.
-
Experience has made me not a fan of plaster molds...
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Didn't say plaster. I would think the putty could make a 2 piece mold fairly easy and cut down on your tearing issue.
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Hmmm.
-
In fact, springing for some pourable silicone and doing a 2 piece mold inside a pillar form (if you have one) to act as a mother mold would likely be ideal for many of those.
or even caulking. These seem ideal for that method.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-Silicone-Caulking-to-Make-Molds/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Using-Silicone-Caulking-to-Make-Molds/)
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I've not had great experiences with the pourable stuff - nasty/sticky to work with and tears too easily. Way too expensive.
-
I've read that new mold putty will bond to old - you suppose a little coat of Vaseline would prevent that in making a two-part mold?
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Heeeey - why two parts? The stuff's flexible, so one part with a seam on one side would achieve what you're talking about, and be easier to deal with. I'm still thinking about how to hold it shut, it being flexible, so can't just wrap it in a bunch of rubber bands...
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I've read that new mold putty will bond to old - you suppose a little coat of Vaseline would prevent that in making a two-part mold?
I'd use dawn out of habit, but vaseline should work.
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Heeeey - why two parts? The stuff's flexible, so one part with a seam on one side would achieve what you're talking about, and be easier to deal with. I'm still thinking about how to hold it shut, it being flexible, so can't just wrap it in a bunch of rubber bands...
I'm not that experienced with the putty. If a seem wouldn't continue to tear, it could work. You'd need a mother mold to hold it closed. Though I've used duct tape successfully for those.
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I bet a sort of grooved interlock would work with the rubbery stuff.
I see online that Walmart is supposed to stock it -that's a great deal closer, loathe as I am to throw them any business, either- I think I'll be putting my shoes on and actually spend some money today...
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$#@! - a double dose of feeling powerless. The Walmart didn't have it, and my car didn't quite make it home.
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Ack!#%!
double whammy suckage
-
Yes.
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$#@! - a double dose of feeling powerless. The Walmart didn't have it, and my car didn't quite make it home.
Don't tell me you're stuck on Abee's Grove! :o
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Yes. I live in the church one the left, now.
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It hit me this morning: Easter Island head. ;nod
...I need to see something I've been working on to completion before I bust. Can't do anything to speed things up with the websites I made for my cousin or my brother's church, and I feel like a jerk when I try to light a fire under Mylochka about painting masks - and that leaves getting the new candles over to the gallery and on display...
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An Easter Island head in Easter colors. Something about that amuses me.
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I 'spose I could manage gray wax...
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I 'spose I could manage gray wax...
Not important. I'm also imagining Easter Island heads in Easter eggs.
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Roughed in last night...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1951)
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Almost ready to bake, I think.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1952) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1953)
I had to modify the basic shape away from accuracy to make something that would stand upright w/o a buried body holding it up...
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Cool!
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I've baked it - and scored some of that mold putty today. Had to go to Hickory and Michaels.
The stuff's dear, so I'm going to try to go with a thin mold and a plaster gauze mother mold, like Uno suggested, for support. I'm presently cooling the two tubes in the fridge to extend the molding time, 'cause I'm nervous about working in the seam in the back. I'll be on it in about 45 minutes. ...Wish me luck...
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I'll be interested in seeing how this works out - the instructions say it can be removed from the mold in a half hour, but I'm going to let it sit until I'm up to arting tomorrow morning, then wrap a little plaster gauze around it, and read the instructions again to be sure about the curing period before doing any casting.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1954)
I ate a can of chicken noodle soup for supper today, not because I craved that, but the can was perfect for stirring up/melting some gray wax in. I wonder if there's a feasible/simple/free way to simulate the rough pumice-y texture with pigments...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1955)
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I dunno if this mold is going to be good enough - the AMP I used was old; it worked fine for Jeebus back in November, but very thin bits stuck to the original this time, and it seems fragile. I did the first casting in plaster, something I should have done with the Barbie, since the mold-making destroyed the hair, and I'll have pics tonight after it's had time to set...
I guess if the remnants I used were finally past expiration date, it's no real loss if I have to do it over...
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Well.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1956)
If you look real close with your glasses on, you'll see that the seam ridge is not tiny/faint, and there is some troublesome bits on the bottom-left, a little reaching around to the chin.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1958) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1959)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1957) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1960) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1961)
-Still, I'm gonna try pouring a candle, now...
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Hmmm.
I only intended to have a faintish tint of brown to the wax...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1962)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1963)
Interesting settling of the pigments I didn't intend. Mylochka likes the effect, though.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1964) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1965)
I believe I'll run off a few while the mold lasts...
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The rough surface texture I'm getting for some reason really hits that emulating weathered pumice-ish rock effect I wanted.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1966)
I think I'll pour one more in plain wax to see if it's the mold or the doesn't-want-to-blend-in black oil paint doing it...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1967)
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I decided the moai needed a girlfriend/wanted to test out the new AMP mold:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1968)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1969)
She does have a face. There's a flaw under the nose that I think came from inadvertently moving the mold putty around after it began to set. I had to take a minute to remove it with a thumbnail.
The casting seam from the mold is not pronounced on her back below the hair -took seconds to smooth out to my satisfaction- and doesn't stand out against her hair.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1970)
I think the Amazing Mold Putty has its problems, not least that it's way too expensive, but works fairly satisfactorily with a seam in the back and a plaster gauze mother mold...
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Wouldn't a latex mold work for wax?
Should be loads cheaper than the mold putty.
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The innermost layer starts separating and making problems pretty quickly - I took two weeks making the original latex mold for the Barbie with that hair, and the sixth casting needed serious spot wax-dripping handwork to bring it up to standards.
The drying process destroyed the unbaked sculpey hairdo, so I had to make the new mold off the first casting...
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Two weeks work preparing and the seventh casting looks like this.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1971) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1972) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1973) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1974) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1975)
Her face is spread wide, too. Harder to fix than the blatant flaws...
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For reasons partly of I hate to waste plaster and I had extra when I poured Mylochka a plaster cast of big hair Barbie and ended up with the top third of the Buster figurine - I decided to make a Buster bust candle.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1976) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1977) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1978) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1979) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1980)
There's some bubbles and flaws showing, and I also wanted to minimize the deepest indents to make demolding smoother, so I spot-painted plaster in places - and it's 1-1/2 inches tall, so I added a little pedestal by way of setting her on a pill jar lid and painting plaster over that.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1981) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1982)
She needs a little detailing yet...
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What's the wax melting point?
This stuff has been on my radar a while for plaster casts, but might melt too low for your candles.
http://www.rockler.com/composimold-reusable-mold-making-material?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI)%20Shopping%20-%20Power%20Tools&utm_term=1100005069599&utm_content=Everything%20Else%20in%20'Power%20Tools' (http://www.rockler.com/composimold-reusable-mold-making-material?utm_source=bing&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=(ROI)%20Shopping%20-%20Power%20Tools&utm_term=1100005069599&utm_content=Everything%20Else%20in%20'Power%20Tools')
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Dunno - it's not all that high, or you'd always get burned when a drip gets on you.
I've seen the stuff before, and the link mentions working for wax - but I have my doubts about being able to keep the wax under 130 degrees, and the stuff's expensive...
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Expensive up front, but theoretical 32 uses would more than make up for the cost.
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Hmmm. If I've got a good mold of a good piece, I'd want to keep it...
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Would depend for me. There's a lot of things I only make 2-5 copies of and will be done with the mold. (ala the maleficent horns a few years back)
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I'm y'know, looking to sell these - if I luck out, I'll need more...
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But you have the originals. I'd make 5 of a ton then go back and make better molds of what sells
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I mostly have the originals. I have two molds -the Buster bust and the original Barbie w/ round 60s mawmaw hair- curing and that'll make eight different figures, plus variations in color and scent.
...I was thinking while I sat on the porch of Dog City during the evening cat spoiling about an hour ago, that I love doing the little figures, but as a hobby that's not selling much at the gallery, masks have considerably lower overhead for supplies/materials. -I'm ahead on plaster and latex, and glue/flower is very cheap, newspaper can be gotten for free - on the other hand, I'm running out of wax and scent, and I already used up the $22 worth of AMP since I got it the other day, plus the frustration/waiting factor of the molds taking so long in latex only to tear up so quickly is higher than the various aspects of mask stuff...
Now, the candles will probably draw infinitely more attention when there's eight different figures, and it's a horse of a different color if/when they start selling - meanwhile, you had me thinking about a pig snout when I ran out of motivation to create at the end of last year. I still haven't finished Ramses, and I'm wanting to do a third hairstyle Barbie bust -on the actual doll this time- but I'll agonize through latex molds when I get to them - I'm getting some inklings about how to adjust the originals to reduce strain on the molds...
So I think I'll go back to masks while the urge to create is still with me this time around. Maybe it'll shame Mylochka into actually doing her part and finally painting something...
-
-But I had to take a run at this...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1989)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1983) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1984) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1985)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1986) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1987) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1988)
That blue plasticine sticks to everything but itself. I need to go wash my hands.
Some detailing and cleanup tomorrow, and I can start the mold and feel insanely impatient again for over a week...
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Mineral oil helps with plasticine stickiness. A little goes a long way though.
-
-But I had to take a run at this...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1984)
I suddenly want a conehead candle.
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I just remembered my very clever idea for a jack-o'-lantern candle...
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I just remembered my very clever idea for a jack-o'-lantern candle...
Some kind of non-melting shell?
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;D
You're a sharp fellow. Yes; I thought of doing it in two pieces. The body in a plaster doughnut as a holder w/ a stem/candle that sits in the middle.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2001) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1999) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2002) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1998) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2000)
...Now to build up plasticine around the rubber band to make a base...
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Sitting in front of the dehumidifier:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2010)
Those other two may be ready soon.
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The art appears to represent a personal project, and the people deserve the ability to produce the necessary happiness for the problems in society. The present manipulation of the dolls represent a serious potential for artistic talent, and the people always need the artists to inspire the population with the appropriate material for the population. The current trend of distribution represents a simple matter of the pitiful reality about the irreconcilable contradictions in the current capitalist society, but the people need to reconsider the potential exploitation from the origin of the products in the creation of a luxurious product.
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idea if you want it.
More of a holder thing than really a shaped candle, but I'd love to see a buncha pumpkin versions of these guys.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/Ft1n4Sfkt-27-3hGRAr7YMW6yMhzKIwNuwNW2yiyz7rlbIwWUkrvn3dIMpz2RINRBteXmY6isb04PQ4lz5FL3GFLt1Rshs61yoCOF0pY0hPVP00Xie29gVFCxrO3l9yWbVcFaSxNMYfJiW_k2Zf6Dq74DOQCR0_0r50yjI6u6EmiDu-E_50ZQlc80UE8Psqf1RIO2onSFMZW0Pw_716pjp62TcYmXPumpQd_VAwjQAN2Fc8Gr1LCwsnuWqhCRBZqUCUWGBfZCm9iE5kBDsuz3XRydM2v1fWkTn4aUV1fUOThTXzru_YdXe1EFMzWCaMxGeQbK4qLSYEZlbVksF7-LX6KaPGgGn4nberlodDZrpFEZUgpXrqT53ut1paZxDgHw2KucvhTFl1F4tCdY15CU8-G2e-MeJvNgA6PXSAzVCzPGZ2pbGdhdGrqn1WVKPPJh7BVGDIPUewiU3b3r4bu_4ij6kVy4nZwFEBmk8ZGFopcvhuJlAbNSBU74IJxwNUPMm7YU-DiX7_1_N-3FstjaglnuWGd6c6NogW24r49aAKncopkljXf2lGoJkQJiGJQ9_CNyHaycOYZRp8-TL3LYgTJB-NmRAQGyzLKtIQVJ5K-tIwyXfXAjY9tZQ=w1536-h664-no)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2011)
With a couple of extra-plaster Jesuses...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2012)
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Where I put my molds, plaster cast I have no immediate use for, and originals...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2013)
It's a no-particular-order filing system...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2014) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2015)
Any suggestions on how to patch a tear in a thin spot? I had trouble getting it out of the mother mold, which I probably have to remake if I can fix the mold...
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The reason I took so long with the latest two to get into production is that I was trying alternatives to plaster gauze for the mother mold - happily that meant that I had a snug attempt to do it in latex to glue the Buster mold into, which should do the trick if the contact cement bonds to the silicone and the latex both. Currently, a thick coat of added latex on the outside to fill in the constriction that caused the trouble is drying - and I won't forget the vaseline this time before the plaster mother mold...
-Meanwhile, here's three of the old Barbie cast in wax:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2016)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2017) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2018)
That there mold is working out well. That shape is very difficult to work out of a seamless flexible mold, but easy to get out of this. Isn't leaving much of a seam, either.
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I'm running out of stuff to do while latex dries.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2019)
'Bout time to commence that pig snout...
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First, I make the paste. Next, I grease around the nose of a base and apply the separation layer - reused paper from previous times that I'd stuck in a yogurt cup.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2020)
Applied a couple layers of construction paper.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2021)
Applied a couple layers of newspaper. This foundation for the snout is a nice warmup after having been away from macheing since November, since it only has to fit the base and hold together; flaws won't show. I discover I need to thin the paste.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2022)
Should be dry enough in an hour or so...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2023)
;notes; Back in the saddle again ;notes;
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Momma's asking for a mold to make the heels for doll shoes. That calls for a flexible push mold, so she can make them out of Fimo - which I believe is somewhat less brittle than Sculpey after baking. We've decided to try this silicone calk mold bidiness. There's none currently handy, but Mylochka's going to pick up a tube or two soon, and I'm reading up on it now...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2024) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2025)
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Welll, I read a lot of stuff about thinning silicone calk with glycerin, acrylic paint, naptha and so on and then painting it on in layers...
And then I found this. Have a look, Uno.
Easy silicone mold making (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQtvsx3iWCg#)'
The question is, well, how to keep a seam open - silicone is supposed to stick to silicone like crazy. I bet Vaseline will still work, though; AMP is a silicone and it seems satisfactory for that... The logic of the video suggest dish soap, though.
-Mom would also like to make small Fimo lower arms and legs, which I think calls for a press mold/two part mold technique - press mold both halves and press together, then put it in the fridge for a few hours to really firm the part up before popping out and baking.
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Pigmen masks
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2026)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2027)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2028)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2029)
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I made a few adjustments after the last pics, and having baked the appliance, it was time to cover it in mache.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2031)
Note that I laid separation strips around the perimeter so I could widen the foundation a bit w/o gluing it to the base.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2032)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2033)
It's drying now.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2030)
I should be ready to start the latext coat tonight...
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I figured the Buster mold was ready for the mother mold, and I decided to try something.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2034)
I was going to cut the end off the nipple anyway, for ease of stringing the wick, 'cause there's no room to clamp it when it's sitting upright instead of being suspended.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2035)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2036)
Plopping it down in front of the dehumidifier probably won't speed up the drying much, but it can't hurt...
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What the hell is with the pig nose?
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Again:
Pigmen masks
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2037) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2038)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2039)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2040)
Mom pushed the soles in deep, too. We don't expect that to work in Sculpey/Fimo/Premo, but just as well try - when it proves too brittle, a bit of heavy stock cardboard paper will do.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2041)
I'm aware that I don't know what I'm doing, and may have to try again - but that's how you learn to. Now I'm trying to decide what to try a 3D candle mold on. I may have to make something new...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2042)
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As a test case, I decided to try making a mold of this hoodoo Momma picked up out west a few years ago. There was a project that ended up not happening where she and Mylochka wanted me to make copies. If this picks up the details of them babies and I can get them out of the mold cast in plaster, silicone will have passed an acid test as a mold material...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2044) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2045)
I sprayed it with mold release to be extra cautious.
And I added a few drops of blue paint to the silicone for the heck of it, and because innerwebs people pointed out it let you know you'd mixed it thoroughly. It seemed to have the effect of softening the calk -make up you own joke about me telling my maw I needed "the cawk" the other day- even more, which I'm not sure is firming up during kneading in the soapy water the way it's supposed to.
Anyway:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2046)
You may notice the ring of bluer around the top - it wanted to form another round-top cone, so to make a flat top in case it doesn't turn out to need a seam and a mother mold, I squirted a bit more silicone and went through all the kneading again to add a bit on top.
If this stuff will cure in as much as 48 hours, I'm still way ahead on patience-straining over latex. Loose Blue Ponytail Barbie is currently at day eight of mold production...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2043)
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As a test case, I decided to try making a mold of this hoodoo Momma picked up out west a few years ago.
Um...never heard that word to reference said item...
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I assume she got it at a tourist trap -I think it was in Utah, perhaps related to the hoodoo rock formations, which she did see- and haven't the foggiest what the label is about...
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hm. Not related to the myths of either Ute or Paiute surrounding the general hoodoos around Utah.
Perhaps a very specific formation.
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Did some digging.
It's a storyteller doll from the pueblo people.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2047)
Now I'm out of something to do for a few days while latex dries...
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I'm running out of piano.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2048)
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So the silicone calk Mylochka brought home yesterday morning was Silicone II. I'd asked for I, noticed right away, but didn't know what difference it made and proceeded - it turns out that, aside from the lack of an eye-watering vinegar stench, it takes a lot longer to set than people all over the nets claim for I with this technique. -As in, nothing is set so far. Used as intended, it's supposed to take 24 hours, and you'd think that the water and glycerin kneaded in would speed things up anyway. We'll see. Momma's shoe push mold is definitely not set yet this morning, but some Silicone I is supposed to arrive today and what's on hand should cure all the way through given enough time.
So, I decided to use up the calk tube already open and try a new wrinkle to compensate for the settling of soft calk as the mold cures...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2049)
The pitiful moai mold from before needed a backup anyway, and the figure is low detail and should demold comparatively easily.
So as before, except I mixed decidedly more acrylic paint in.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2050)
It definitely has a thinning effect on the silicone. Blue got all over my hands again while kneading it in. -If only I had some soapy water handy.
Then I turned it over into a small yogurt cup so the top would be flat and level and the sagging wouldn't mess that up like it clearly has with yesterday's effort.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2051)
There was plenty of calk to envelope the moai, but not enough to fill the cup, so I shored up the empty side with a couple of popsicle sticks. Too early to tell, but the extra paint may be curing it faster...
-
Anybody here old enough to remember Johnny West?
A male head at that scale is just the thing to practice on without using up much calk...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2052) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2053)
His neck is sort of a notched post that fits into the torso.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2054) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2055)
But I decided I wanted the back of the collar -I intend castings to end right under the chin and that makes for a broader base- so I set the head back in the torso and fixed it upright in a cup with some plasticine.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2056)
Squirted a small handful of the silicone I into the soapy water.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2057)
Lo and behold, after a few minutes of kneading, it started to get firmer! Internets people seemed to have been being wimps about the vinegar smell.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2058) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2059)
I ended up deciding to add a very small amount -one squirt of the calk gun- to the top for that flatness thing, and to make the wick hole longer and less prone to leak.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2060)
15 minutes later, it was a lot firmer than the two molds from yesterday are even yet. I think this is definitely gonna work. I'm going to do a casting in plaster and make one candle as part of the testing - but not to sell, 'cause I ain't done anything original to it, so it's only craft, not art...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2061) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2062) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2063)
Pain to get out of the mold, but then it would be at that size and shape.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2064) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2065)
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See, we were alone in the house when some bad older boys were doing Halloween scaring stuff on that cartoon, so I carved the face in the apple, made a spider out of wire and chewed up toilet paper and showed her how to make a lame Halloween ghost out of a ballon and a blanket - just like the bad boys had used. It worked so well that years later she asked me to make something new she was afraid of. Her parents were quick to destroy the apple and the spider when they got home - one was dangerous pokey wire and the other still perfectly good food, so I won't kick about it.
-
?
-
I have a project that's waited about 20 years for me to get around to finishing it - a Ken statue. It needs a base contrived, and a head.
Guess where this is going. ;)
-This isn't actually a Ken, but a cheap knockoff that hits the style pretty well.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2066) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2067) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2068)
I've heard plasticine can ruin the curing of silicone, so I filled in all the joints and seams -improving the anatomy somewhat- with sculpey, which blends in amazingly well with the color of the torso plastic. Poor focus doesn't help bring out the detail, either, but you may be able to guess what the shoulder joints were like, given the wrist and elbows. Spent about an hour fixing up.
So I'm not planning candles or plaster busts, once again other than a test one, but went ahead and make a wick hole in the top and enclosed the upper shoulders just in case - not a lot of extra work at the seam/joint-hiding stage, and none in the mold-making. I decided not to bother with the flat top - I never get the angle exactly level, and setting on a wad of foil for casting ends up being less work.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2069) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2070)
Went with purple this time. What the heck.
-Will keep you posted...
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Well this one borked pretty badly - I didn't press in around the neck sufficiently and got three major gap/wrinkles, especially under the chin. -Also, I pulled it out too soon, and had to rebuild the tip of the nose.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2071) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2072) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2073)
I spent an hour of handwork fixing on it, and need to wait for it to dry to finish the nose.
I'm casting another and letting it set properly - I'll decide about trying to fix the mold flaws tomorrow...
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...And none of the silicone II molds have cured yet...
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I was mistaken. The statue does have a head.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2074)
-Though not, IMAO, as good a head...
Of course I glued the legs back together before I went to bed.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2075)
I'll paint a little plaster over the cracks, and it'll never show. Bits of him have been glued a lot of times, to the point the discolorations are going to need whitewashing before he's done.
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I was mistaken. The statue does have a head.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2074)
-Though not, IMAO, as good a head...
Almost one of those old Greek statues, showing wear and stuff. ;)
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That's the idea, yes. It's a pity the details don't show better. I'm going to only cast one hand and leave the other arm broken off at, at least, the wrist...
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This is impressive.
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Well, Mattel did a lot of the work. I just filled in the joints and improved the anatomy.
-I gotta get a pic of his butt...
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Here's the bust unaltered out of the mold...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2078) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2077)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2076) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2079)
There appears to be a flaw over the nose, too, that catches and breaks the tip off during demolding.
I think I'll start over with a thin mold seated inside this defective one...
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That worked out better - but I should have put the calk on the inside of the mold instead of on the not-Ken, where it didn't stay spread evenly as I forced it into the previous mold, indeed leaving some gaps.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2080)
There was enough pressure of the old mold wanting to hold the old shape that the new material forced past the sculpey and into the neck joint. I wasn't able to remove but the worst of it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2081) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2082) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2083) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2084) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2085)
This would be easier to handwork to a presentable state, but who wants to put that much time in over and over? There's extra on top of both shoulders, a dent missing from the front of his left, a fold-gap that sticks out a little on the back of the neck, and irregularities on the hair where there were gaps in the new mold material. At least the nose came out right.
As you may have deduced from the left side of the first pic, instead of trying to repair the flaws, I started over using what I've learned. More as it develops...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2086)
Part of the trick is not to knead the calk too long and get it on and shaped before it begins to set. -And don't try to add a thick stripe to the back of an already curing mold where you're going to cut a seam, and make a hand mold and both feet. That takes a little too long.
I was going to have to do a lot of reshaping of the hand and feet for the statue, at least around the wrist and ankles, and I had to squirt a little squirt more to cover numerous problems on the feet with setting up and edges not wanting to blend. Fingers crossed...
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I really hope I don't have to mess with this again...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2089) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2090)
This is what I started with.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2087) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2088)
I believe I altered the anatomy of the neck and shoulders significantly enough that I can ethically sell castings as art, not simply craft.
-Note that in the shots of him buffed up at top, with the difference in color between the face and the rest of him, and against the blue background - that's Aquaman. He's obviously summoning fish to throw off the focus of my camera...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2091) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2092) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2093) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2094) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2095)
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That from the caulking mold?
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Yessir. Third try got it right.
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Cast of calk in a latex mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2096) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2097) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2098) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2099)
I've never gotten one casting ever out of that mold with the nose intact and undistorted. -And half or more of those flaws showing are in the mold, not just the casting. It's just no good.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2100) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2101) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2102)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2103) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2104) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2105)
This one's going to need a polishing with a drop of vegetable oil...
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Not a space suit.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2106)
The new ken mold needed a mother to hold the seam shut, so I left the front of the head uncovered and cut an opening in front bottom.
It worked.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2107)
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Cast of calk in a latex mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2096) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2097) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2098) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2099)
I've never gotten one casting ever out of that mold with the nose intact and undistorted. -And half or more of those flaws showing are in the mold, not just the casting. It's just no good.
Reasonably close to a good guy doll. I could see a Chucky candle. be kinda funny too.
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I wonder if it would work feasibly to thin some calk with a more reasonable flesh tone and paint the thing with it, filling in the dents. I have an even worse first try to practice on...
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The silicone II molds are slowly firming up...
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Cast of calk in a latex mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2096) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2097) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2098) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2099)
I've never gotten one casting ever out of that mold with the nose intact and undistorted. -And half or more of those flaws showing are in the mold, not just the casting. It's just no good.
I have an even worse first try to practice on...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2108)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2109) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2110) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2111) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2112)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2113)
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I finished the latex Barbie mold middle of the day yesterday.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2114) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2115)
It turned out thicker than I expected, and the doll and playdough hair really, really didn't want to come out. -I'm hoping that's because they were so soft and yielding that pushing the top wasn't helping, and a hard cast will be more cooperative. I cast it in plaster, and let that sit in front of the dehumidifier for nearly 26 hours to get very dry, most of today since I got up with the shoulders exposed for good measure.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2116) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2117)
The bottom does seem bone dry, so fingers crossed. I'm probably going to fix up this casting to make a easier-to-work-with putty mold on...
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...Snapped her head off already...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2118)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2119)
Well, after several minutes of struggling with it, I cut the mold to preserve the figure w/o further damage.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2120)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2121)
The facial features came out exquisitely preserved, though the shoulder seams need covering, as of course, does the crack around the neck. I'd like to add finer texture to the hair, too, so it doesn't look like dreadlocks. The mold/casting flaws of any significance are all in the hair, and thus, easily concealed.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2122) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2123) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2124) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2125) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2126)
I don't know how the tilt of the head got in there -it's not from the break- but I think I love it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2127) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2128)
I was very foolish to do a loose ponytail like that -with the gather resting so low at the base of the neck and hair belling out above it opposite the chin- in a design intended to minimize the demolding bottleneck troubles; I think I made it worse.
-But I believe I can make a mighty fine calk mold on this that will be no trouble a'tall to work with...
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Well, the Ponytail Barbie mold came out with another $#@! fold right under the chin. I spotted it as soon as I demolded the master cast - and tried patching it with a small amount of putty. Dunno if it'll be good enough or I'll have to make another mold. A plaster test cast is drying now.
I have an even worse first try to practice on...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2108)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2109) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2110) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2111) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2112)
So even though I only did half a squirt of calk, I had a lot more than I used of clear left over. I tried filling in some flaws in my first try at the baby doll head.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2129)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2130) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2131) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2132) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2133) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2134)
The stuff was getting too set -I'd spent several minutes on the Barbie mold first- before I got to trying to fix the nose. -But look at the improvement in places like the top of the head, and that's unprepared without even trying to match the color.
I do believe these orange and pink failures can be rescued, and Momma can make her Buster baby doll...
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Weellll -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2135)
Flaws only photograph well when I don't want them to, but I suppose this meets minimum standards.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2136) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2137) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2138)
I did spend a couple minutes scratching out roughness and finger-smoothing to get this. I've commenced the first candle - but I'm going to take good care of that master copy, just in case.
Here's the master copy again for comparison. Note that there's a left ear...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2127) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2128) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2123)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2119) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2126)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2120) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2125) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2124)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2121) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2122)
-Gonna look to getting the latex mold into usable condition, too...
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So before that last post, I'd c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y taped up the latex mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2139)
And poured a plaster casting in it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2140)
It didn't leak, so I managed to tape it tight. That was one reason to do a plaster cast in it - the main one was to help hold the mold together from the inside during the next phase of the repair. (And it strikes me as I type that it's a potential replacement for the master copy, which snapped off the head again when I pressed it into the silicone mold during the repair of its neck.)
Just now, I c-a-r-e-f-u-l-l-y pulled away part of the tape, wiped it clean, and dabbed a thick streak of latex on.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2141)
I'm doing it piecemeal because, you'll note in the pics from yesterday quoted last post, the mold wants to hang wide open at the cut/seam. I'll probably (carefully) do the same at the bottom right before bed, and get the middle in the morning.
I'm just going to have to cut it open again to demold, so why bother? Because it needs a mother mold to hold it shut, and this builds a slight ridge on the surface to help orient the mold just right on reuse, and makes it that much thicker around the seam. with a really snug mother, it'll work same as a thick silicone mold, I think - it won't hurt to build the mother over the Pringles lid I use to suspend the mold during casting.
I just got back from taking this afternoon's silicone mold casting upstairs to show Momma, and that made me feel better about the quality - the plaster casting I gave Mylochka of the big hair Barbie looks like she's got leprosy, by comparison...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2142) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2143)
Looks funny because of the foamy surface I sometimes get -caused by the scent I add?- and a cursory polishing that didn't get into the recesses, but it's a good cast.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2146)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2147) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2148)
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I was planning to do building group shots as I cast Ponytail Barbies in new colors - but I was told at lunch to label some for Mylochka to take over to the gallery - so the red and stone girls above are gone, along with over a third of the piano line-up.
But here:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2149) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2150) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2151)
Despite the face photographing poorly, a good cast. Green's always the one that photographs best of a set...
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These may amount to something yet, given another three weeks or a month.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2152)
They're very lowly firming up.
-But Momma finally expressed impatience with her shoe press mold today, so while she was microwaving leftover burgers for supper, I did this:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2153) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2154)
-and it was firm enough -in my opinion and if you're in a real hurry- by the time we finished eating. This is shown approximately life-size, a little smaller than my palm, roughly a squirt and a half of putty. More pics to come if they work out, and they should, as she does something with them...
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Buster's Daddy's tree branch chair that I did the rope seat on is reportedly gone from the sto', BTW, though he hasn't been informed or paid yet, we assume it's been bought.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1897)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1898)
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Some black Sculpey smoothed into the new press mold -the stuff's too fragile for the soles part to work, and I told her so, but just as well try- and Momma's currently testing the ability of a fresh putty mold to take 275 for 20 minutes.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2155)
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Something strange happened. Momma heard funny creaking when she opened the toaster oven doors, and the sculpey pieces popped explosively out of the mold in two at her. One was broken across the sole, and other the heal off. She's glued them back together and is planning to let the mold sit at least overnight until she feels like arting tomorrow.
-I figure it was just too soon in the curing to bake the silicone and there was vapor release building pressure under the casts until she jostled it opening the door - she said the vinegar smell was stronger than the smell of baking sculpey when she opened the oven.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2156) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2157)
I'm going to hold off until the latex cast is ready -hopefully tomorrow morning as soon as I'm awake enough to feel like it- until I cast the green and am done for the moment with this figure. I need to do a test of that mold...
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Just done:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2158) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2159) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2160) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2161)
Orange baby Buster has a nose now.
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Momma really likes the direction this repair effort is going.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2162) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2163)
Very small amounts of the calk, as needed for the patching, are difficult to mix and handle, so I did a whole squirt and colored -actually adding half yellow mistaken for orange the first time- and put most of it inside the pink second try, which had some very thin spots inside, and built up the bottom -where it'll be inside the stuffed body- below the gather ring at the base of the neck. Momma thought that was a goof idea when I showed her. -Then I'd pinch off tiny bits for the calking over leprous-looking depressions on the other, especially around the face. I spread excess around somewhat, which had a felicitous effect that doesn't show in pics as much as RL, that the subtle irregularity of color breaks up one of the glaring tells that it's a fake thing; real live skin isn't one color.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2164) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2165)
Note that orange Buster also has been built up under the gather ring, only in clear putty that doesn't show well against the plastic surface it's sitting on...
Then I went back an hour later and made better ears using the pink of the second try by design because that'll make proper highlights when I try smoothing out irregularities and correcting skin tone to be not-orange with a few coats of latex.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2166) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2167)Dunno how well that will stick to the silicone, but no harm in trying. Momma suggests we make the hair part of the head out of the same silicone putty; rather in the style of the baby dolls of her day, where the hair was built in.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2168)
I think I've got orange Buster in better shape than pink second-try Buster now, and I'm eager to get it really nice and ready to be an adorable baby doll, but I'm going to give it a few hours to cure more before I start coating...
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The coating went oddly - I have the skin tone latex watered way down/thin, and it beaded on the surface. I resorted to a very thin layer of clear, because it's not cut with water and too thick to bead, even mixed in with the colored.
-Then during cat time, it hit me that I should try to do the eyes in silicone --- and this happened:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2169) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2170) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2171)
Hoo ha! Ignoring that when I picked at an errant fleck of colored putty, it pulled up an edge of the very thin preliminary layer of latex which snowballed from there, and I'll have to pull all that off and start over (and that, yes, Uno will prefer it just as-is, as an evil plague baby) it REALLY makes a difference.
She really did have eyes like that at five days, pale blue, large, widely-and-not-deep-set, and always looking around trying to work out vision and all. The whites and irises are silicone, and the pupils dots of paint. When I've put on new upper eyelid rims to cut down on that staring look/bulging, and removed and redone that peeling first layer of latex, it's going to look pretty good.
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BTW, the pig snoot is ready, I think, when I'm ready for it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2172)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2173) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2174)
-And I should have the mother mold on the ponytail Barbie latex mold ready by the middle of the day tomorrow, and the last candle for now done by supper.
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Not a space suit.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2106)
:(
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Sorry.
I am considering how to do a faceplate for the helmet of an astronaut Barbie...
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This is ready.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2175)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2176) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2177) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2178)
Gonna be a pain to slide out of the substantial, snug, mother it needs to hold the seam shut, though...
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Adding a little plain plaster to the outside seems to make mothers more durable and snugger...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2179) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2180) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2181)
This one has the same shape problem -a chin and neck- that resulted in damage to the Buster bust mold while trying to get it out of the mother. I hate to, but I'll probably have to cut the bottom front open to get smooth extraction.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2182) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2183) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2184)
It'll be dry in an hour or so...
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Trying to make a gloss/lens over the eyes - and then lap the eyelids over that...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2185)
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These are the two that blew apart on Momma's first try, glued together. She says they're good enough to use in making a pair of doll shoes.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2186) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2187)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2188)
Lovely cast, but it seemed like the mold was already starting to come apart.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2189)
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I took it to show Momma at lunch after I added the eyelids but before I put on the base coat of latex -and this was hours ago, 'cause I did give the additions a little time to cure before proceeding- and she said "It just keeps looking more real".
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2190)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2191) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2192) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2193) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2194)
;shake :danc: :bot: ;buttdance ;hippy ;buttdance :bot: :danc: ;shake
-But you should see one of those doll crafter magazines; the covers almost always feature a doll that triggers serious uncanny valley...
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So here's the Ken statue as I found him in storage, with the sharpen and contrast functions cranked up to show the cracks.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2195)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2197)
-And here he is when I started taking pictures of my work on it last night, in shots similarly processed for fair comparison. It may not jump out in the pics, but I've done a little smoothing on the face.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2196)
...And then I worked on it a little more, and the left arm volunteered to come off right under the shoulder...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2198)
The whole thing needs meticulous sanding, of course, not an easy job with the various densities of glued-together breaks and painted-on plaster over the core. ISTR starting with some sort of casting of an actual Ken, then spending a LOT of time filling in the joints and improving the anatomy. Clearly enough, I'm aiming for sort of a "Michelangelo's Ken D'Milo" thing.
Getting the hand fixed just so, and the wrist tapered right, is going to be a real girldog.
I've got a pedestal ready, though.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2199)
I'm planning to embed the legs in one of those amorphous masses sculptors often resort to in stone because limbs break off. I've about decided to skip the feet entirely...
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...I've done most of that meticulous sanding today - and rebuilt half the hand...
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Look at that butt. LOOK AT THE BUTT!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2200) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2201) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2202)
Yes, a Ken with buttocks. Chicks dig the little man-butt.
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AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!
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;lol
You may not look away! Chicks dig the tight butt.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2211) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2214) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2212)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2213) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2215)
A pity the latex coat isn't working out - the color is going just the way I wanted. If it was smoother and showed any inclination to cling to the substrate, I'd add a little blush/highlights in the right places and it'd be good to go.
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Those are some delightfully disturbing pics there.
Somehow reminds me of Ash's head sitting on the table. (Alien, synthetic)
edit:
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/68/f4/be/68f4be4022d6c3250bd8cb5aa4cf71b9.jpg)
Even the...joint/flange around the neck is similar to the prosthetic piece he's sticking his head through.
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A few nights poor sleep has gotten me way behind on processing photos... Here's the hand on the Ken statue as of yesterday afternoon:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2217) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2219)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2218) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2220)
That's not good enough, but nearly all that's practical in any realistic time frame, what with fingers falling off if I try to work them too finely and thin. He's actually been mounted on his pedestal now. and there's pics, but I need to be in the bathtub an hour ago and in bed in ten minutes, or I definitely won't get enough sleep again.
I definitely included the last shot for Geo's enjoyment.
The annual town woo-woo street festival is tomorrow, and I'm going to be at the gallery demonstrating --- I haven't decided just what, yet. -Which will get me a lot further behind on pics...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2223) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2233) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2225) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2230)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2227) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2228) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2229) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2224)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2231) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2232) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2226)
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1971 Kenner Chip Away TV commercial (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gf9MUc0_QBU#)
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So I took the pig snoot and base to the gallery yesterday, and took my time doing a nice, thick, mask.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2234)
We had by way far the most people come in any of us had ever seen - and, excepting a couple of Buster's fairies, didn't sell a thing.
When I got there, someone had moved the plaster Buster figure behind something on the table in back at some point, where it couldn't be seen and didn't brand the booth or draw attention. What sucks about the gallery -mostly marketing, as no one knows it's there, but also that they move our stuff and destroy our arrangements without permission and yet have the nerve touchy about trivial things someone pitching in ought to just be allowed to do- is that no one's in charge, let alone someone energetic and competent; witness the stupid schoolteacher-type cutout in the window for a couple months around Christmas. -None of us would dare do as we pleased with the windows, yet we actually have talent. I checked yesterday evening, and we're still not mentioned on the gallery's website. &^%$#@! stupid old ladies and their byzantine passive-aggressive politics.
-You know, we could probably take over that operation and DO something with it, but, Mylochka said yesterday evening that pulling shifts minding the store is already like paying -Buster's Daddy paid a booth fee that lasts through October- to have a part-time job she doesn't want. Screw putting in the time and effort to fix that mess.
SO - not knowing most of this -and I cannot express how deeply I deplore my siblings disrespecting me leaving me eternally out of the loop- I pitched, for the millionth time to Mylochka, that we ought to have our own website and be doing online sales, too. -We have passable .html skills and talent/training in layout and design, I have a domain I pay for half of, and she has a PayPal account. The rest is details.
So we're almost surely kicking the sto' to the curb, come October, barring a miraculous rise in sales. I regret the lost opportunity for local contacts and marketing, but nothing much was happening there, anyway. -And that I'll suddenly be fully in the loop because I run the website is delicious, delicious gravy.
-Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, I enjoyed demonstrating and talking to passers-by about what I was doing. I always have over there. We raised the visibility of our art and planted seeds for people coming back. -Too bad the sandwich board out front wasn't in the middle of the sidewalk with words on BOTH sides, and not a single artist was outside demonstrating on a card table out front, REALLY drawing attention and people inside. -For that matter, too bad the individual supposed to be minding the front/register all morning didn't bother to show...
I'll be cannibalizing heavily from this thread as I build the site - some how-to pages are gold as bait for SEO, and I've already done most of the work for several... -And picture gallery pages, all innocent sharing, but also the that link sidebar up top w/ links to pages where they can buy stuff... I told Mylochka we'd sell [obscenity]-all for about the first year, but word would get out with the right bait, and we'll make a little money in the long run w/o any petty old lady politics...
-I also spent about half an hour at the shop on the seated Ramses figure, and concluded that I need to start over and make the stone seat and his body separately to have the later look any good, which the foil core in place won't permit.
Also pictured above: the doll has two coats of latex on its arms and legs, for a mold to make silicone hands and feet for the doll I've been working on...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2235) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2236)
I just couldn't resist...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2237) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2238]http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2238)
I doubt I have enough wick left to do all six colors I have on hand, but what the heck...
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So, I was working away on the statue a few days ago, and he developed a rocking - it appeared being wet all the time softened the glue on an old break. I ended up deliberately breaking him off at the knees so I could fix the developing crack and filling in more plaster between the legs, almost up to his crotch. I've been leaving it alone in front of the dehumidifier for the last three days, to let the glue dry inside and the plaster coat outside -the whole thing, really- dry real good. I didn't dare risk disturbing the gluing by taking off the silicone mold over the head and shoulders in the meanwhile.
I've gotten the hand to a point where, if I'm not completely satisfied, I'm reasonably content.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2276) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2277) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2278) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2279)
That's much closer to what I wanted than I thought I could do a week ago, even if the hand's turned out a bit big for the rest and all the digits are still a bit too thick.
Shortly, I'll take the mold off the top and get pictures of the whole thing as-is. I believe I'm close to being finished, though that's a tough judgement to make - but smoothing fine details gets into diminishing returns in a hurry when fiddling keeps breaking what you're working on.
-I'm seriously considering trying to work out a two-part mold of the whole thing so I can gouge people horribly selling copies online...
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He needs meticulous sanding again, now - but I've gots to cultivate a 'good enough' attitude as I proceed, and stop chasing diminishing returns and breaking my work...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2280) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2281) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2282) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2283)
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So fill up the gap under his crotch or cut it out down to mid-thigh? I think a peephole there just won't do...
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So fill up the gap under his crotch or cut it out down to mid-thigh? I think a peephole there just won't do...
How perfect do you want to be? I'm thinking fill is safer than cut. Cut would probably look better.
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...I'm ambivalent about which would look better - so I guess I'll fill in the rest as the sturdier option as well as simpler for a mold.
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Well, two molds that I have to redo...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2284)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2285) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2286) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2287)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2288) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2289) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2290) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2291)
I figure to carve/sand away the flaws on these test casts in both cases and make the next mold tries on them. It'll spare the layered-plaster statue some wear/risk, and the terra cotta sculpey originals of the pumps are rather hopelessly broken. The plaster's definitely going to be easier to work with and get nice smooth results. -But the doll pumps did come out a lot better than I expected, and revived my believe that the pumps are feasible.
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Barbie must have mob trouble if she's getting cement shoes...
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This makes me feel better about the fight the doll shoes are putting up.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2292) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2293)
I made another cast at bedtime last night, because I wanted to get more of the bottom.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2294) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2295)
The plaster was this slightly damp consistency you get when you mixed it thick and it's not had several at least 24 hours to dry. It's a teeny bit soft in that state and doesn't make dust when scraped and/or sanded - and it'll even finger-smooth.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2296) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2297)
Sandpaper has barely touched the thing - I mostly rubbed it smooth with the side of the needle end of one of my sculpting tools.
I should give it a couple days to really dry out thoroughly...
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...Putting myself in the running for absolutely no patience prizes, I tried something somewhat new...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2298)
The way the silicone handles, two pulls of the calk gun trigger is about as little as can reasonably be spread all over something this size with any control. Hopefully, this thin a foundation layer will permit no serious flaws on the inside, especially around the neck. I took the pic above, checked the forum, and did the size/crop processing to give the layer time to set - then three more squirts of the calk...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2299) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2300) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2301) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2302)
These things tend to need a plaster gauze master wrapped to hold the seam shut and perform reliably, and they slide out of the master with infinitely less complications/aggravations and wear on the master if they taper in a rounded cone, more or less, with no substantial indentations around, for example, the neck. The ridge along the back allows a deeper, less leak-prone, seam, and helps orient the mold in the master and help it hold the seam firmly shut.
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Never forget to grease the outside of a mold with a little Vaseline before making the mother mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2307) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2308)
I remembered this time, and it seems to actually result in a stronger mother, smoother inside, as well as being incredibly less trouble to slide the mold out of the first time.
The mold itself has a small flaw/bubble at the right temple, a tiny one in the front of the hair, and some tiny ones at the neck - the inside of the head cavity is tough to get at, but I think I can patch those manually before I do the test cast...
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I've done some patching. I'll let it sit for an hour before I do the test cast and see how well it worked...
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Weird - I started a new tube of putty to do the patching, and it's still not entirely set... It does say silicone I on the tube.
-The silicone II mold from the 26th of last month is mostly set - the one I did the next day on the moai upside down in a yogurt cup with soapy water surrounding it for days, but only took out of the cup yesterday? Cured more on the exposed bottom, still tacky on the sides that were down in the cup.
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I've actually heard that problem happening regularly. Certain silicone cures better than others.
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The packaging, in this case, is identical to the stuff that's worked properly...
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I've always wondered what causes the 'dustiness' that especially shows up in the green.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2324) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2325)
I sorta like it, usually, on the green -I was going for a jade look on the Budai, and that was perfect- but there's usually some pitting along with it, and it was kinda bad on this one. It seems to settle most on the head and shoulders, like the scent and/or smootz from the bottom of the wax can is settling there in the mold.
-Also, I can't tell whether I'm having a run of bad luck with chin bubbles -I do tap the mold- or there's a flaw there I have trouble feeling, but this is the second cast from the new mold -100% so far- that I've had to fix a shallow-but-ugly flaw on the chin.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2347) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2348) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2349) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2350)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2351)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2352)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2353)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2354)
And behind them, the very last of the wick -until I make some overhead back- in a white candle cooling...
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I mean, I ain't wasted a whole inch of wick out of several feet since I bought it 20 years ago - and there's about 2 millimeters left, so I'm definitely done with candles until I sell some...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2363)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2364)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2365)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2366)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2367)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2368)
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I have screwed up my courage, proclaimed the statue finished -shaping/smoothing stage- and applied a coat of watered-way-down gloss mixed with white and just a hint of yellow, to hopefully give it that polished creamy marble look. I'm hoping that thinned way down, it'll sink into the plaster a bit with the water, bonding thoroughly and making the old patched-up thing stronger.
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Mostly taken as a color check...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2369) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2370)
...because in the last shot -Triumph of the Kens, I call that one- the contrast between new and old plaster really stood out. I'd say it's coming along nicely.
-Also, I'm almost satisfied with the hand now -there was a happy accident as I worked on the hand a few days ago with part of the thumb breaking off one last time, and it gluing back on at the wrong angle was actually an improvement- and I just did some improvements on the nose, which appears to have been reconstructed at some point, coming out bulbous and increasing the resemblance to Bill Clinton. -The hair's bad enough, and the thinner nose looks younger and more Ken.
This is the third coat still wet, and the flash makes it look even shinier than that. When it's just a tad shiny dry, I'll know I need to stop painting...
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Taken for the same reason...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2371) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2372)
...and also for Geo to get another good look at his favorite man-butt.
Dunno if the difference from the front is down to having time to dry or what. I need to put it in front of the dehumidifier for at least a few hours before the next coat. Better safe then sorry.
-When I make the mold, I'm going to have to leave an air passage to the lowest point of the hand by sticking a thick wire in there that runs over to the thigh, then remove it from the castings. No way those aren't going to take a lot of handwork to get nice anyway, but it'll be interesting to do the sanding and all with plaster that's naturally in one piece...
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The universe may be trying to tell me to stop with the latest coat - the pill bottle I had the whitewash/gloss in tipped over and spilled most of what was left as I was wrapping up. Made an awful mess of my clothes.
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Well, we talked at great length this afternoon about the art-selling website, and finally came up with an approach to the look of the banner to go atop each page; the bared logo she did up ages ago back in Texas over a dark slightly rumbled sheet texture.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2378)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2379)
-Any thoughts about square v. rounded corners, vivid blue background v. subdued?
-Are these wide enough?
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Another set of color comparisons w/ two near-identical busts, one painted with the same stuff I used on the full statue.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2380)
The coated one on the right is a copy of the one on the left.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2381)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2382)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2383)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2384)
I really don't see a lot of difference, coating or otherwise. The painted one seems to photograph very slightly better...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2385)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2386)
At least in theory, this is finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2387)
...I'm pretty apprehensive about the mold - it could conceivably take patches of the gloss off and ruin the paint job. -Plus, it's a challenge with the materials to get it to come out right. That the current tube of silicone is painfully slow-curing -the Barbie boots mold from yesterday afternoon is not good and firm yet- is actually an advantage, as it gives me plenty of time to get the entire first half patted into place and add good interlock impressions around the edges. I'm thinking the tip of a phillips head for that...
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Well I just broke down and put shoes on and went somewhere by myself -besides a cigarette run; I don't wear shoes for that except when it's really cold- for only the second time in slightly over a year.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2388)
My siblings have not exactly encouraged me to be involved in the gallery -to the extent they never even tell me anything- but with the crapulent way the masks are hung as a prime example, I had, I think it was 35, candles sitting on the piano upstairs where for sure nobody was going to buy them - and the only way they were going to get displayed respectfully decently competently well is if I took them over and took care of it myself. We're out of there in two months and change, but what the heck; the candles haven't had a fair chance showcased prominently and attractively, and they might start selling yet.
I'd done a little ad-hoc arranging, two weeks ago while I was there demonstrating for the festival, of the new candle selection I'd recently sent over - that mostly accounts for the ones on top of the back wall. I made a stair step display riser out of empty cigarette cartons the next day, took it today, and that mostly accommodated the rest from home and the 12 that have been sitting in the shadows back of the table since December, easily ignored and totally unsold - and they'd been marked $2. $#@!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2390)
I also glued down the Buster figure to the stump pedestal and added the little masks I'd finally gotten Mylochka nagged into finishing - today, that I did my part the first week of June.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2389)
(Six shots I took of it, and not a single one came out in focus...)
I had the idea for the Buster-in-overalls display on the fifth of June - and the only reason it's finally as finished as it's ever going to be today is that I did my brother's part with the stump pedestal and the mini-mallet for him two months ago. If it sounds a little like I'm very frustrated and angry with my brother and sister over gallery stuff alone, that's because they treat me like gum on their shoes. -Stupid gallery tricks is not the only reason we're not selling anything.
-Anyway, I think it's pretty cute, and if Buster had bothered to make a tiny fairy to go with the rest, it would be a mighty fine capsule representation of something from each of us. Branding and symbols matter.
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the Buster display is cute.
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Well I just broke down and put shoes on and went somewhere by myself -besides a cigarette run; I don't wear shoes for that except when it's really cold- for only the second time in slightly over a year.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2388)
The table cloth says a lot about the booth. It isn't symmetrical. It just looks sloppy. If care isn't made to that simple of a little detail, then what kind of attention to detail was put into the crafts? i suspect that little things like that are a part of the problem as well.
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I dunno - at the center of it all -our involvement in the gallery, that is- is my brother's rustic carpentry, and the asymmetrical bit of red-checked cloth is sorta 'bark-left-on'. I suspect, too, that it's something to do with the questionable condition of the table underneath. When I was setting out the three rows of candles in front of the riser, I noticed there's something bumpy and uneven going on under there...
I wasn't made privy to those details, of course, just like everything else.
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Well, we talked at great length this afternoon about the art-selling website, and finally came up with an approach to the look of the banner to go atop each page; the bared logo she did up ages ago back in Texas over a dark slightly rumbled sheet texture.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2378)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2379)
-Any thoughts about square v. rounded corners, vivid blue background v. subdued?
-Are these wide enough?
Rounded. Top background. Not huge fan of the font on the JK
Not big enough for a banner, no, *mobile considerations need to be made on the website side, though, so if it's not automagically formatted to mobile, they might be fine.
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Well I just broke down and put shoes on and went somewhere by myself -besides a cigarette run; I don't wear shoes for that except when it's really cold- for only the second time in slightly over a year.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2388)
The table cloth says a lot about the booth. It isn't symmetrical. It just looks sloppy. If care isn't made to that simple of a little detail, then what kind of attention to detail was put into the crafts? i suspect that little things like that are a part of the problem as well.
I think it mostly lack direction. There's nothing to draw the eye anywhere there. The blue tablecloth pops, when it's what you really want to hide.
Other than the cloth, the chair tends to jump out. I'd personally take a huge black cloth (admittedly I have a thing for black, other neutralish colors would work) and cover that back wall, drape it over the table in one piece, and all the way to the floor to make one continuous backdrop to then place your pieces. The tan and checkered cloth can work over that fine, but the uniform back would make the items stand out more.
Don't even know where to start with displaying the masks, given what you have to work with there.
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Well, we talked at great length this afternoon about the art-selling website, and finally came up with an approach to the look of the banner to go atop each page; the bared logo she did up ages ago back in Texas over a dark slightly rumbled sheet texture.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2378)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2379)
-Any thoughts about square v. rounded corners, vivid blue background v. subdued?
-Are these wide enough?
Rounded. Top background. Not huge fan of the font on the JK
Not big enough for a banner, no, *mobile considerations need to be made on the website side, though, so if it's not automagically formatted to mobile, they might be fine.
The phone stuff is an utter mystery to me...
Mylochka likes rounded -I think that's a lock- and the vivid background. Subdued looks a bit better on a black page, which is what I considering going with to match the formal presentation pics she's done in the past...
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Well I just broke down and put shoes on and went somewhere by myself -besides a cigarette run; I don't wear shoes for that except when it's really cold- for only the second time in slightly over a year.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2388)
The table cloth says a lot about the booth. It isn't symmetrical. It just looks sloppy. If care isn't made to that simple of a little detail, then what kind of attention to detail was put into the crafts? i suspect that little things like that are a part of the problem as well.
I think it mostly lack direction. There's nothing to draw the eye anywhere there. The blue tablecloth pops, when it's what you really want to hide.
Other than the cloth, the chair tends to jump out. I'd personally take a huge black cloth (admittedly I have a thing for black, other neutralish colors would work) and cover that back wall, drape it over the table in one piece, and all the way to the floor to make one continuous backdrop to then place your pieces. The tan and checkered cloth can work over that fine, but the uniform back would make the items stand out more.
Don't even know where to start with displaying the masks, given what you have to work with there.
That's a good idea with the cloth covering everything in back.
If we were staying, things would be different and I'd be desperately trying to get a tiny fairy for the Buster display at the corner - it's dumb not to put a name and a face on our collective. -But we're gone when the booth fee runs out, and I'd be up against two or three levels of "don't care" and "No" if I was interested in dying on that hill when the war's already lost and nearly ended.
I think everything is fixable - but I can't take over the gallery by myself, and I can't fix my butthole family - and I've no interest in making the effort on the former w/o any support from anyone, not least 'cause the gallery's patron is the bad kind of Republican, crazy stubborn for all that he genuinely means well, and he's definitely part of the problem.
For sure, I need to go to web sales, where I have infinitely more control of presentation.
Buster and her dad are more-or-less dropping out -he's got a preacher job now and she's starting high school Monday, and they're both too busy- so just Mylochka and I simplifies things enormously, and that's why we're dropping the family art name and going back to JKStudios. So the toddler Buster display, alas, was for nothing unless it gets a lot of traction before the end of October - and by God, if it does and we stay, I'm going to have to be allowed more say in things and kept informed, or I'm out anyway.
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-BTW, I happen to have done up a wider version of the banner last night...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2391)
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I spent a lot of time converting to a mobile friendly theme not too long ago. How are you building the website?
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Right now, trying to nail down some basic unifying design elements - we're probably going to have the sales pages on Wix using templates that won't let us do as we like, because the JavaScript stuff is over our tech paygrade, and the home page and all the bait how-to stuff and picture galleries hosted here- and making pages in KompoZer...
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I'm going to emphatically agree with Uno about a black background, because so much of this crafty stuff is beige or thereabouts, and black is the best contrast for that.
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These turned up on the kitchen counter yesterday.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2392)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2393)
I don't think they're quite finished, because I don't see the gloss finish she usually paints on last.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2394)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2395)
In shape, they're pretty good likenesses of Goblin and Moses, which is a coincidence; the masks were made in November when they were toddlers...
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Like the kitty masks. Not in love with the flowers. I think one painted that porcelain not quite white color with accents on the nose/mount areas to highlight that work, and a Victorian styled simple design in red or maybe a bright blue...
Afraid I can't help with that website stuff. Not what I've used. I swear finding a good theme that lets you do what you need is a full time job.
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I think one painted that porcelain not quite white color with accents on the nose/mount areas to highlight that work, and a Victorian styled simple design in red or maybe a bright blue...
?
Does not compute.
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This porcelain type color base.
(https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/originals/c2/89/ea/c289ea52f0b83b2dc64e26cac540f0cc.jpg)
This type-ish design in a bright color. Maybe not quite this busy.
(https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRHjRh9au2b4xT3UqM9smVPP8lB-h-UnMf8FotNVnW68jhJAZ-ebw)
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Ah - well, it's a collaboration, and I take the decorative stuff she gives me. I don't think going all VanGough on the kittehz is a whole universe of appropriate and good, either, but I'm really thrilled she actually painted some masks on festival day, and feels like she has her painting groove back a little...
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Oh, I like the flowers themselves, just don't think the kitties were suited to them.
In fact, done right, the flowers on a skull mask would be wickedly cool, if too obscure for most to realize the thought behind it.
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Oooh! I get it!
-I'll pass the daisy idea along. It's not like there's no skull masks waiting for a paint job...
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Gentlemen, the most powerful mystic artifact in Earth's history -and I've (re)found my next project- the Helm of Nabu:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2396) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2398)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2397) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2400)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2399) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2401)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2402)
The color is not an attempt to paint it gold-like-Doctor-Fate's-helmet gone wrong; it's just been sitting out unfinished since some of you were in elementary school. -Before you were born in Beru's case. Plaster gauze gone brown with age, and badly in need of some adjustments to hammer out old dents, get left and right symmetrical, the ear slits need rounding, and so do the bottom of the eye holes.
-A solid plaster helmet would make a horrible, thick and heavy, costume piece, but I believe I can manage a base for paper mache impressions that I can spray paint gold and gouge comic book geeks big-time, all without waiting on my partner. Doctor Fate's helmet is a classic design, IMO, and I've never seen/heard of anyone cosplaying him.
It's going to be a job, and a messy one involving lots of sanding and plaster dust, and I imagine it's not going to want to bond with old plaster gauze, but I always wanted a Dr Fate Helmet, and I'm excited...
-For a bonus for y'all, Fate has had many hosts in recent decades; here he is as a hippy.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2403)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2404)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2405)
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As shabby Dr. Fate looks on, Ken takes the plunge.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2406) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2407) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2408)
-It felt like adding the paint sped up the curing on this slow tube of putty considerably. -The Barbie boots mold is still not completely firm this morning.- This was firming up non-trivially/palpably as I finished up. That's ten squirts of putty, most of the tube. I'll mix the last, I estimate, three squirts with putty from the next tube when I start the rest of the mold without as much color, which should slow it down and give me time to work, but cure in a reasonable time frame.
With a material that's going to set up flexible, I didn't worry unduly about getting exactly half/widest point, as I would with something like a plaster mold.
Since I'm counting on being able to keep the two parts of the mold from merging with a liberal smearing of Vaseline, I plan to overlap/wrap the edges of part two slightly, and I figure I'll have to cut the mother in half offset by 90 degrees, and tie/rubber band it shut for pouring. -In fact, would I be better off contriving a container big enough and doing the mother in solid plaster? I think there'll enough give in the mold material for that to work...
I didn't try to get much of the pedestal in, since that part fouled up asymmetrical on this original and it's easy enough to make a new base in the big yogurt cup and center/level the first casting, attach, and extend the mold...
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You've been watching Swift's Blank Space video again, haven't ya? :whip:
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Sure.
-I don't know what that is, though...
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When I got up to make coffee half an hour ago, I poked at a thick bit on the mold, and it was still mighty soft after three hours; so, thinking of how the patches in the Ken bust mold seemed to set up while hot wax was being poured in -each candle needed less fingernail scraping than the one before, until the fourth had no real flaws- I took the whole shebang and set it in the oven at 170. Fingers crossed...
In other arting news, I've been working on an overall style for the webpage, and just as well use my picture gallery here for one there, while I'm at it: http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-WorkshopGallery.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-WorkshopGallery.html) -I've only made a start...
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Somewhat over an hour and a half later, the statue doesn't seem to have exploded -170 is barely over summer car-in-the-sun temperatures- and the oven smells quite vinegary. I've turned it off, now.
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I brought it back down to my office -- it set some in the oven, not as much as I'd hoped. We'll see how it is in the morning sitting on my desk.
-If I end up trying the 170 some more tomorrow, I should pop the storyteller and Moai molds on a plate and give them the treatment, too...
If anyone had a look at the webpage link above soon after I posted it, I've added yet more pics this thread has already seen. -Most people, even the ones who'd be interested in seeing the art in progress, haven't. It's a work in progress, mostly to nail down the style of the proposed site; just as well keep adding content that'll still be there when Mylochka's brain is awake enough to make a useful call on the Shangri-La font nobody but us has, and you can't see when you view the page I've finalized the overall look and change the top.
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I have used Wix quite a few times before. One school I worked at had kids make a web page as part of their graduation requirements, with them writing about why they deserved to graduate (if they said because they put in their time in a seat and passed their classes, I passed them, but Admin didn't like me for that). I also have my old web page. Only half done, but they keep changing the school rules on us each year and, well, I don't feel like redoing a whole web site each year.
Here it is if you want to look at it. http://rwolson.wixsite.com/science (http://rwolson.wixsite.com/science)
As I said - probably not even half done, but it really isn't too hard to set up and keep up - particularly if you plan on using it as your primary sales outlet, just spend an hour or two every day as "part of your job" and it will be in shape in no time. Hardest part is probably figuring out how to set it up to take and track orders & payments.
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Click on next column/box. Click Image button. Paste code, backup space and increase # by 1. If a mask pic appears and not a cat, [cntrl]a, [cntrl]c, click "Don't use alternate text" (probably later, but grinding it out right now). Link tab. Paste. Dimensions tab. Click "Custom Size" and enter 300 for width. Click "Okay".
Repeat.
...
-This is to go on for 38 pages of album, 15 shots to a page, and I'm on page 34 now, working up from the back/beginning. I'm grinding right now, and lucky my current game of Alpha Centauri is in the grind stage, too, or I wouldn't be making any progress. (When the next in sequence is a cat picture, I go back to the Masks album to get the next code...)
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I have used Wix quite a few times before. One school I worked at had kids make a web page as part of their graduation requirements, with them writing about why they deserved to graduate (if they said because they put in their time in a seat and passed their classes, I passed them, but Admin didn't like me for that). I also have my old web page. Only half done, but they keep changing the school rules on us each year and, well, I don't feel like redoing a whole web site each year.
Here it is if you want to look at it. http://rwolson.wixsite.com/science (http://rwolson.wixsite.com/science)
As I said - probably not even half done, but it really isn't too hard to set up and keep up - particularly if you plan on using it as your primary sales outlet, just spend an hour or two every day as "part of your job" and it will be in shape in no time. Hardest part is probably figuring out how to set it up to take and track orders & payments.
Yeah see, the thing is, The Tech is not that incredibly strong in me - but I can operate a .html editor competently, and design the hell out of a page, with more emphasis on utility than pretty, but that, too - and Wix template pages all look like template pages, incredibly generic and so wasteful of vertical space that even Thunderfall himself would say "Dang! I had to scroll too dogon far down to get to the content!"
I'm an artist with some actual formal training in layout and design -unlike a lot of things I'm accomplished at, but wholly self-taught- and I don't need no steenkeeng template that won't let me arrange things on the page as I deem sensible and attractive.
---
If I knew JavaScript to make a shopping cart system and all that work, I'd cuss Mylochka and you both out for even suggesting that I take My Work within a mile of stupid Wix and the crap templates. ;) -And the joke about Thunderfall was a damnable lie; every CFC theme ever is proof positive that having to scroll too far down is an alien concept to him.
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-Which is not to say that you didn't school the Wix template pretty hard, because that's a nice site. You design a pretty good page, too.
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I got all the pics up last night, making for a very loong page. http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-WorkshopGallery.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-WorkshopGallery.html)
For the next page, I reckon I'll do up the post(s) from this thread late last year going into detail about the making of the first Captain mask. There's other how-to pages to be assembled from what's already at hand, but that one's what I recall being already in the format of thoroughly-photoed demonstration and already written up in more-or-less that form. There's some pretty good pic material about my construction process making facial appliances and whole shell base forms -most recently, a lot of photos of the pig snout in the making- but those will tend to need more writing to explain what I did/the new user is looking at.
-Again, these bits of content that don't actually sell anything will (A.) Serve as clickbait, raising the site's SEO, and may well get the links spread around in their own right, (B.) Ultimately feature links at the top and bottom that go to pages that DO sell stuff, and (C.) just plain serve as entertaining content to lure users back and have them spending time on a page that, again, has links to the section that sells stuff.
-Also, It's parts I can work on now, while I'm waiting for my partner to come back from mental vacation. Her brain hasn't liked the weather here lately...
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I see a lot of blanks on there that seem to scream 'make me a clown' since clowns are the rage this year.
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I'll pass that on to Mylochka.
-I still have hope that as the wet summer ends, her good experience Van Goughing the cat masks will get her painting again, brain not keeping her prostrate allowing.
-Alternately, I'll sell you-paint-it blanks...
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http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio%20-%20Making%20a%20paper%20mache%20mask%20and%20how-to.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio%20-%20Making%20a%20paper%20mache%20mask%20and%20how-to.html)
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I'll pass that on to Mylochka.
-I still have hope that as the wet summer ends, her good experience Van Goughing the cat masks will get her painting again, brain not keeping her prostrate allowing.
-Alternately, I'll sell you-paint-it blanks...
I was strictly speaking from the spooky side of the street. Clowns are not really my "thing". Most especially since they are so popular now.
That's not to say that I couldn't, or wouldn't do a clown for the right amount of $, or the right situation, mind you.
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She'll find her own inspiration -or not- from the suggestion...
http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio%20-%20Making%20a%20paper%20mache%20mask%20and%20how-to.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio%20-%20Making%20a%20paper%20mache%20mask%20and%20how-to.html)
I would have found this a lot of work, were I not coming straight off over a day's grind with the picture gallery. I did a fairly minor redraft of the writing, adding a word or two here and there for clarity of what I was referring to, mostly - also, inserting a few ideas I'd skipped over and some small changes for it's a webpage and references to pages pending I'll go back and link when they exist.
-Next I think I'll write up creating laughing Buddah and ponytail Barbie...
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I get a 404 error on the link.
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Oh, sorry - I changed the filename by taking out the spaces a couple hours ago.
Try this: http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-Makingapapermachemask&how-to.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-Makingapapermachemask&how-to.html)
There's a third page in the works, now, but I'm writing in a proper word processor before I paste. The link to the stub should be at the top of both existing pages though, as well a links to each other.
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Is that what wrecked the site last night?
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No, that was t_ras' hack against the flood of spammer registrations in the last week. -I TOLD Draz if I was getting the database error messages I inevitably wasn't the only one...
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Working on that figure sculpting demonstration webpage right now and referenced detailing with tools, and realized I'd never shown the tools, aside from one end of one. You guys get to see them first.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2414)
TaDAHH!
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ACK
When I go to a site like that, I wander away quickly. Picture Gallery should be finished products, and if you have nearly as many pic's as you do should be filterable by type (mold making, candles, masks & other). The filter can be as simple as a jump to the lower part of the page where these types of pictures are. "How to's" can be full of all the in process pictures. I see a page like that and I just get overloaded and confused? Are you selling Barbie dolls that are naked except S&M rubberbands? Are these kat masks made of old tabloids telling a story and I should be looking for the right alien abduction story for the mask I am buying (Not the soft ice cream one in the pictures... I want Alien Abduction and Cattle Mutilation!!!)? These are the creepy thoughts I get when I see your gallery as it stands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The overall layout looks nice. I like how you have the links in the upper right. Good scale. Nice colors.
The small sculpture page had a lot of unloading pictures on it. Not sure why they didn't load up on my screen. Might be me, might be the page.
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Naw, those pics haven't had the proper album codes entered yet. I picked out and ordered the pics I wanted for that page, pending a lot of writing of tutorial material, and it turned out when I pasted them from Word, where I'm doing the writing, local temp file codes went with them, not the source.
I suppose "In the Workshop" isn't sufficient indication that those are just in-progress pictures of a wide range of things I've worked/been working on - I suspect wannabe artists, sort've the group I'm fishing for with that kind of thing, would find it more interesting - and I daresay it shows some artistic productivity on my part, and a bit of range.
They're pics, you see, of the sort I'd want to look at. -And it's all sideshow while I work out design and wait for my sister to wake up, anyway.
Still, that's just a grind-out of what pics I have on hand that might be of interest to those interested in that sort of thing; I've gotten several hundred bits of album code pasted and posted -on a page longer than War and Peace- and I can go back and categorize/organize and throw in titles and page-jump-links and hopvertext and captions what-not at my leisure, now that the tedious drudge work is finished. -Maybe break it up into more than one page, even.- An actor's gotta show up and say his lines before he worries about being good, and with a pagetop design you find credible, the hardest part of the work is done. -For that page.
I just gotta grind out a lot of pages before I worry too much about second drafts and polishing. The Budai section isn't quite finished yet, and there's more pictures of bald naked bondage Barbie to write through. I'm still in the showing-up-and-saying-lines part; good isn't coming while I'm still in rehearsals, though I work on it as I go...
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...The Ken statue mold, BTW, has developed a slight foamy appearance just under the surface, suspiciously like the blue molds on the storyteller figure and the Moai. I do believe I got a mislabeled tube of silicone II foisted on me. I just put all three in the oven at 200 degrees again today, wishing I could go back to Sunday and start out a little hotter and keep the statue in a lot longer; plainly, the stuff cures on the outside and makes the middle even slower-curing, and half-measures only encourage that skin to develop - but so does only waiting forEVER for it to cure naturally...
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I've finally finished the Budai/Barbie page, and am currently doing a proofing pass before bedtime...
-That's http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-MakingALaughingBuddha&APonytailedBarbieBust.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/JKStudio-MakingALaughingBuddha&APonytailedBarbieBust.html) and all the pics do show, now.
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...I suppose I should make "Making of The Captain base" page next, both to compliment the Mache technique tutorial using him, and because I took a lot of pictures as I altered the face cast and surfaced it into the base form. -As soon as I get pictures for it done by doing one, I should do a page on making a cast of a face, too, Mylochka cooperating and the creeks don't rise...
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Before I move on to the next real page, I've made and uploaded a homepage stub -because my partner is unable to participate thus far and I have little idea what should be there, no content but the links- so that a plain
http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio)
URL now works, and I've been able to fill in the Home link on all the pages I've completed, and more I will soon as I grind away.
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I'm not unaware that aspiring artists looking for how-to information are a poor market for masks, knickknacks, candles, custom Barbies, and whatever else one or both of us makes and wants to sell - they might be a good audience for selling art supplies, not what we do, 'cause they're looking to make their own. What they are is a source of hits prone to share the links on blogs and Facebook and specialty forums - and that stuff's golden for SEO.
I daresay I've proved I know what I'm doing with the free marketing stuff, witness what success this highly-specialized niche forum has had. A fair percentage of what little posting CFC's Alpha Centauri sub sees contain links to resources we host. Our crap Downloads section is numbers-game bait - maybe one person in 100 who visits signs up, and not a lot more than that of signups actually post worth mentioning - but Downloads is there to draw that .01%.
-I need to go say "JKStudio Facebook group" to Mylochka and see if anything happens...
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I did say it to her - now let's see...
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Hey kids! The knife and pseudo-plane/rasp I used on Uno's face!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2415)
Guess what I'm working on...
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Maybe half done: http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MakingAFaceBaseForMasks-JKStudio.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MakingAFaceBaseForMasks-JKStudio.html)
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She came through with the absolute minimum -I added the portrait, background, description, and only post so far- but she did come through...
https://www.facebook.com/JK-Studio-471093423266931/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel (https://www.facebook.com/JK-Studio-471093423266931/?ref=aymt_homepage_panel) -Kept me from getting more done with making The Captain.
Y'all do me a little favor and 'like' the page --- Elok done did ahead of you, and I heard me a rumor on them there innerwebs that he's a nerd.
Who else is a nerd for me?
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Well, another page done...
FunWithTakingAKnifeToUno'sFace.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MakingAFaceBaseForMasks-JKStudio.html)
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...I'm going to have to do an -In The Workshop- subdirectory page sooner rather than later. I'd sorta like to keep the two-column link sidebar up top no taller than the banner, and the links sorta big like that, which leaves me room for eight links, and it's pretty clear already that I'm going to have more pages of just -In The Workshop- sideshow/bait/tutorials than that. Gonna keep cranking out pages first, though.
Next up is Johnny Depp as Cad Bane on the Planet of the Apes, or How my Niece stopped worrying and learned to love the skull. ;nod
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I don't seem to have taken any pictures of how the skull mask appliance shell enclosure turned out, and find I need it for the page I'm currently grinding out, so here:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2416)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2417)
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Needed this for some material about my history with masks-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2418)
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We've had a little disaster.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2419) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2420)
Y'know, I always thought The Captain base ended up looking like The Brown Hornet from the last season of Fat Albert - but no one tried to paint him as African-American; that's MOLD. I think that's as bad as it gets, but I collected what I could carry in sunset light so poor I wasn't sure there was any problem but dampness/spreading. Now I'm astonished touching that didn't make me sick before I got up the hill to the kitchen door, and I'm not touching anything again to assess the damage until I go collect the rest tomorrow in daylight.
-I've been so frustrated/angry for so long about all the work I put in in November, turning them out like a machine to show some hustle for the gallery despite how long it took for everything to dry on the prep work before I could actually make anything, all for nothing thus far, because my collaborator has had time to knit enough to cover a football field, but paint nothing, not even the tiny Barbie masks I made in early June, until three weeks ago.
On one level, I'm in a stroke-inducing level near-psychotic episode of a rage - but really, I'm just weary and tired and depressed. I've been so frustrated for so long about this - and make no mistake; if they'd been painted and gone to the gallery instead of abandoned for ten months in a backyard shack, this wouldn't have happened. [fuddle-duddle].
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This is everything. -There are some plaster figurines in the playhouse, but no sign of mold or crumbling, so I haven't evacuated yet, because triage.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2421)
-It's pretty obvious that God loves Uno's face, and wants him to smile; his unaltered -except I made him smile in the trimming- face is the only completely unpainted mask to display no settling deformation and no mold. A lot of the half masks naturally wanted to rest on edge upright, and so weren't in a nested stack and got a lot of mold like The Captain, but no deformation. The masks that had gotten a cursory primer coat are spotted and mostly substantially wider than I made them, the latter applying to the majority of the whole sat. Only the old person face and the wrestling mask on the top row have distorted in a really damaging way. Even they probably won't be hard to fix if the mold can be cleaned off so as to not interfere with (hypothetical) painting.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2422)
The other unscathed masks are the rest of the wrestling masks, based on Uno's face. They were well along in painting, making the conclusion inescapable: not only does God love for Uno to smile -and, possibly, wrestle- He wants Mylochka to paint the &^%$#@! masks before I die of old age.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2423)
-Hey; the omens are right there in the pictures. ;nod
-
-Y'know Uno, I realize you're already too wracked-up physically to actually wrestle, but for a number of obvious reasons, you'd make a brilliant manager - pair you with two jocks w/ good bodies and no mike skills who'd do as you told them about showmanship - and the magic would be world class even if your bodybuilders were barely competent performers in the ring.
-I cannot, BTW, recommend any aspect of, or role in, the wrestling business to anyone -even back when there was still any good wrestling around- to anyone in good conscience.
-
;no
It's slow on the webs this fine Labor Day like it's still Sunday -so I'm out of distractions- but I find my enthusiasm for grinding away on the art website is --- damp, flattened and covered with mold.
;no
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I understand.
Sort of like the time an in-law promised ( AGAIN ) to water my plants while I was away for a couple weeks. Once or twice was all I asked. Never happened. You know what did happen? A hot, dry wind. Lost the growing season and the effort I'd put into starting seeds late winter and early spring. I could be misremembering, because I find it easier to forgive when I intentionally forget. But the essentials are that they failed to do a simple thing they promised, and everything was wrecked as a result.
Suggestion, if you aren't able to salvage some of the masks. "Focus on what is left, not what is lost." has always served me well.
Rather than dispose of the ruined ones, could you practice finishing them yourself first? Neither I nor my two sisters will make pastry, because it pales in comparison to our mother's, so I understand if you don't want to paint them with a brush. But could you do anything else? Spray them? Stencil? Glue on something textured like sawdust, or colored sand, or cloth or fake fur or glitter or foil or feathers or dragon scales? Then throw them away because they are moldy.
If you found a way to finish masks yourself, you wouldn't be depending on Lucy to hold your hand egg for you. Independence is empowering. Well, that and you don't need this source of friction in your life.
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Oh, the short-and-honest answer is that I'm not a hopeless painter, but I just don't want to.
I think if you've ever had a look at anything I've done in the way of Alpha Centauri art modding, my talent does extend to 2D art. -For that matter, forum avatars; nobody gets to not notice I'm good at that.
I don't have a LOT of experience with a brush, but if I can learn to do nice stuff on the computer -awkward- I can gain the hand-eye coordination in analogue. But I don't want to - I like collaborating. I like Mylochka surprising me.
I just got called to go grill; company had delayed things. More later.
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There's not much to add to that, save to mention that I've been talking about working my way through my outrage that it was allowed to come to this - not least because my thoughts about how to fix it aren't that interesting. Bring everything inside to get dry, spray to try to kill the mold, give it all at least a day to dry -probably spraying some more and slowing down the drying, but stuff like that makes my allergies crazy sick- try to brush the mold off when they're dry enough and get a better idea of the damage, etc., ect... I do really think I can fix everything if the mold will come off enough to not mess up painting later.
Y'know; thinking about the immediate solutions first - and the outrage stuff is part of thinking about the larger problem, if I can keep it under control - which is actually going really well; there's been no shouting and swearing and no red face at all. These are my babies and my pride -I thinks that's self-evident in this thread- and they have been sorely soiled by unforgivable neglect. I'm supposed to be upset today. It's okay in the end, if I'm not still balled up and not producing Friday.
I actually discovered this when I did because I'd been thinking about the larger problem - I went in there to grab up masks that were new models, which I see is at least half or more, because those should prove more appealing to paint to Mylochka. It has to be freshly in this state, because I was in there within the last two months and would have noticed - and she was in there about three weeks ago to get the cat masks, and likewise would have noticed everything going spotty and/or full gray/green/brown/black.
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Ooh. I actually got back to work on the Buster and the skull mask story for the webpage and needed this:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2424) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2425)
-See, I'd left out of tellings of this that on a previous visit, she'd spotted the above mask where it was propped on a dresser outside my office downstairs - and was naturally afraid of it - and had someone take her downstairs every day to see it from the bottom of the stairs, a distance of over 30 feet. That's the spot I set the skull mask up at, and the way I introduced her to it. Worked a hell of a lot faster than I'd expected -which was a visit a day to look from a distance while she worked up her courage thew rest of the Christmas visit- what with I've got that photo of her upstairs in Momma's sewing room wearing it 20 minutes later.
-Need to upload that one, too - the album's turning out very useful for the website, unless the JKStudio traffic grows faster than I expect - but then, that would tend to make me flush enough to upgrade our hosting package and pay for itself...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2426)
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Needed this for some material about my history with masks-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2418)
I like the pink one.
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This is everything. -There are some plaster figurines in the playhouse, but no sign of mold or crumbling, so I haven't evacuated yet, because triage.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2421)
Can we talk about how freaking awesome that mask second in from the right, top row is?
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We can, but I can accept no credit - it's a straight-up copy of a big doll-like store-bought mask, so craft on my part, not art. She did an interesting paint job, didn't she?
Needed this for some material about my history with masks-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2418)
I like the pink one.
I believe you've declared for the red and blue one, and the white and black one, other times...
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...I'll get you better/closeup pics of the big dollface today. She did a crackle finish on it, and you've inspired me to the idea that it ought to have the mold left on under a spray-on varnish coat...
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This is one of the ones from the later Texas days -I believe it was considered finished- that had the edges/shape suffer from storage/moving, and I no longer recall whether I did repairs/reinforcement during our stilborn run at online sales a few years ago, or last November - but probably the later, since it was in the playhouse for her attentions along with the new stuff.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2427)
The crackle coat suffered damage during the repair. I don't think she ever decided how to fix it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2428)
Now it strikes me that it may not need to be fixed.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2429)
The gaps and the mold are really in line with what the crackle suggested in the first place...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2430)
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Especially with Annabelle recently out, it's right in 'fashion' for creepy.
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...Mylochka's kinda like you about 'in fashion' when it comes to creative stuff. So am I, for that matter...
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Ah, back to school time. Crazy here.
Like the updates to your page. THe label on the top of the photo gallery says it all, and should hopefully stop folks from going "what are they selling???"
Can I suggest you make your logo a link back to the homepage?
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You can; that's a good idea, and I'll get that tonight before bed.
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Done, uploaded, pages refreshed to get the update, and tested. You know what you're talking about with this stuff, GK - and your complaints and suggestions are extremely helpful.
---
Oops. I left this sitting for an hour without posting. -Meanwhile:
Johnny Depp As Cad Bane On The Planet Of The Apes
or How Buster Stopped Worrying And Learned To Love The Skull
(Making Face Shell Bases, Facial Appliances, & A Lot Of Related History As the Basis of Inspiration…) (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MakingAShellFaceBase-JKStudio.html)
-is finally finished...
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GK - do note that there's a mention of a mask being for sale buried in the middle of the very long latest page - and nothing else whatsoever at this point to indicate that we intend to sell anything. You just knew going in what the ultimate purpose is. Right now it's just a kind of art blog or something. I want to make all the bait attractive and all that - but this stuff is probably never going to have any hard-sell; just a link up top leading to somewhere stuff's for sale, once we get that organized. -And of course the home page won't be coy about it, at that point. We wanna have us a classy place, there.
And so to bed...
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Only 2 pages link back to home (via the logo) - face base and sculpture.
Thanks. Was an engineer for 18+ years and now a HS Science teacher who, among other things, teaches design concepts, I hope I am decent with some of these things. :D
When you get ready for sales, take a look into google/bing/yahoo search engines and how to promote your site. I know folks who have gone from basically zero to overworked sales just by getting the search engines to put their stuff higher up on various search results.
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...Mylochka's kinda like you about 'in fashion' when it comes to creative stuff. So am I, for that matter...
But that's the thing. The broken doll is in fashion. But not like THAT. They are all drab grayscale things that don't look natural at all.
I'd happily put it up over any of the standard available stuff:
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&biw=1630&bih=911&tbm=shop&q=broken+doll+mask&oq=broken+doll+mask&gs_l=psy-ab.3...52632.53448.0.53790.6.6.0.0.0.0.214.214.2-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..5.0.0.eCSH422yLdQ (https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&biw=1630&bih=911&tbm=shop&q=broken+doll+mask&oq=broken+doll+mask&gs_l=psy-ab.3...52632.53448.0.53790.6.6.0.0.0.0.214.214.2-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..5.0.0.eCSH422yLdQ)
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Ninja'd. Hold on.
Only 2 pages link back to home (via the logo) - face base and sculpture.
Thanks. Was an engineer for 18+ years and now a HS Science teacher who, among other things, teaches design concepts, I hope I am decent with some of these things. :D
When you get ready for sales, take a look into google/bing/yahoo search engines and how to promote your site. I know folks who have gone from basically zero to overworked sales just by getting the search engines to put their stuff higher up on various search results.
You must need to refresh the other pages - I tested everything for the banner hyperlink last night in MSEdge before I posted, and this morning I've checked in IE, Firefox and Chrome. IE and FF didn't even require me to refresh any pages.
I do know a little something about SEO. Google "custom factions alpha centauri" -for years there was no need to mention AC, but hits for Minecraft stuff seems to have taken over page one now- and I got my own custom factions site as the first hit. -A thread here at AC2 was second - a page on our AC wiki was third.
One thing we need to do is have a links page, and arrange link exchanges, though as yet I only have Uno's site, the art gallery, and the site hawking Mylochka's book in mind. We've got a Facebook page, and I'm trying to post something new every day and encouraging 'friends' to 'like' it to get the word out. We're going to have a YouTube channel -but that's Mylochka's bailiwick, so it's not happened yet, but she makes decent videos- and that covers two of the three really ubiquitous innerwebs sites, and I don't see a pretext to try to get on Wikipedia.
The most useful class I have ever taken was high school Graphics -printing- and I've got two college degrees. Mylochka is Dr. Mylochka, and she says the same. I'm sure all the tech for preparing offset printing plates was hopelessly, hopelessly, out of date by the time I was halfway through college, but the darkroom stuff, combined with video production classes from my broadcasting degree, gives me serviceable training in photography - and the early exposure to the principals of layout and design -Mr. Cooper hadn't even been to college- have been endlessly useful, from the forum you're on now, to the JK site, to every time we need to make invitations to a family reunion.
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...Mylochka's kinda like you about 'in fashion' when it comes to creative stuff. So am I, for that matter...
But that's the thing. The broken doll is in fashion. But not like THAT. They are all drab grayscale things that don't look natural at all.
I'd happily put it up over any of the standard available stuff:
https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&biw=1630&bih=911&tbm=shop&q=broken+doll+mask&oq=broken+doll+mask&gs_l=psy-ab.3...52632.53448.0.53790.6.6.0.0.0.0.214.214.2-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..5.0.0.eCSH422yLdQ (https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C1GGRV_enUS751US751&biw=1630&bih=911&tbm=shop&q=broken+doll+mask&oq=broken+doll+mask&gs_l=psy-ab.3...52632.53448.0.53790.6.6.0.0.0.0.214.214.2-1.1.0....0...1.1.64.psy-ab..5.0.0.eCSH422yLdQ)
I told Sis last night that Big Doll Face needed a coat of varnish to seal the mold in, and is done, as-is, and she loved the idea. I wish I thought that wasn't because it involves her doing nothing, though.
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Good news - I could hear my wimminz in the other end of the basement while I was making the last two posts - Mylochka had come down -she only found out last night on FB because she was feeling too crapulent the next day to come sit on the porch and talk when I tried to do my due diligence- and spared me the mold-wiping. She thinks everything is clean enough to not interfere with painting. She's leaving everything to dry for a day, because she naturally re-dampened with mold-killing cleaning spray -and I'd gotten everything at least twice- and come back tomorrow to -wait for it- PAINT.
-Mind you, she'll probably wake up feeling dead tomorrow morning, but if she has a good day in the next week, I think she's feeling motivated...
I hadn't even inspected the backs of any masks, because I handled everything the least I could -still astonished I haven't had hell's own allergy attack anyway- but she did, and the latex back coats seem to have repelled any mold problems there. I dug out the bases for the crone mask and the warped wrestling mask, and they are in front of the dehumidifier -running continuously because of the second rainy day in a row- drying back to their proper shapes. Many others are widened, but look like they are supposed to be that way, and I see no great need to correct.
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http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/Links-JKStudio.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/Links-JKStudio.html)
Hey Uno!
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I'm not much for giving a pat on the back to someone for finally coming through very late - but it seemed gracious and a good idea to encourage Mylochka by laying out some paper on the table and arranging the masks off the floor.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2431)
They're much improved.
The wrestling masks are nested together, and four masks are in front of the dehumidifier - Big Doll Face was looking wavy around the edges from the right angle, and the newly re-caucasianed Captain was looking a tad catty cornered, so I found their bases, too. -In fact, it's finally just stopped raining for the first time today, and nothing's drying fast - I'm considering taking the lot into my bedroom until tomorrow.
Naturally, Moses -he and Goblin came in from the rain a couple hours ago- decided to "help".
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2432)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2433)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2434)
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In other news, I may have set in motion getting us on the gallery's web page -remember that I've had little contact with anyone over there; my siblings have done all the dealing with them, and I knew working through those two wouldn't get prompt action- it hit me that whomever kept up the VHAC Facebook page was probably on the publicity committee and had something to do with the website, so armed with the links to our website and page, I messaged their page... She's going to get back to me about the website -somebody else does that- but wants to feature our masks if we'll provide pics of the set in the gallery and some commentary text...
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Cool
Oh, links are working today. Wasn't a refresh, I think, but who knows for sure. Either way, working.
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Hey Elok - do you glance in here?
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That external links page is crazy way more work than it has any right being; I got up at nine -I think that's the new prescriptions at work- and have spent most of the last two hours adding Elok's book and fiddling to get the links to all format/dispaly the same... I don't know what the problem is -and I spent way too much time on this already yesterday- but I have to copy/paste the first link, then change the text and then the link.
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Just got back from taking pictures of masks at the gallery the lady asked for for the Facebook thing - and either we've sold a bunch in the last week -Mylochka says run-up to Halloween- or we've been ripped off pretty bad. I never kept track of what is and is not there, but we should have the five doll-scale masks I made in a day, for absolute sure, or the money, unless there was an improbable run on masks too small to put on a real baby this week. There was one left, accidentally hidden behind something else, that she found when we looked around the booth. -I didn't know she'd finished those mini-masks and put them out, actually, just that the three we did before that for gallery Christmas decoration were never on display anywhere we know of and have been AWOL ever since.
Not counting that one she did find, the two recently-painted cat masks we took over today, to add, and the crap bird-beak mask in the window that we didn't bother with, I count TEN masks. Mylochka thought that was light, too.
I wish I could be sure of what's going on to know how angry to be...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2435)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2436) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2437) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2438) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2439) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2442) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2441) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2440)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2443)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2444)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2445)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2446)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2447)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2448)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2450) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2451) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2452) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2453) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2454)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2449)
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Okay - now the website home page has its own non-stub purpose through the end of October.
-And GK, it totally mentions selling now.-
It felt weird to get that major alteration/update knocked out in half an hour to my satisfaction after the way the links page fought me tooth and nail yesterday and this morning.
M rooted around after we got home and turned up with a box of masks, saying "We don't even have the good ones out". 11 masks, 8 in excellent condition, two of the rest that may push back into shape in a few days nested firmly together with strong masks off the same base - and the black white and red truncated skull pictured on page one of this thread, which began as a bad mask -I made it too thin- and remained a bad mask after M did a decent job painting it. It's most of the office wall six DotD masks, three excellent horned oni halfmasks, the original crone mask from Touring Mayaland -the show and mask set that started it all- and that box is what became of the Red Skull.
She wants me to string them and put the JK labels in the back, and put them out at the sto'. Since someone's stealing our masks, I only wanted to leave one of the cat masks when we left. -But the worlds a happier place when I give others their way all I can stand to, and she thinks Halloween coming will sell masks -and the Red Skull is certainly a winner there- and I may settle for persuading her to hold back the original crone. (I might not mind selling it, but peeing it away to the thief, no.)
I'll get pictures of the set when I'm working with them tomorrow, of course. I've been VERY glad lately of my habit of documenting what I'm up to with my art on the forum - the JK Studio website folder only has two images in it, but a lot of .html files...
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Luck with the sales!
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Hmmm. Mylochka is setting up to paint as I type this...
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I didn't get around to looking in until 12:45, by which time M was long gone, but nothing's completely unpainted now...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2455)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2456)
Fingers crossed - I think she's delusional about Halloween sales until October, but if it helps motivate her to action in a useful timeframe that completes some stuff in the next three weeks, I'm not about to stick a pin in that balloon...
-It will also tend to have her thinking in the direction of stuff that looks like masks you would wear - I'm with her in tending to think of our masks more as fine art to hang on the wall -serious- than the costume pieces that got us started on mask-making, but costume-y decoration will sell more easily, and I find that unobjectionable...
(There's something wonderful about the surprise of making cats and getting back cat-shaped van Gogh paintings, but y'all can see that doesn't line up so well with something to wear for Halloween - ball masks and realism and stuff is going to be pretty universally appreciated for what happens to be the rest of our time at the gallery... I should work up a press release, actually, for about the beginning of October, when I reckon it'll have some feature appeal to local papers...)
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Halloween sales depend on your target audience. Might shock you that most sales by volume happen in April.
But that's an entirely different audience.
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I was involved in the local arts scene somewhat quite young -local amateur theater somewhat pulls the same crowd of women with three names as turn up with everything artsy in the county- and have yet to encounter or hear of anyone from the usual suspects having anything to do with the gallery, or any one previously known to me at all, save the patron, a local gadzillonaire my mom has known all her life. They've somehow failed to connect with those people, not that most of them have any talent or taste, IMO, but they don't shop there or spread the word, either. The limited extent I've been in the gallery and not pretty focused on what I was crafting to the exclusion of what's around me, the people that wander in strike me as unvaryingly ordinary. No people with scarf over a turtleneck and three names, no goths or Halloween weirdos, just grocery store crowd without the crowd part.
I did find out something about my skull candles getting picked out of the candle crowd and featured up on the top of our booth wall behind the Buster figure display -I haven't mentioned that have I?- talked to Buster this afternoon, and she said someone had taken most of her fairies and displayed them up front; she found out by finding it that way of course. THAT's what had been there before. I knew that, but didn't think it through. Fun fact: There appear to be some wear-it-on-their-sleeve Christians involved in the place, and I've got four pagan idols, more or less, to one (1) Jesus among the candles, so it seemed politic, when I was arranging the lot two weeks ago, to subtly head off possible static by putting Jesus out front, and kinda burying the skulls and the3 pagans in the mob.
Someone saw fit to reverse my arrangement unsubtly, no doubt thinking of Halloween coming, which is also why I decided to be cool with the arrogant high-handedness of it. -Yeah, but we. are. getting. the. [fuddle-duddle]. out of there, no matter what sells, come Halloween...
However, I realized there's a good reason to complete the gallery mask and donate it - the press release thing. We can't promote sales at a physical location without promoting the physical location, that mask ought to make a great visual hook for that, it ought to get featured at the sto' -like, window space or something- at just the right time to Move Some Masks, and generally throw whatever promotional support the gallery can behind a PR push, everybody winning. -And its STILL good people politics, worth it if we needed to finish and donate the mask for other reasons anyway...
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Ooh. Glamor shots of a mold-and-water damaged mask that wasn't finished to begin with.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2457)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2458)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2459)
BTW, when I talked to Buster this afternoon, I got her to ask for a mask for the first time in about eight years - Dixie, her puppy, who is pushing 50 pounds at two or three months old and is some brand of giant beagle-looking flop-eared hound. I told her in the old days, I would have slapped the short animal snout on my face base and tried to paint the half mask in his markings. -But I'm going to give this the cat mask treatment and make an entire new base from scratch that's actually shaped somewhat like his long head, but wearable -unlike the cat masks, really- by a human. That'll call for a half mask all right, but stick out over six inches... Working out those flop ears as something sturdy that isn't a huge struggle to get off the base is going to be a [girldog].
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If it's a hound, for ears, why don't you just plan on attaching velvet or some such cloth? The dangle and softness are part of their charm.
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Hmm. I had considered cloth add-on ears, but rejected it as a lame dodge. Your last sentence is persuasive, though...
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Some things are essential, like the hair in the eyes of an Old English Sheepdog. A candle or a bust is one thing, and a mask is another, right?
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You are correct, sir.
Floppy mache ears would need to be very strong, too, to survive much handling - and would just be in the way, as a wearable mask. You've convinced me that cloth is the way to go.
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I ran it past Buster and Momma -who sews like crazy, so I want her in on the ears- and they both agree that velvety cloth ears are the way to go.
---
This just in many hours ago: Buster & Rev. Dr. The Fink were by again this afternoon, this time it was for several hours and Mylochka had a thing and wasn't there to hog the baby, and the Kid TALKED to me again -and two days in a row more than an empty sentence or two and unconnected to kittens simply hasn't happened at all since this neurotic alien teenager who allegedly used to be Buster moved in next door last year- and I'm very happy about that - and she asked me to make her something (else) for the second day in a row, which has never ever happened at all.
She's looking to work up some unicorn thing, and asked for animal ears and a horn. The ears, I was working on something else this evening and didn't get started on, but she thinks that cat ears will be fine, and I can begin right away when I feel up to it tomorrow, and have them dried and ready in six hours or so - even allowing for lengthening the ears a tad for horsiness, which she didn't ask for. The horn will take a little longer, but not much; I'm going to work up a smooth cone like the oni horns only longer, because that should slide out okay when it's dry, given I smear on enough Vaseline. -Then I add the spiral on the outside during the mache-ing process. She's going to figure out how to mount the stuff, something involving a wig, later, and wants them as three loose pieces with little flat bases surrounding to glue or something.
Dixie's gonna be a job to do up and work out nice -but there's no schedule/deadline- this, I can do in a day or two, and have three weeks...
-Definitely pretty happy about all that.
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Happy is good!
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I've made the ears for Buster last night, and they're ready to come off the form when I'm ready.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2460)
I made much extra work for myself sandwiching triangles cut from empty cigarette cartons over the cat ears to extend them, and making the edges actually match.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2461)
I keep thinking of Bottom in A Mid-Summer Night's Dream when I look at them, so I daresay I've hit the ballpark.
If I can get the crap around the bottom started prying off in one piece -she asked for base/rims for gluing purposes on her end, and I'll cover the openings underneath later to give her more gluing surface- the cardboard will ensure the actual ears won't cling...
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Mylochka is painting right now. -Me, I've drifted into a mood where I feel like talking, but not doing. Here's hoping I'm inspired to get the doing mood back.
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Well, the cat mask is rather cat-like. Is it modeled after anyone I know?
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Really, I was just aiming for more-or-less authentically cat. Moses was still just a baby when I started it, Goblin too fluffy to be feasible for much of a likeness - but there was indeed a litter of all-attractive kittens egging me on. That's where the wrestling mask idea came from, too, you'll recall. It was nothing to do with God wanting Uno to wrestle in Mexico.
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BTW - I told Mylochka that if she put in a mere half hour painting most days, I wouldn't complain. If she got inspired any of those days and spent more when she felt like, I also wouldn't complain.
-She mostly put another coat of base on many, but also started some weird makeup-looking thing on two masks that makes me think she's intending to go clown, one of them smiling Uno, Uno.
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A funny idea I had last week -nature putting The Captain in blackface made me think Othello, and that had me thinking about casting the usual suspects of commedia del arte with characters from Shakespeare's Italian tragedies. So off the top of my head, Othello as il capitano, Iago as his bumbling servant, Shylock as the miser, Romeo and Juliet as the young lovers --- and it makes me wish I knew my Shakespeare as well as my Gilligan's Island, 'cause I got nothin' for Desdemona, Portia and Mercutio, and that runs through everyone I remember readily.
-Anyway, it's really only funny to people into that area of literature, because Shakespeare done as commedia is basically a Moliere play with masks. Mylochka, who is into that kind of thing, agrees that the idea wants to write itself, once had. -If she was still a professor putting on plays every spring semester, I'd totally be after her to do it. It couldn't NOT find an appreciative audience in academia.
The play opens with seven people shipwrecked on an island... [shrugs] Wasn't Prospero Italian? There's your il doctore...
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I have gotten the horsey ears off the cat form this afternoon, laid a couple layers down on the underside to close the cavity and make more glue-able surface, as planned, and set them in front of the dehumidifier to dry. The base/core for the unicorn horn has been made, baked, and is cooling in the oven now.
I wish I could say that feeling like making had anything to do with this - but Buster might turn up this afternoon, and is definitely going to the doll show tomorrow with my wimminz, so it's really all to do with commitment and embarrassment. I should be able to turn over the ears immediately -and the horn within a day or two, preferably/hopefully tomorrow afternoon when they get back.
Building a spiral ridge on top of a smooth cone isn't going to be crazy simple/easy, but probably will fight me less at every stage than the ears did - I was sure to add a little rim to the base of the horn, to have something to pry against to get it out when the horn mache's dry.
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...I've done some janitorial stuff/organizing on the JK Studio site today - all the Home links are now http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/) instead of local "index.html" links, 'cause I figure it won't hurt with the search engines, and might help.
More obviously, I created the subdirectory page I've talked about eventually having to make, to all these how-to/demonstration pages and the gallery of stuff being made pics. I'm not entirely satisfied, mostly on the grounds that all those individual links were pretty clear about what they were, and "In The Workshop" for a subdirectory/link name isn't -I just don't see a better way with the room I have given myself to work with.
Still, nothing's set in stone until we're a lot further along to selling stuff online than I am now...
-
I did get the basic work done on the unicorn horn last night-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2463)
-and got everything covered underneath and dry before they got back from the doll show.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2464)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2465)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2466)
Unfortunately, Buster was taken home first - but I've got this commitment crossed off my list in under a week, as promised, before she came by hoping, and that's good. She'll have my humble efforts at her convenience.
---
On another note, I was thinking I needed to finally finish the pig mask next, 'cause I have pics of the stages of making the appliance and wanted to do the next new JK Workshop page on that, and would want a pic of the mask from it with my part finished for such a page.
...And it suddenly hit me that I need to get around to that a week ago - 'cause my painter's come out of her coma and is painting a half hour most days, and ol' Piggy ain't making me no money if he's not finished painted and in the sto', and he's behind the whole moldy crew right now...
-
You say unicorn, I was thinking freaky witch hat on seeing the pic.
-
It does look like that on either side...
Well, I got nothing real substantial done today, but I did get three things crossed off my to-do list...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2467) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2468)
...which is a big improvement over most of this week...
-
Hmm. It occurred to me that I've never had Mylochka pace out the painting like this before, and it was practical to document her painting process as she went.
This is how she left it Friday - with the pig mask added to the queue.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2469)
I don't think taking the weekend off was planned - but she came home tired from the doll show Saturday, of course, and felt like crap the next day, of course -that's just how it works with her brain now- and then we had company/Petey's family all afternoon.
Yesterday, she managed to get in a session, though:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2470)
And just wrapped up another while I typed this, but I haven't snuck over for pics yet. What she was working towards with the blue masks is pretty cool, BTW.
I'm trying not to hover, and when today's session began, I opened with saying so, and got back a quick snotty, "Well don't hover" before I could ask her about the doll-face painting, -and barely managed to suppress the urge to punish that with hovering. I got me a policy against rewarding people with what they want for being nasty to me. -But anyway, haven't had a chance to ask, but suspect it's just planning to put down the crackle base and repainting...
-
Hey Geo! Do you check this thread? The three masks here are a skyline you saw up close from behind, across the Linville Gorge at the overlook place.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2472)
;notes; We had an adventure!/ A mountain adventure! ;notes;
That's Hawksbill and world-famous Table Rock; it's the western Burke County skyline, and some Valdese heritage for the art center. She spent more like an hour painting today -I didn't actually keep track- presumably finishing these three.
-In the foreground, she's finally begun on that key gallery mask I want to hang a small publicity stunt on the donation of about the beginning of next month.
Everything else:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2471)
The other alien, horned skull and chimp masks top left seem to be going interesting/excellent places, and the oni in the middle of the table should, too - she's never done a non-awesome painting on an oni. The grey second coat on the pig hints that she has an idea, and it's not to go with pink and cute.
For the rest, I wonder about clowns and old dolls, but I'd be happy enough with some unimaginative straightforward realistic paintings - I don't figure Halloween has any promise for us selling fine art wall hangings, y'know? Stuff that looks like just a mask you'd wear, the gorilla especially, would probably do better, alas...
-
I like those scenery ones.
-
GEO!
Hey Geo! Do you check this thread? The three masks here are a skyline you saw up close from behind, across the Linville Gorge at the overlook place.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2472)
;notes; We had an adventure!/ A mountain adventure! ;notes;
-
Okydoke; some minor developments. I was late getting sleepy last night, and got a late start today; apparently, M slipped in and put a finishing glaze on the three skyline masks before I even woke up. Momma told me, before I had been up an hour or finished my first coffee, that Mylochka wanted me to get the old masks she turned up recently strung and labeled with the JK Studio tag inside for her to take them over to the gallery after lunch. Also the three new ones. It was short notice, but also my fault because I hadn't gotten it done on the older ones three weeks ago like I intended.
I was only getting started when she showed up to collect, and she told me a little about what she'd been doing with painting while I strung the three new masks. What happened with the doll face paintings was that she didn't remember what order she did what on the big Doll Face about six years ago, and had painted on three, then realized it needed to be on top of a crackle coat base, and when she sprayed that on with the same old can - it turned out that chemistry had happened over years and now it's just white paint. She needs to get a new can of crackle or take another tack, and has concentrated on what she could do with other masks until she gets around to that or decides on something different.
She did leave behind one older oni that was actually ready to go, because she especially liked the design on that one and needed it to look at for inspiration.
Eight or so -I didn't count- high-quality masks added to what's available in the gallery now...
-
So, are these going into the store, or just online?
-
Oh, we are SO not ready to get online sales going yet.
It's simple in concept; Mylochka has a paypal account, we post pictures, yada yada.
-But it takes getting everything together and inventorying what we have, (and being more selective about what's not embarrassingly in need of repairs before we offer it) which probably won't happen at all before we clean out what's left at the gallery end of next month, and Mylochka's excellent glamour photography of the masks -what we need for sales presentation, not pictures I take of masks sitting in my (trash heap-looking) workshop or just laying on a bed- takes some setup with background and lighting that we've agreed on where we'll do it but hasn't happened yet, and also require that a bunch of masks come home first. Neither of us is very interested in running back and forth from the gallery -or some of my candles would have been on sale three months sooner, and the bulk of the mask put out today three weeks ago- and that's surely going to wait until early November.
The biggest hurdle, of course, is that the sales stuff needs pages with a 'shopping cart' setup that's way over the tech paygrade of either one of us, and has to be done with those [intercourse gerund] Wix templates and hosted there, and she won't admit that she intends me to do all the site-building work, and I haven't explicitly told her that I have no intention of touching the &^%$#@! template until the pages are set up and I'll go behind her and do what little I can to bring the look of the pages into line with my site design as much as possible. She's been in a productive/creative coma forever, and that's not lining up fortunately with the trend in my mood cycle right now. -I ain't begun work on a new tutorial page in over a week, and that's with three clear ideas waiting in line.
All this is unfortunate, because of course right now is the time to be hawking masks to the general public nation-wide within reach of a snail mail box and not just the limited local market in a brick-and-mortar venue with an incurable invisibility problem.
tl:dr; Just the sto' for now.
-
GEO!
YAY!
Yeah, I sometimes check this thread. Like once a week or so?
I haven't seen the ridge from the mask point of view somewhere along the way, didn't I?
-
You've been to Morganton where it can't be missed, yes.
That can also be seen out one of the windows in Mylochka's house in February, but I doubt you did.
-
Haven't taken a pic from that side then. And perhaps that was that cloudy day in Morganton.
-
I do believe it was. We came back through Morganton from the South Mountain waterfall hike, and went back a day or two later when I drove you through Caldwell county and we played spot the church. -The latter was a rainy day, and I think it was already clouding up after the hike.
-
Well, 3 days in the cold season is a bit short to see a whole county.
-
Well, 3 days in the cold season is a bit short to see a whole county.
Sure - and as I'm sure I mentioned repeatedly, February is the wrong time and we were lucky it was as warm and nice as it was. You need to be here when the leaves are on the trees to appreciate what beautiful country this is.
-
April would be a better month? ;)
-
Depends on the weather at the time, and May would be even better, but yes. This year, any month from April to now would have done nicely if you missed the rainy spells in a wet, cool, summer.
-
She was painting when I got up this morning.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2473)
This is new:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2474)
That half mask is off The Captain, and was one of the ones that had been going doll face; looks like she's trying something Peking Opera-inspired instead.
-
She tells me she is planning to score some working crackle spray - just decided to do something else with that particular one.
-
She was painting when I woke up yesterday:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2475)
-The main new development is that she's clearly adding the gorilla to the Heart of the Jungle series -one of her all-time best motifs- a rich leafy pattern inspired by a specific Frida Kahlo painting - one of them is one of the few we've sold at the gallery, and the other was on my desk awaiting mask repairs, or I bet it would have sold, too...
-That's the crone attached that's been sold, and the monkey we still have.
-
A little practical art in practice story.
Sunday before yeasterday, Momma came home from church to catch a sketchy-looking dude in a pickup truck on our carport. Claimed he was looking for [some male name we never heard of].
Naw - he was totally caught looking to steal various and sundry item off our carport - lawn mower, generator, an air compressor with a big tank, and maybe even the screen doors propped against the wall for the scrap metal value. Momma saw a lot of junk in the back of his truck.
Thing is, I think I heard something before she showed up - but the chances are not that great that I would have wrapped up whatever I was doing and gone to investigate in time. Life is too short to get up every time I hear something going on - nearly 100% of the time it's something mundane that Momma's up to.
The town police are clown college for apes, and at least one person besides me told her to file a report anyway, so everybody please spare me the suggestions about the po-po. I don't actually know if she did or not.
What she did do for sure was take it pretty seriously. It's a nasty thing, living somewhere that it's a good bet that you can leave the lawn mower outside and all that comes of it is that it's there when you need it, and some piece of trash ruins that. A lot less of our stuff is outside now.
-And well, yesterday, she also did this while she was gone to church...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2476) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2477)
That's Carman, who was created in the first place as a ride-along dummy for feminine security purposes, thus his name. Like a scarecrow, but a scareman. That's a bb gun in his lap, of course.
Now, if I was a sketchy dude up to no good, I would not get a very good look at that figure; I'd be out of there so fast half my tires would be smeared on the pavement...
She's away all day today, so when I went out to spoil the cats after lunch, I found Carman at his post. He has been with us for getting on 30 years, and I did not jump in startlement --- but I can surely attest of my own experience that he does have that quality, and has startled many over many years. He's a real menace to peripheral vision...
-
She certainly has a dark sense of humor. :-\
Hope someone noticed at least a license plate.
-
I believe she was too alarmed to think of that in time...
-
She had a long painting session yesterday -and another today, but I haven't taken pics yet- where I think she just finished up the Captain halfmask and did something similar with the halfmask I did on my own face.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2478)
I don't got a small face myself, so you can tell the original model for The Captain had himself a right big one.
The crackle problem turned out to be that she'd forgotten the specialized crackle base coat - two are now base-coated, and outside drying.
She considers the alien face with the 'tribal' decoration finished, BTW, though I don't notice any new detail today. More pics later...
-
She considers the two pictured above done, as well as the green chimp, and has set them aside.
Here's where she left it Tuesday:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2479)
And here's yesterday:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2480)
I guess the crackle surfacing didn't work out after all.
She was at it early again today, but I haven't taken photos - yet...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2481)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2482)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2476)
This bloke hasn't been bored on its duty sofar?
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Nossir. He startled Buster about an hour ago.
-
With als little glee from a certain innocent bystander? ;)
-
She got another early start yesterday...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2483)
Looks like she's had another fail with the crackle.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2484)
Other than that, the main progress I see is deciding to do this one and the crone masks as two more western Burke skylines...
No sign of her so far today...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2491)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2492)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2493)
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Does the table ever get emptier? ;)
-
Yes - go back about a month and count mask in the earliest pics, and you'll see about half are gone. She finished them and they're in the gallery for sale, now.
-
-Speaking of which, I've fallen about a week behind posting progress pics, but alas, that's only three sessions...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2494)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2495)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2496)
-
That white/black/red one to the left is lovely, but it's really hard to top that creepy doll.
-
She's set these two aside as finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2497)
And work proceeds slowly on the remainder.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2498)
-
This is where she left things yesterday.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2499)
Today, she varnished the two Peking opera masks, a sign she considers them finished - but I haven't taken any pictures of today's work, yet.
-
How go the sales?
-
I haven't heard anything, yet. Not getting my hopes way up...
-
She made off with the finished ones before I could get a picture that afternoon.
What's left in the works...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2504)
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Yes, the whole table isn't in the pictures anymore. :P
From this batch I'd see the top left one and the bottom center one feasable as carnaval disguise in my future home town (the most famous national carnaval takes place there).
-
Between the dicey tube of calk used and running out of motivation for anything, the mold for the statue has had a long time to cure.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2527) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2528) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2529) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2530)
Past time to start the mother mold so I can see how it turned out...
-
Any idea how the mask sales went?
-
Any idea how the mask sales went?
Not sure yet, but nobody's handed me any money. My brother mentioned yesterday he suspects they hadn't gotten last month sorted the last time he was by the shop, as there was no money for any of the four of us. [shrugs]
-
So I figure the mother needs to be in two parts.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2531) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2532)
With a layer of mesh that I'll cover with more gauze.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2533) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2534)
I'll let it firm up overnight, then do the same on the other side. If the two halves are strong enough and butt together right, I can put a couple of rubber bands around, and all I have to figure out is how to suspend/prop up for pouring...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2535) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2536)
Now to see how it turned out, after giving it til tomorrow to set good.
I've worried about this for months -which has hardly encouraged me to proceed- I'm never wild about working with the plaster gauze, and this is a tricky two-part mold that will be hard to fit together tightly and can mess up at numerous points.
-
So, why the mesh? I've found just plaster more than enough, myself. Especially at that size.
-
Just trying something. I have concerns about it holding shape - but now doubt that it did more good than harm, tending to make the mother less solid.
-
Want To Be More Creative? Not Being Social May Help (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=20212.msg108903#msg108903)
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She was back at it early...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2537)
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I met a traveler from and antique land who said
Two vast and trunkless legs of stone stand in the desert;
Near them on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies
Whose frown, and wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command
Show that well the sculptor read these passions which yet survive
Stamped on these lifeless things;
The hand that mocked them and the heart that fed.
And on the pedestal these words appear:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2538)
MY NAME IS OZYMANDIAS; KING OF KINGS
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2539)
LOOK UPON MY WORKS, YE MIGHTY, AND DESPAIR!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2540)
Nothing beside remains
Round the decay of that colossal wreck
The lone and level sands stretch far away.
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Ouch. Did it not cure all the way or something? Looks like some weird discoloring.
-
Beats me - dicey tube of calk and a lot of baking at170-200 degrees. It seems to be cured.
-
no release agents? It looks to me like it shrunk while curing and it stuck to the mold and that caused the cracks.
-
Well, if I had it to do over again, believe me, I'd grease up the template. But I don't think there was shrinkage. I'd put it down to the baking of the silicone, but I baked the back half more, and had no damage visible on the uncovered side.
If the mold works -and there seems to be nothing wrong with it if my design was any good in the first place and I can get the inside cleaned- I suppose it's not that important; but I'm pretty demoralized about trying at this stage.
-
She varnished the three at the top on the workbench yesterday morning, so they're done.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2541)
-
Ooo, that deep read oni in the background...
Also fond of the green lucha.
-
Oh yes. The three on the edge of the bench are old ones she's declined to put out for sale, saying she looks to them for inspiration. -And the detailing really sells the wrestling mask that looked so lame for so long, with just the green and tan panels.
-
Uno - ISTR you suggesting something on a Phantom of the Opera line, but not just what variation on the asymmetrical design, and I can't find the post.
(I discovered the movie recently. If you've never sang Point of no return to Het, you probably should...)
-
NO ONE wants to hear me sing.
I don't recall which design I would have suggested or when either. It might have been at the other place, even. I seem to recall us having the conversation of a removable mask with the makeup done up underneath. That's always been a desire of mine.
-
I've described before an idea I had back in my renfair days - the crone mask in white plaster, with the crone mask in somewhat realistic latex underneath. I have both, and have posted pics before...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2542) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2543) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2544)
There's a lot of work to fix this up - but I figure I can work with this.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2545) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2546) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2547)
There's a discontinuity in the head -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2548)
-and since I have a much better mold of the head I did for a candle bust, I reckon I'll be replacing this with that...
-
Here's a better shot of the head problem.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2549)
It only looks super-bad from this angle, but just as well save my self a lot of work, and get a better result, with replacing this part.
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I ended up fiddling with the Ken statue mold until I think the next try will be a lot more acceptable.
-Trouble is, I've used up my plaster, and I don't want to do any more pours until the current cold snap goes away, anyway - the outdoor faucets are wrapped up, and I can't properly clean up the plaster mess without ruining our drains.
Meanwhile, something new in the works:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2550)
That's the unaltered/joints-showing body, which I plan to fix up in plaster. I'll add hair, of course, and because there's no wrists and the arms won't pose like I want, I'm going to mold/cast them separately in sculpey to make the master figure...
-
Here's the deal with the new Barbie statue:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2551) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2552) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2553) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2554) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2555)
-cocked hip, tilted head - and the arms posed as close as they'll go for illustrative purposes. The intent is for the right arm to cross and grasp the left, which is to go straight down and rest the hand on the thigh. I'm trying for little to no gap away from the body.
Here's the master (arms posed up to get out of the way...):
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2556)
Note the ridge snaking up the back - that's where I cut the mold open when this was dry and off/
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2557)
-which was hard to get off with the arms in the way, but I think will work out okay to give me a base figure to work with. Opening up the front seems to be the way to go with this sort of thing. Duct tape doesn't stick to the plaster well, nor the silicone at all, but will stick to duct tape, when you lap it over, just fine.
I have plugged the arm holes, but the back of my head is still working on designing the arm molds, which are going to be tricky to stuff sculpey in and then demold in one piece.
The cold snap has finally ended, so I'm stealing myself up to make a run on the hardware store for a new sack of plaster. (I wonder if they carry the gauze? Never buy art supplies at an art supply store when the hardware store carries the same thing in bulk, at MUCH lower prices.)
---
Further in the back of my noggin, figuring out how to make a good casting of that baby head...
-
...I'll decide about her hair when I've done her arms - I was thinking about a thick braid, but if the (thin, fragile) arms can't feasibly be made to lay against the body, a great flowing mane of waist-length might be called for...
-
I've scored some plaster. Trying to wake up and get motivated...
-
In progress...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2558)
...And a Geomodder comedy crop of the same shot...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2559)
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I completely forgot to mention I noticed the Prison&Maritime Museum at Ushuaia had a goodly sized collection of dolls...
The one below catched my eye immediately.
-
Hey, what horned/oni masks do you have available?
-
Give me a while to pick-n-process a group shot of everything we have I took about a month ago but hadn't done anything with yet.
-
Huh. Four half-masks and the horned skull. I kinda thought there was more than that. Took a pic of them together just now - coming in a few minutes.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2604)
Just noting that 1.) I owe you a mask, and 2.) the horned skull glows in the dark.
The green ones are both latest crop. The half-masks in shades of reddish are older, and favorites of Mylochka's that are not the first things in our inventory she's eager to part with - they're a lot smoother and nicer to the touch than the green mold-disaster survivors, mind. I'm sure you'll fill me in on the what/why at some point?
Note, too, that horned half-masks unpainted would be fairly easy to turn out fairly quickly. There's more than one nose, and I'd need to post profiles and maybe the noses themselves if somebody wanted to special order and decorate at their end...
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And you probably remember a 3/4 horned bull on the Guernica model painted red. I don't recall giving it away or being told it sold, and I think it was still around before the gallery, and I could ask Mylochka what she knows.
I've got all the parts for that, though I can't say I like working with those horns, but I could, with or without the bull-snout, on most any face or halfmask, were I sufficiently motivated. It does come with the Picasso forehead bulge in the middle.
-
Unfortunately, he’s decided to make me work. He wants one done in my green man style.
Personally think any of those red ones would be better for the venue, but teenagers know best.
(Alec has a masquerade ball coming up)
-
:(
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Not near as clean as your mache, but my finish method doesn't demand it on this.
(http://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2018-buildup/B4A5BE26-0509-49F4-B822-B17678EE7747.jpeg?i=332467487)
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Sure - that's the "bones" and you'll detail in something else atop that - what, exactly?
-
Gotta do the horns but glueing moss to the rest.
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Okay - do the horns in what?
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DAS is my go-to for finishing.
Wal-mart was carrying an air dry clay that was softer and easier to work than DAS I loved, but it falls apart rather swiftly in weather (freezing destroys it). That matters in my creations but not this.
Would look good in air dry porcelain too.
-
Ooh, I've been remiss in reporting that the gallery we were in for a year, Valdese Heritage Art Center, has curled up and died. Facebook post 8 April: "Sadly, we are closing our shop. Thank you for your loyal support!" -Mylochka found out from me, and that's all we know, last I asked.
As I was saying a year-and-a-half ago, as we were on our way out, nobody in charge, no pop to the storefront, bad location, no publicity stunts/networking with other local creative types/institutions, and I believe they peed away the booth fee money on the -lame- town radio station, instead of peeing it away on the one in the -10 minutes drive away, but out of range of WSVM- county seat, where a lot more art patrons live.
I fell into a couple of different conversations with artists over there about the marketing problem before we left, and they seemed to have thought a lot of the same things - and intriguingly, the rich patron who provided the space specifically forbad any alterations to the green-and-white sign (like color that would have given it a little pop), turning on a light upstairs at night to illuminate the stained glass windows, and I assume that a banner sign across the storefront was right out.
That nobody in charge thing was really serious, too, especially with a few who thought they were making the rest miserable.
-
Season finale of Sabrina season two is worth a watch for mask inspiration.
Our local Halloween Expo didn't officially go belly up, but failed to put on a show last year after only one season.
The Halloween in Summer festival is trying to move on without it's founders, so I'll be interested to see if it succeeds. (I predict it will be fine)
Are there no other booth type things out there? Those are like a dime a dozen around here these days. plus every other weekend there's a boutique thing somewhere.
-
You're rock-throwing distance from major city SLC, though.
Outside Asheville and random tourist traps, this whole end of the state is a poor venue for art. There's a little summer tourism locally, but very little, and no networking I'm aware of with those institutions ever took place. I'm very nearly homebound, and Mylocka is incapacitated too much of the time, and nothing that takes driving an hour or more repeatedly is going to ever happen.
-
-I've been thinking, BTW, about revisiting the college devil mask, as in, a new version with smaller horns that a mask can be pulled off the base in one piece...
-
You're rock-throwing distance from major city SLC, though.
Outside Asheville and random tourist traps, this whole end of the state is a poor venue for art. There's a little summer tourism locally, but very little, and no networking I'm aware of with those institutions ever took place. I'm very nearly homebound, and Mylocka is incapacitated too much of the time, and nothing that takes driving an hour or more repeatedly is going to ever happen.
I think it has more to do with the LDS church more than the density. Even out of the way cities have booth shops and arts festivals. It's one of the more socially acceptable activities for LDS moms to make money at, since it's 'not a job' and they can stay at home parent.
Just noticed I never posted a final above. He ended up the only one going to the masquerade in a home-made mask.
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2018-buildup/C5D544B9-04D9-4055-8824-67AF854F8582.jpeg)
I'm really toying with redoing my own, in large part because of this Apoxy Clay, and I hate the spanish moss on it.
-
It's a pretty strong compliment, there, you know - it's sorta in Alec's teenager job description to find everything to do with Dad lame...
-
So, the crone base that was one of the first things I made when I got into this nearly 20 years ago
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1602)
is still AWOL with some other bases and whatnot that disappeared in the move home from Texas. - But it hit me recently that this mask made off it
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2454)
with the eye and nostrils plugged, is a serviceable excellent mold, being lined with latex for waterproofing, and I can cast a pretty good replacement base in plaster. That's what I'm gearing up to work on first, maybe today...
-
Awesome!
-
This, I've been doing over and over in my head for over a week - I'd really like to avoid ruining the paint job. I'd also like to extend the edges of the base a bit further than the close trimming of the mask edges. We'll see; I've got everything I need set out, and ma working up the nerve, now.
-
Today I took another stab at re-creating one of my wife's favorite dishes. It's been off of the menu of my favorite restaurant for about 10 years. I have a recipe, but there are 4 parts to it, and it's a start the night before or have a total kitchen destruction day. ( That's when you use so many things/ get them dirty that the kitchen is good for little else during and after). So I tried to Lazy Gourmet it.
I had setbacks. I burnt the edges of my crust and had to trim it. I used a food processor for about the first time in 10 years and was reminded why I prefer blenders. So I switched appliances halfway through. I forgot that I didn't have a couple of ingredients. All those challenges derailed my schedule, too.
It was a success. It was close enough that I am to continue making it. I have learned from my mistakes and I'll do it again for guests and I expect it to be great. I'll post it to the Lazy Gourmet thread at that time.
At some point I had to stop planning for perfection, give it a try and consider it an experiment. Today was that day, and I'm glad I did.
You've got this, Buncle.
Now I should get back to cleaning the kitchen.
-
We'll see in the morning.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4690)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4691)
-
Kinda surprised that mold held the weight.
-
I was pretty sure it would - I did the same with an untrimmed mask of your face to make the copy I turned into The Captain.
-However, not harming the paint job is still in some doubt...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4693)
-But the bit on the tip of the nose chipped off cleanly, and that's all I've tried so far...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4694)
-
Well, it is what it is.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4695)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4696)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4697)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4698)
I got all the thick bits of the plaster off the outside of the mask, and the rest ought/might come up fine with a damp wipe - but I'll need to repair some small tears around the edges.
The base ought to prove serviceable, but I'm seriously tempted to build the bottom up, maybe an inch, with more plaster; as is, it doesn't leave me a lot of options as to shape and size of masks built off it...
-
For comparison, here's a pic of the original:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1602)
My new copy spread wide, noticeably - dunno if that's a bad thing, though. I could certainly make some adjustments if I decided to build up the new form more...
-
Oh, fun! It's great to see you creating again. Do you guys see an uptick in business around Mardi Gras/Halloween/any other time of year?
-
Nothing's come of web sales so far - Mylochka still hasn't gotten to various contributions, and I'm stuck getting set up until...
-
...I note for the record that in the back of my head, I keep finding myself adding that inch or two to the base of the base. Carefully duct taping the edges with a goodly bit of the width standing up ought to make a sufficient retainer. This is a goodsign for me getting around to doing more if I'm still thinking about it/bored enough tomorrow...
-
-Meanwhile, I tried to make a face base off this years ago, but the plaster gauze mold wouldn't come off in one piece.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4699) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4701) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4700)
Let's see if I can't fix that.
-
I’d be tempted to do the whole head as a mold and dissolve the styrofoam.
-
Yeah; see, I'm not even going for the ears.
I'm latexing the face first, to smooth out the Styrofoam texture. Nothing that photographs well, so far.
-
Turned out the duct tape didn't want to stick to the plaster, but a layer of latex applied around the edge last night took care of that.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4709)
That's close enough to the shape I need to sand down to when it's dry.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4708)
-At least, I hope so...
-
...I'm at the point, when the latest latex layer on Styrofoam Johnny is dry tonight, to start with the paper mache on him - and the Mylochka base for the devil mask. I've been dreading opening the tupperware in the fridge with the paste, as that ain't been opened since mid-September of 2017, and I bet it's turned by now, despite all the salt and rubbing alcohol I stirred in to prevent just that...
-
It's built up less than I'd intended, but I think it'll do...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4710)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4711)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4712)
Smoothing out the irregularities won't be much of a challenge. The nature of this particular face is forgiving, since the skin is supposed to be crinkley.
-
The first picture looked like an interesting terrain feature, for a second (I've been playing a lot of The Long Dark recently).
-
:D
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4713)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4714)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4715)
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It was BUncle who put that face on Mars...
-
It was BUncle who put that face on Mars...
Oh, THAT face! :D
-
Here's how I spent the last six hours:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4716)
Made a new batch of paste after supper, and greased Johnny and Mylochka, applying separation strips, most of them a thin white tissue...
I never want to have to do a whole head again - it wouldn't lay face up on the table, and I had to hold it in my lap, which was messy and slow. I'm picking bits of dried paste off my legs between typing sentences.
Anyway, now I've got this:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4717)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4718)
I reckon I can commence work on the Devil shell over Mylochka tomorrow - that's the project been kicking around the back of my head for three months, maybe four... I've tackled my project ideas in reverse order, actually.
-
I think this will show correctly
[EDIT] Nope - trying again - Opps, the full image messes up the thread width, i'll just leave the link then...
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/785229662347423614/1B13162F2A48E2D98AE7492FB6C03442A1B70E10/)
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Also, this one
See how the terrain is (of course, it's also pretty)
(https://steamuserimages-a.akamaihd.net/ugc/785229662347422950/9107E0A5D0FC755DB1CC34DDC7B36F12C13DAAEA/)
-
Edited to display at a thread width-friendly size; you can also click on them to see at original.
...Y'know, it hits me that if Mylochka can dig up some reddish sandstone-texture paint, I could easily do up the Face on Mars, and we might could unload a crapton of those...
-
-And the space helmet would double as a pharaonic headdress, painted that way. I seriously think I'll look into this...
-
-I got, BTW, the mold-mask off Johnny just fine hours ago - I'm making sure it's good and completely dry before I proceed.
-
Congrats! A Mars face mask sounds like an interesting idea.
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This and that is coming along. Crone is several latex layers along, and the lining of the Johnny mold will be ready for casting by lunchtime.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4719)
I never woke up good yesterday, so work on the Devil shell has yet to commence. I'm feeling a good deal peppier today already, so should happen today.
-
-And indeed, here's the undershell two or three layers in:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4720)
And finished, ready to break out the sculpey when it's dry tomorrow:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4721)
Like the Johnny mold, I went for extra construction paper and a lot of layers overall, for strength - it's better if the finished shell is sturdy enough to work on without laying on the form it was built over. Sometimes I have something else in progress on Mylochka and, for example, the skull shell built over it sags a lot at the temples to mask on without the extra support...
Johnny's short a minute's greasing before I'm ready to cast the base...
-
The optical effect I always get when I shoot the inside of a mask straight on strikes me funny - this looks like it's the outside in the center, and inside around the edges. Strange - and does it every time.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4722)
Anyway, supper set me back a little, but here it is poured and drying...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4723)
I guess I'll paint another layer on the Crone, and then I'm waiting for the other two things to dry until tomorrow. I can get another layer on Crone about bedtime, but otherwise bored.
-
Drying
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4724)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4725)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4726)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4727)
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That looks good.
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Eh, it's going to need some fixes - the tip of the nose and some wrinkles that aren't supposed to be there...
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Suddenly it hit me -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4728)
Crone looks a lot like Squidward of SpongeBob SquarePants…
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4729)
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I've commenced roughing in the Devil...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4731)
(Planning to build up the cheeks and nose, too.)
...So nobody here young and/or stoned enough to be into SpongeBob? (I only caught it because internet - you jokers would have gone nuts for accidental Skeletor; don't deny it…)
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I couldn't stand it
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So most of y'all have talent, taste, and/or a history of helpful suggestions...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4732)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4733)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4734)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4735)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4736)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4737)
-Have I got this roughed, so smooth and attend to symmetry and the like - or do I widen the base of the horns (and/or move them lower and out more in line with the brows) and make the chin even longer?
I was sorta going for a more triangular face, but then this more shape face looks like he'd beat you to death with his bare hands before he ate you, and I can will get the bottom more tapered in the trimming... Thoughts?
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Interesting. I normally think of devil horns being more upwards pointing.
What I find fascinating about this face is that it is very triangular in the last photo, and square in the others. I guess I've always been struck by faces that change appearance with the angle you view them. So, in profile you have 5 forward protrusions- 2 horns, 2 cheekbones and a chin. Sort of like a pentagram. Seems devilish to me, the more I think about it.
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This feels VERY retro-halloween to me. 70's, maybe early 80s. I know I've seen that devil's cheekbones before.
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Took it upstairs to show Momma on my way to sunset cat feeding, and left it with her for input when I came back in 15 minutes. She thinks attending to symmetry and bulking out the base of the horns/width of the brow will do it. She likes the horns pointing forward.
The cheekbones are similar to both the Crone and the college Devil in the OP.
-
For comparison, a quick shooping of roughly how I'd normally trim the bottom of the face, with some widening of the horn bases as Momma suggested.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4738)
-And the base photo again.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4732)
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Okydoke; I believe I got the symmetry of the cheeks much improved, and the widening of the horns bases as envisioned.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4740)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4739)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4741)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4742)
Taking photos and looking at them certainly helps me spot bits that need something... Need to fill in the line between the chin and the peeks of the cheeks somewhat - the other side's like that, too. I was thinking I would wrap up for the night, anyway; the fresh-worked sculpey's too soft to smooth smoothly right now, and will firm up a bit by the time I'm up to arting.
I made the undershell extra long past the end of the Mylochka base. When the extra is removed, that will improve the overall shape of the Devil face, as well...
Noting that sculpey and latex supplies are running low, I'll need to do a craft store run soon. I haven't shown Mylochka anything I'm working on lately, yet; one hopes she will take an interest...
-
50's devil costume, forward horns. I know there's a much more triangular version with the cheeks and no goofy ears.
https://www.zealantiques.com/listing/633007042/vintage-50s-devil-costume-kids-antique (https://www.zealantiques.com/listing/633007042/vintage-50s-devil-costume-kids-antique)
Don't get me wrong, I'm mentioning this as a GOOD thing. I'd consider leaning even heavier into it, with a big grin, similar to this pseudo vintage thing. Goatee, pencil stash.
(https://peewee.com/wp-content/uploads/Fun-House-Devil-Vac-tastic-Plastic-Mask_-VACFHD_image2__03696.1472768068.1280.1280.jpg)
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Well, I showed Mylochka Johnny and the Devil -I only have two hands, and the Crone has a layer drying- and she pronounced them "cool", but only wanted to talk about world history stuff for the next hour+. :dunno:
-
-But now she's given me material from an academic workshop on masks she once conducted to build a webpage around.
A thing we agree on that the JKStudio site should do is brand our mask work as less Halloween costume stuff -though that, too- than snooty wall decoration. A brief history and overview of the world cultural universality of masks, billed as by DR. Mylochka presented at such-and-such conference, is just the ticket. I've also asked her to re-create the web pages that used to be on the department website for the two shows she produced/wrote/directed that I masked...
(A costume party mask, people who aren't Uno want to pay about $5. A hoity-toidy ART mask for the wall runs more like $5,000. We'll settle for $40...)
-
I agree I come from a horribly skewed perspective. I see pseudo vintage stuff being sold for $$$ all the time. While, yes, I know a thousand people who pay that, that is a completely insignificant number in the scheme of things.
-
For what you're talking about, I slap the conical horns on the Captain -he comes with a smirk- and add a goatee - the rest is painting the mask brick and detailing pencil mustache and said goatee in black. I could paint that myself, and would probably have to.
Now I think I'll do at least one just to please you... ;)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4743)
A goatee appliance would be easy. The nose is all wrong, though - leave it looking stupid, sorta the point, or fix? Not near as easy. Otherwise, pretty perfect, and a nice contrast to the serious Devil...
I could just do it on Mylochka or Johnny, but they got no smirk built in, and they're not based on a notorious devil man...
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Work on KitschDevil has commenced.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4744)
Serious Devil is sitting on a potholder because he's fresh from the oven.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4745)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4746)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4747)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4748)
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I did the fixes to Johnny, and did some minor modifications. Now with the first layer of latex drying.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4749)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4750)
The camera's acting up. The funny color is because it don't like off-brand batteries. I turned off the flash and just took more shots. ;grrr Now I got crappy photos, and it just gave up on the second pair of Evereadys today...
-
I think Crone's finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4751)
I shooped this yellow shot to a middlin' approximation.
-
Well, the webcam is not a real satisfactory substitute, but at least I can report on what I'm up to.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4752)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4753)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4754)
This one tickles me a bit...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4755)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4756)
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Walmart sux. My wimminz were making a trip there anyway, and I had a $25 visa debit gift card from there, and I tagged along to score fresh Sculpey and latex from the craft supplies isle. I left with a gallon of white glue for 10 bucks. This is the first time I've been in the craft section of th' mart and not seen a large selection of Sculpey, Fimo, etc, that I recall.
The Joanne's in the same plaza had Sculpey in the 1.75 lb. box for what turned out to be slightly under ten bucks, a deal, so I got a hair over $5 left on the card towards latex next time I make it to Hobby Lobby.
(Never buy at a craft store what you can get anywhere else at substantially less markup.)
I'm sure I'll end up glad of the deal on all that glue... I'll definitely be more generous with the white glue in the rest of the current batch of mache paste, and for a long time to come.
-
Oh, and I meant to grouse just a little that everything recent but the Crone is in the early latexing stage - since the Crone was just-in-case from all the times I did want the original, I've nothing to do until at least Saturday but dab goo on four things every three hours or so, and wait for them to dry... :( My hands want to create...
...Maybe start work on the Mars Face...
-
We'll see if the camera don't do better for Duracell.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4757)
I actually took this to show the shallower white plaster Johnny in the background. I cast that for Bustermas the same day after I did my own deeper one. I had to fix that nose, too, Monday. Since my own Johnny, drying, came out so well in one of the shots, just as well leave it in, Both have customized lips -look carefully at the three shots I posted of the styrofoam original, and he didn't have any realistic definition, there. That and changes to the noses in the course of fixing casting flaws make for a little original art to them.
Buster's gonna be 16 in five days. With luck, my Johnny will be ready to knock her off a blank mask to paint, too. She'll at least have the face - not the first plaster casting of mine she's painted...
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Work on the Mars Face has commenced.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4758)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4759)
I added a goodly dose of white glue to the paste before I began, of course. When I took the paste to put back in the fridge after finishing, I added some water. One downside of the heavy glue in the paste is that, during a long macheing session, some dries up on my hands and rolls into hard bits - you don't want hard bits of anything getting in the way under the paper, so the best paste is pretty thin. The paper dampens and softens better, too, and I have more control squeezing the excess off.
The next stage tomorrow when the shell's dry and I'm ready is, lots of aluminum foil crunching for the core of the dune edges, and look around for where I put the spitwad. Mom wants to do a Hobby Lobby trip around noon, partly to get us both out of the house for two hours while she bug-bombs the kitchen, so I'll pick some up, if I need to, while I'm getting latex.
Meanwhile, bedtime is 23 minutes ago, but I gotta dab goo on four things first...
-
I did secure the latex today, and 18 ft. of candle wick while I was at it. Nothing much else to report -we managed to burn off four hours to let the poison work- save that I'm about to do a third layer of latex on forms before bed.
Tomorrow, I'm gonna cross my fingers that it's thick enough on Johnny to do a mask for Buster. No way I'll get to see her on Bustermas Tuesday, so dunno when I'll get to hand it over, but need to be ready.
-
So, maybe ready -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4760)
I figured I could get off an easy half-mask promptly and dried by mid-afternoon, and I'd have something serviceable out of the way.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4761)
Next, I'll do a full-face...
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I reckon when these appliances are dry, they're pretty much ready.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4762)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4763)
PBS here shows Lawrence Welk reruns Saturday evenings - I sometimes watch and enjoy laughing at it whenever they cover a Beatles song. Figure Kitsch Devil masks will be fun like that.
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Well, good luck; I just found out Buster's supposed to be by for supper today. That's just enough time for the half-mask to dry and be trimmed and finished... Good thing I started early with a just-in-case..
-
Well, they showed up before three, when I was expecting four or five or later. I had gotten the half-mask off the form about 2:30, left the inside turned towards the dehumidifier to dry more, and commenced the full-face mask. Halfway through that, I noticed my brother outside my window mowing grass. Great; they're already here.
I kept working on/finished the mask, and decided I had enough time to finish up trimming and coating the half-mask before supper-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4764)
-and miss a bunch of precious/rare time hanging out with Herself.
1.) It ain't her birthday 'til Tuesday. I'm still ahead of schedule and this ain't my fault. 2.) When she was little, she liked for every day to be a birthday party, and the last time I visited her in California, I gave her one (1) item from my goodie hoard of mask and plaster castings a day for the 12 days the visit lasted. She loved that.
I decided, 16 or not, I'd give her the plaster face now -it was already wrapped- and send her the trimmed and finished (but unpainted) half-mask to her Wednesday with Mom, who will see her at church. -Then the full-mask next Sunday, ditto. Bet she still loves pacing it out...
She loved the face, wasn't faking, and immediately said something about painting it, which is what I'd had in mind all along. I think this ends up best possible outcome, I spent the time for the best, and the pressure's off/I've got 'till Tuesday/Sunday.
I'm pretty happy; it's very rare to get to eat with her, rarer that I get to see her open a present from me in person, rarest of all she doesn't fake (badly) liking it.
I think I can suck her into mask-making; she's the only other one in the family with a gift for sculpture like mine..
-
Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4765)
Don't think I'll worry about full-face Johnny before tomorrow.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4766)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4767)
-
I did a crappy job on the Kitsch Devil mask in progress, BTW. I got it off the base okay, but it didn't feel very strong, and there were too many flaws on the outside; it's re-drying from a new layer on much of it.
I've also worked on a fix for the weakness of the bottom edges of the Skull shell this afternoon. I did five layers of the outside edge of Mylochka, now drying, and I'll glue that in underneath and trim to match.
The full-face Johnny mask has been waiting for finishing work since last night. I reckon that's next.
I've been posting a progress shot of the Crone base every day since shortly after I began work - this morning I made it up to beginning the latex coating, and had nothing to follow. -So I decided to get a better shot of it finished, and make a mask on it for illustrative purposes.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4770)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4769)
I'll take another pic when it's dried, trimmed and lined, of course. That'll take me to Thursday. Friday, I begin with process shots of Johnny as it went.
While I'm generating pictures of work a lot faster than I'm posting, just as well keep up the daily posts...
-
Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4772)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4771)
-And I'm still ahead of schedule, but didn't say anything about getting rushed, and if she still enjoys a little birthday every day, I look thoughtful - so pure win.
-
-Johnny wasn't ready yet, BTW. Blisters, mostly on the right side, where the coating pulled up when I separated the full mask, which wasn't a major prying job. I need to wash him carefully -remnants of paste, vaseline, and traces of newspaper ink aren't going to help more latex to bond- and start dabbing goo again.
Because I love dabbing goo. And waiting. And doing it again. And getting specks of latex on my clothes.
-
A work of Love...
-
Yes.
I'm playing the movie of Jesus Christ Superstar on YouTube while I work on this and that.
The fix on the Skull shell is drying. The Kitsch Devil mask is almost done - I dampened around the eyeholes for shaping purposes and needed a quick dry before final polish. The Crone mask was still faintly damp this morning - I've turned it a few times now, and will pry it off and get to work after lunch...
-
The Crone put up quite a fight coming off the form. Repairs are drying now. Retro Devil very soon, if the creeks don't rise.
Just finished the movie and switched to the Broadway cast album, a superior version of everything, IMO. I was especially glad to not be watching floppy poolside Herod during You are the Christ...
-
Dunno about this - I meant to cock the horns a tad, but they came out cocked a lot more. I'm considering making new horns that fit this forehead on the bottoms -and ought to therefore slide around and make extra work hiding the seams less- and trying again.
Also, I'm not sure it looks silly enough -besides the cocked horns- which was sorta the point. The nose may be too good. The sinister eyehole trimming didn't help, either.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4773)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4774)
Thoughts from the group?
Up next, the Crone is sitting on my desk, ready for trimming.
-
Done.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4775) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4776)
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I did up the simpler horns and nose, as proposed, and just had to try them out uncoated:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4777) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4778)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4779)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4780)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4781)
They were so much easier to work with, and the mask so much better, that I regret I didn't put the goatee on...
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This should be ready to mask on. It helps enormously that shell bases flex during the demasking, especially around the edges where the latex is most prone to foul up.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4782)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4783)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4784)
-
I got a lot of deviling done today.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4785)
Started with adding a goatee to yesterday's new Retro Devil. That was drying while I mached the Serious Devil for hours. Finally got Retro off the base w/o incident, and set to prying out the new appliances. They all came out in one piece, never a given with bare sculpey facial appliances. Now, have glued them to paper and mached a layer over top - latex bonds very poorly directly to sculpey. Small things like that with one layer of mache ought to be dry enough very soon - and I think I won't have to coat them very thickly and can do a second test Retro by Friday, maybe.
-Now to trim the Retro in front of me - literally, it's laying over the keyboard.
-
Yes.
I'm playing the movie of Jesus Christ Superstar on YouTube while I work on this and that.
I'd have gone with Devil's Carnival myself, but whatever.
It's all looking great, and good to see you working. Sorry I've been so busy I can't check in much.
-
Have they got Devil's Carnival in full on YouTube?
Stick around if you can - pics of the new Retro, trimmed, beside the previous draft in a few minutes. I'd love to get your preference and input.
-
Et voila!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4786)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4787)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4788)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4789)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4790)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4791)
That's the new one on the right, of course. The classy backdrop they're sitting on is the t-shirt I use as a lap-cloth while macheing. The different angle of the beard on the new one was not intended, and would be difficult to achieve on purpose with the appliance on with the rest of the face.
Which version of the Retro Devil mask do y'all prefer?
I forgot to cut the slot in the mouth like the masks of my childhood - I'm bad at that. Should I go for it before I coat the inside or let it ride?
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4793)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4794)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4795)
Dunno - this ain't doing it for me...
-
I did get the downturn at the corners of the mouth to come out...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4796)
-
A heartfelt mephisto?
-
Mephisto is pretty much Marvel's most boring villain, so I hope not.
-
A sailor about to go on shore leave in the Canary Islands?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4797)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4798)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4799)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4800)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4801)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4802)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4803)
-Could be; it was a long voyage from Flanders, and he's horny.
-
More Belgians?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4804)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4805)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4806)
The shape of the Crone's eye sockets absolutely did not want to make the swept-up devil eyes.
One more half-mask drying, and then I'm down to making the Mars face - and maybe getting around to making the mask of Buster's dog, Dixie; I'm still waiting for the pics of the dog Buster promised me, even after I reminded her last Sunday.
-
I've failed to report that the latex coating on the Crone wasn't ready, either. All the appliances and the serious Devil are in excellent shape, but Johnny and Crone's coatings are trying to peel off during mask separation and need, at least, repairs - and maybe re-doing entirely... :(
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4807)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4808)
Looks like latex has not just separated, but stretched in places. Reckon I need to strip these off and start over - and mail the skins to Uno...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4809)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4810)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4811)
Not helping Johnny was me putting the old horns on and knocking out another devil halfmask...
-
One last test of the devil appliances on the Captain...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4812)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4813)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4814)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4815)
-
So, here's the shell I previously made for the Mars Face again:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4759)
-See, my research, mostly looking at the original Viking shot, indicates I have some latitude; it's just not detailed. But for the shape I see and imagine to work -an oval dune/bank surrounding a fairly shallow face sitting atop a fairly narrow/flat ledge- in 3D, the face needs a pretty short/sloping brow...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4816)
So I cut two places on the temple on each side to tuck-n-tape to reshape the forehead. I shooped lighter in a cursory way to emphasize where the surgery was.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4817)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4818)
And then I mache-d a bit over the cuts to help the tape underneath hold it together. This is a base shell, one that won't fit over the Mylochka base for support now, and I'd be foolish to rely on the outside dune edge too much.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4819)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4820)
I flattened the corners of the cuts some in this step, but if they come out showing above the plateau, I can get that then.
-And here, an approximation of what I'm working towards...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4821)
My subconscious/back of my head is still working on how to build the dune-wall plateau...
-
-It hit me, when I woke up entirely too early; plaster.
A light 1:1 mix, I think. It should be strong enough under all the coating I'll do before it's finished.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4822)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4823)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4824)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4825)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4826)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4827)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4828)
-I thiiink I ought to add some before I start sanding and taking away - ledges a bit higher on the face and more level, dunes wider down the side and under.
-Obviously, I'm going for the Face we imagine, not strictly accurate to even the earliest images...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4829)
-
This is closer:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4832)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4833)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4834)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4835)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4836)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4837)
Careful sanding ought to get the rest...
-
Neet
-
This is taking forever to dry:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4838)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4839)
-And my hindbrain, having run a lot if simulations of the smoothing, is insisting that I need to add a little to the slopes - the space helmet look needs a convex curve, not concave…
While I'm waiting for plaster to dry, I'm thinking about useful employment for the Johnny mold; turn it into a shell of something else, and its utility as a mold is still there...
Also under strong consideration, finally get to work on the mask of Dixie, Buster's dog.
And because I enjoy working with plaster so much, I'm thinking of doing a full mold of my own face -w/ beard- which I'll probably have to construct after casting...
-
About 3/4 done:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4840)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4841)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4842)
I need to broaden/define the lower lip a little to help the smile, and bunch the cheeks a bit for same.
Easy and fun. -I hope the horns won't be a demasking problem.
-
Nice palette cleanser after working with plaster.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4843)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4844)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4845)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4846)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4847)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4848)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4849)
Similar cheeks on the Captain have proved congenial to mache, and shells are easier to de-mask, so I expect to like working with this one. -Now, to enclose in a little mache, and set aside to dry...
-
-I just made my third batch of paste since I began this round, BTW.
-
Nice palette cleanser after working with plaster.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4843)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4844)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4845)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4846)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4847)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4848)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4849)
Similar cheeks on the Captain have proved congenial to mache, and shells are easier to de-mask, so I expect to like working with this one. -Now, to enclose in a little mache, and set aside to dry...
Really digging this one.
-
So am I.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4850)
It's a pity that Johnny's such a small face; this should make for fine looking masks, but really too small for adults to wear.
One layer of mache doesn't take long at all to dry; I took this last shot two hours ago, then had to break off to grill chicken racku before I posted. I'll probably be dabbing latex on after I come in from sunset cat spoiling...
-
Well, I thought it best to turn it and give it another hour...
-
You can tell where the sculpey is underneath in the first shot from where the latex hasn't already dried...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4851)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4852)
-
looking good...
-
:D ;nod
Funny how something that came out so good went so easy.
-
There's not a lot to show or tell about dabbing latex and waiting for it to dry.
Couple layers on the Johnny Devil, one more before bed.
I did strip the Crone and Johnny, and cautiously began with thick application of uncut latex -the colored stuff I usually work with is thinned with water, because it applies more evenly- around the top and bottom edge to anchor the rest. Followed up with thick base layers of uncut. Regular layers in a moment.
I finally did repairs on two old masks that have waited a long time.
And-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4853)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4854)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4855)
The space helmet is just too big, at least on the sides. Needs a lot of smoothing yet, too. But this is closer to what I have in mind...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4857)
This is a shot of the inside of the Mars Face base shell while I was halfway through taking in the brow. Posted now because, look at that talon on my left thumb. I like to grow it out for a tool that's always handy - I don't get out of the house to freak out the squares much, so no problem there. -Also posted because make Uno happy.
I bring this up because it broke off yesterday afternoon. This one lasted a year, which I think is my record; they usually break after six months.
I keep going to pry at something, and it's not there... :(
-
I'm gonna have to start over with the Mars Face - the plaster periphery is just too fragile for handling during shaping, and needs too much of that. Aluminum foil and sculpey, I guess...
-
The mask at the core of the Mars Face got wet and took a beating during all the plaster misadventure, so-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4858)
I'm gonna glue the new bit on top of the old when they're both dry - and I think build up the brow a little and maybe some other stuff, to sorta bring out a vague only vaguely human quality, and get a silhouette more in line with the original.
I'm also covering the face with foil while I build the space helmet around it.
-Two hours in right-brain arting early afternoon had a marvelous effect on cooling a foul temper, BTW...
-
The latexing of Johnny, Crone, and JohnnyDevil proceeds apace. Meanwhile, I've bonded the parts together of the base mask-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4860)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4861)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4862)
I'm probably going to a ridiculous amount of trouble with very little of this is going to show...
-
I do believe this is more like it...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4863)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4864)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4865)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4866)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4867)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4868) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4869)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4870)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4871)
-In fact, this is so obviously handy for sundry monster applications that I'm going to have to make it with the space helmet separate...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4872)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4873)
-
SO-
The next stage after the foil and duct tape shot of last night was to be sculptamold/spitwad to bulk out and smooth/regularize the outline. (Sculpey is too doggon dear for that much area.) I was worrying if the spitwad was going to stick to the tape well enough.
This morning, my semiconscious had decided to enclose it in a layer of mache, which ought to stick to both reasonably well.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4875) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4876)
It's a lumpy mess, if you look close, and the original Mars Face has amazingly regular sides to make such straight shadows - and the flat plateau bits need to sit higher and higher on the face edge than this as you go from the top to the chin, which is why the enclosing strips ride higher towards the bottom. I embarked on adding the sculptamold without needing to wait for this to dry...
This next is all in the past for me, but the pics aren't processed yet. Stay tuned...
-
-I regret that no one else here is up on their comics enough to see these shots and think "Darkseid IS"...
-
It would be nice to be able to take process shots while I applied the spitwad and enclosed it in strips, and smoothed/shaped the result - but no chance; if I didn't go as fast as I could, the spitwad would firm up before I got it shaped...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4877)
Some of you might recall that in the past I've mentioned the only way I know to get a smooth surface with spitwad, when freehand shaping, -used in a mold it tends to bubble flaws a little, but is different/better- is to put strips over it while still wet, and smooth/shape that before any of it dries too much. -The last time I tried, wrestling mask over Uno's face, I was too slow.- I once had very good results shaping a jawline bulge that way the last time Momma made a carman, using my face molds; my upper face, but Mylochka's jawline wasn't butch enough.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4878)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4879)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4880)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4881)
-I doubt all these profile shots are all that entertaining for y'all, but I find all the pics I've posted of late terribly helpful for spotting stuff. -For instance, the ledge needs more leveling and over the brow, flattening. I've got it built up to where I don't mind using that much sculpey...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4882)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4883)
Dunno - this might be a hair too big, and the symmetry could be a little better. Spitwad doesn't sand that well even without the complications of the enclosing strips, but I might be able to cut/carve a tad at the edges.
-But the back of my head will have a little time to work on that; I need to keep my hands off and let it dry for a day or more. It'll be set up firm enough, I think, in about two hours to move off my desk and in front of the dehumidifier...
Darkseid IS.
-
I'm reading the wiki-
"According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modelled Darkseid's face on actor Jack Palance.[3]"
"Darkseid IS" reminded me of "Eldrad must live." Well I guess they were both made of rock...
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hand_of_Fear_(TV_story)
-
I'm reading the wiki-
"According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modelled Darkseid's face on actor Jack Palance.[3]"
"Darkseid IS" reminded me of "Eldrad must live." Well I guess they were both made of rock...
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hand_of_Fear_(TV_story)
Oh, the changes I made yesterday to the face itself made it LESS Darkseid, but the space helmet is pretty Him...
Sarah Jane in those pink-striped overalls - ;relish
-
SO-
The next stage after the foil and duct tape shot of last night was to be sculptamold/spitwad to bulk out and smooth/regularize the outline. (Sculpey is too doggon dear for that much area.) I was worrying if the spitwad was going to stick to the tape well enough.
This morning, my semiconscious had decided to enclose it in a layer of mache, which ought to stick to both reasonably well.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4875) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4876)
It's a lumpy mess, if you look close, and the original Mars Face has amazingly regular sides to make such straight shadows - and the flat plateau bits need to sit higher and higher on the face edge than this as you go from the top to the chin, which is why the enclosing strips ride higher towards the bottom. I embarked on adding the sculptamold without needing to wait for this to dry...
This next is all in the past for me, but the pics aren't processed yet. Stay tuned...
Sometimes, you have to take things from an Artistic point of view, so as to get it to a final work...
-
You're not wrong - sometimes the trick is being able to say "good enough" and move on to the next thing...
-
I'm reading the wiki-
"According to writer Mark Evanier, Jack Kirby modelled Darkseid's face on actor Jack Palance.[3]"
"Darkseid IS" reminded me of "Eldrad must live." Well I guess they were both made of rock...
https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/The_Hand_of_Fear_(TV_story)
Oh, the changes I made yesterday to the face itself made it LESS Darkseid, but the space helmet is pretty Him...
Sarah Jane in those pink-striped overalls - ;relish
Yes! She was so hot. What a way to conclude her role there. While I haven't kept up with the series, that was my favorite episode of the Pertwee-Baker era.
-
My all time favorite of the New Series is, "The Girl in the Fireplace".
-
My all time favorite of the New Series is, "The Girl in the Fireplace".
If you described that one to me, I'd think it sounded suck - but somehow it came together to make a good episode.
We have a Dr. Who thread somewhere here...
-
Hey - it just hit me, cat porch thoughts, that I've been overthinking the size of the Mars Face space helmet; that's a mask trimming non-issue...
-
So late this morning, I cut away the excess paper under the base in progress. I trimmed a little off the edges of the base itself, and extracted the core face and applied a thickish layer of latex - I'm going to mache thickly over the face along with the space helmet, and keep the face as a separate piece. That should make sense later.
I've commenced finishing details in sculpey around the edge of the face...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4890) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4891)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4892)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4893)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4894)
This shot is a few minutes further along in the finishing than the rest.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4895)
-
Mostly for my own viewing, because I seem to spot problems after I've posted, here it is baked and ready:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4896)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4897)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4898)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4899)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4900)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4901)
The plateau edge's still higher at the ends and sags a little in the middle, but those would only be a problem if the light angle in the original was super-extreme. I think this will do.
I decided to put another latex layer on the core face; when that's dry -and it's already had over an hour in front of the dehumidifier- I start mache-ing to enclose and make the over-face.
-
Y'know, I always complain about the interval between getting a base basically made and getting the latex coat thick enough to be resilient/reliable. It's the waiting for a mask to dry problem writ about 21 times/layers over. The bad part of smearing on latex -no big deal of just itself- is all that repetition and wait, plus some elevated stress not wanting to get another drip on another garment. There's no getting the spot out.
-And tomorrow, roughly, I start another week of that with the Mars Face.
That said, the newsprint is almost completely obscured on Johnny Devil -which seems to be enough on a flexible shell base- and the re-coating of Crone and Johnny started only two layers behind that. Doing three at the same time takes about a half hour each round of layers. Plaster forms definitely need more thickness to work and hold up, so JD is probably done tomorrow, and the other two probably a couple days after. Just the Mars Face won't be so bad, come Thursday.
Much as I grouse about spending so much time on prep and the prep drying, there's a lot of charm in making a new thing, not so much in mache-ing the umpteenth copy of something. I'm thinking Buster's Dixie Dog is next in the pipeline, then - and maybe lay down and get my mom to plaster gauze my face for a full-face cast. (You can do your upper face yourself in a mirror sitting up okay, provided you don't mind improvising eyes after it's off - but even un-bearded, gravity will defeat trying to get under the chin for a mold worth having.) It hits me as I type that part of the charm is that it'll keep me busy a while - I'll sand/carve the casting down to -an improved version of- my chin and jaw, then maybe build a beard on a shell.
All that ought to keep me busy for another three weeks or more...
-
So late this morning, I cut away the excess paper under the base in progress. I trimmed a little off the edges of the base itself, and extracted the core face and applied a thickish layer of latex - I'm going to mache thickly over the face along with the space helmet, and keep the face as a separate piece. That should make sense later.
I've commenced finishing details in sculpey around the edge of the face...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4890) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4891)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4892)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4893)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4894)
This shot is a few minutes further along in the finishing than the rest.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4895)
Feels a lot like Odo.
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I see it, now that you point it out.
-Another reason it's good I decided to keep the core face, The Martian, separate, then...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4906) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4907)
Most of the way through the second layer of, maybe, six. I'll be done about bedtime, and can let it dry through the night...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4913)
Needs two or three more layers over the face, but it's way past my bedtime, and time drying before I resume tomorrow won't hurt anything. I think it's looking good.
-
I just had to try this last night -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4917)
No shooping except brightness/contrast and color level.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4918) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4922)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4921) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4919)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4920)
Success!
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Separation went as well as could be hoped. No damage to The Martian core, as when I get the vaseline wiped off, I'm that much ahead on that.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4923)
Now to mache the back of the Mars Face a couple layers to help hold the whole thing together...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4924)
I plan to give it another layer, but the face part was beginning to soften, so a little time in front of the dehumidifier first... I want the center of this thing strong.
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I get distracted by the various images in the paper, including the American flag stuff and the eye in the lower left corner of the last picture.
-
Ha! That's what I get for taking pictures mostly in focus.
I just had to try this last night -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4917)
No shooping except brightness/contrast and color level.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4918) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4922)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4921) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4919)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4920)
Success!
Be distracted by this. ;)
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That is really cool!
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Well Johnny Devil's done, The Martian is already several layers along, Crone and Johnny have several days worth to go -I find myself worried about wasting effort stopping too soon again- and Mars Face is on my desk ready to start with coating the back/inside. I've already burned through 3/4ths of the new latex.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4925)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4926)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4927)
Another irritating thing about having several at the latexing stage at once is, I gotta find somewhere to put them while they dry, unless I've got nothing else going I need my workspace for...
-And that's just while they're in the making them stage - I also need to consolidate two computer junk drawers in my desk to liberate one as a second finished bases storage drawer...
Looking forward to knocking off a Johnny Devil mask, but not tonight; I'd like to be asleep in three hours.
Also in the queue; Dixie, paint some devils, and the back of my head is designing something built over the Mars Face - with Johnny's face over it, it wouldn't be hard to turn the space helmet into a pharaonic headdress. Get Mylochka on it with some gold and turquoise paint, and I bet some King Tut masks would be popular...
It'll be my first shell of a shell...
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Feels a lot like Odo.
Land of the Lost was way too early for you to remember, but if I had the eyepieces, I'd be more than halfway to a sleestack.
-
This is just me holding it in front of the mirror last night w/o flash, avec contrast boosted and color fiddled.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4930)
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The day's first round of dabbing out of the way now. All four took a little while.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4931)
Now to do a Johnny Devil mask. YES!
I find myself motivated, as far as what order I tackle jobs, by things like what will need dry time, so best get it out of the way so I can work on the next thing instead of waiting - and, I need to get all these bases off my desk before I mask on Johnny Devil...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4932)
I tell you, first mache layers are a pain since I started laying separation layers in the vaseline -they slide around, at best, until I lay some gluey paper over them- just less pain than damaging the mask getting it off the form later, and they soak up a lot of the vaseline, too.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4933)
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:danc: Got her to finally send pics of Dixie. :danc: Just as well post them here for future study.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4934)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4935) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4936)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4937) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4938)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4939) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4940)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4941)
Good-looking hound.
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I had to stop at the first layer for lunch, cats, and tomorrow's Mom's birthday, so I had to go buy her some puzzles. Not setting any speed records on this mask; the third layer's yet to be done...l
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4942)
Strange thing; as I work on my projects, my office, unintuitively, slowly gets cleaner. I keep randomly throwing out stuff in the way, finding something useful in the piles on my desk and putting it where I can find it when I need it, and the spaghetti pile to the left is cut strips that have been sitting out for years, and I'm slowly depleting now. -Much more in a trash bag on the floor, but that's at about half volume that I brought to America, and besides, still in its proper place.
My slovenly habits actually arise as a reaction to my natural nerd mania for order. Dad lined his shoes up at bedtime, and I'm too much that way and can't take the stress if I let it register on me. But I'm serious about my sculpture, and putting this and that in its place as I come across it, instead of making a job of it, suits me, and is worthwhile.
-It's when I'm depressed, and nothing seems to matter, or at least won't work if I try, that the piles get hard to wade through...
-
That devil-mask picture above the hound pictures was very festive looking.
Is Dixie a particular type of hound? She looks fast.
-
A construction paper first layer definitely makes for a more interesting back.
I don't think it's known just what Dixie is. I've no way to tell if she'd be considered fast - but she weighs over eighty pounds; I doubt it a little.
-
Probably not going to get much done today - a bunch of family have invited themselves over for Momma's birthday.
-
It fought separating a little, but not mask-warping amount - just needed gentle persistence.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4946)
-I got a little carried away with the pointy bits.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4947)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4948) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4949)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4950)
Improvement or too much?
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Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4951)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4952)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4953)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4954)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4955)
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I think an improvement. Less ugly, more vain, which seems fitting for the devil.
-
That devil-mask picture above the hound pictures was very festive looking.
Is Dixie a particular type of hound? She looks fast.
Correction to previous answer: she's allegedly a Treeing Walker.
-
SO; thrilling day. When I made my 1:15 post, I'd been hearing walking around for about 15 minutes. I had a sudden inspiration. I went upstairs and said hello to Buster, who was cooking her gramma a birthday cake - (she comes over from time to time to teach herself pastry baking for reasons to do with a neurotic mother, and she never burns or otherwise ruins anything, because she's genuinely gifted and that's not just me being hopelessly besotted. I'm a pretty good cook now, and I had my momma teaching me, and when I was learning, I'd have burned a couple batches of cookies before this anyway.)
Anyway, I ran back downstairs and returned, announcing "HA! I tricked you! I bet you thought Birthday Every Day was over!" -And I laid the nine masks I made last month -besides the two I'd already given her for Bustermas- and just-finished Devil Johnny, and told her to pick one last Birthday Every Day present.
Long story short, the ribs grilled exceptionally well, all Momma's sisters and brother, etc., ate like kings, Momma loved the jigsaw puzzles I got her, and Buster was talking to me today. Better, I got substantial time alone with her -and we're talking something like over ten years since I had her to myself- and she left with two masks, the Crone and the horned Johnny half-mask -that's bottom center and right, below- so I know she really wanted them.(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4815)
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
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I think an improvement. Less ugly, more vain, which seems fitting for the devil.
Are we talking about the Johnny Devil base shell v. the Johnny Devil mask w/ pointy bits extended? That's what I was asking, though versus Serious and/or Retro Devil is useful opinion, too. I'm toying with an idea about glamming up the horns on the latter.
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I think an improvement. Less ugly, more vain, which seems fitting for the devil.
Are we talking about the Johnny Devil base shell v. the Johnny Devil mask w/ pointy bits extended? That's what I was asking, though versus Serious and/or Retro Devil is useful opinion, too. I'm toying with an idea about glamming up the horns on the latter.
Yeah, original vs goatee and horns pointing forward.
A Walker? I was never a coon hunter as such. But we raised sweet corn for decades, and we would welcome the hunters. Thing is I never got a good look at the dogs because it was always late at night when they were around. As I recall there was some debate amongst the coon hunters in PA as to whether Walkers or Blue Ticks were best. Those Texans on American Hoggers used Walkers to hunt wild boar, but they were eventually forced to add a Catahoula catch dog in the pack for the actual hog capture once the pack leader died.
-
Treeing Walker is a blend of Walkers and Treeing Coon Dog, or something like that.
-
-Just cued up an hour and a half Wagner best-of track on YouTube, and about to lay the base for the Dixie mask...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4967)
As always, separation strips stuck to the vaseline. Extra work/aggravation now preempts disaster -and extra work/aggravation- later. This lot laid flat and stuck way better than usual.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4968) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4969)
Three layers, more around the edges. I believe Buster has vague ideas about wearing this as part of a costume, so I want to balance accuracy/likeness with being able to fit a human face comfortably in there. -So I covered way more face that the dog snout needs, just to keep my options open. It gonna be tricky, getting Dixie's eyes right, but comfortable and you-can-see-out on a young lady who still likes dressing up as animals...
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Weird thing.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4970)
I got a lot of layers on the Mars Face and The Martian yesterday -1.) Johnny and the Crone aren't urgent to finish coating, and 2.) the latex is about to run out, and I wanted to give the Martian bases a Mars-like color, not so pink- and the Martians are easier to coat, and faster to dry, being short on deep nooks and crannies, so I took the recoats out of the rotation temporarily until I get more latex.
I will be dipped if I know how the air got in, but when I started coating the Mars Face last time last night, the latex had apparently pulled tight and away from the surface in most of the deepest indentations from the inner edge of the ledge, especially the eye sockets next to the nose.
So I carefully cut around the face this morning - that's where a seam best belongs. The coat wants to lay flat on the ledge, and a little fresh latex underneath ought to bind it back to the base just fine. The face itself will be trickier around the nose and eyes - that's where it didn't lay down tight when I relieved tension cutting the seam. Maybe crumple in some of the foil I have handy for the armature of the Dixie snout temporarily on top. I'm going to give my semiconscious a few hours to tease at that, first.
The seam ought to fill back in even just fine - latex wants to sit thick in the low points if I don't carefully spread it out.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4971)
I've fixed worse problems on the fly in the coating process, I'm already over the biggest hurdle committing to the cut, I got this, but do wish me luck.
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-My hindbrain is telling me to cut 1' slits in the deepest bit where the nose/eye/brow meet. That should let the surrounding hug the face, and new latex will naturally fill in any gap where it wants to collect anyway.
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The Mars Face repairs left a bigger gap than I expected -as pictured this morning, but I expected it to come back together tighter- but I can roll with that.
-And on a Foul Mood Thread note, I put on shoes, drove to Hickory by myself -Momma's got a thing today, and Mylochka didn't wanna- (that I find such a trivial normal-person-errand worth mentioning is problematic, but I just went and got it off my plate) and am now ahead by two full containers of latex over the pittance I had left when I woke today.
Let's rock.
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I'm glad to report that after waking up before dawn two days in a row -and being short on sleep has definitely held me back- and I ought to be back in gear after lunch.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4972) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4973)
My hindbrain is having anxiety about this - a likeness is a lot tougher than any old original face along a certain line. But I've played with aluminum long enough, this is about the right size/shape, and detail is for the sculpey stage. I'll work it out as I go...
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I decided to mache around the foil core, to hold it down and smooth, yada, etc.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4974) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4975) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4976) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4977)
I include this drying shot because The Captain's bliss at getting a face-cuddle amuses.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4978)
I went off to do some porch sittin' with Mylochka, and realized a loose mache shell was multiple kinds of mistake, so when I came back-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4979)
-I left a little around the bottom, but that most of the wrapping came off in one piece just vindicates backing off from that action.
Turns put I'm still tired from two days of running on empty. Need a nap...
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Finally some real progress.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4980) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4981)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4982) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4983)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4984) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4985)
There's smoothing and symmetricalizing left to do, but I reckon that's basically it.
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Hey, all of y'all on Facebook: I think everyone I know of there in these circles has 'liked' the JKStudio page (https://www.facebook.com/JKStudioArt/), but just a reminder that I'm not making a post a day there lately to impress my cousins - I'm flogging the free innerwebs marketing against the day we finally get set up to sell things. -And that takes hits and Google ranking, etc., yada.
So if you haven't seen any of my mask pic posts on there in your timeline in the last month -I don't see much anymore but inane and/or offensive posts by relatives- please look up the page -follow the link above- and like and share and all that all you can stand to -it really does help, incrementally, every little bit, the way the 'nets work- and continue to do so when the stuff returns to your timeline... Thanks.
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Hmm. More difference here to last night's photos than is obvious.
I took Dixie upstairs to show Momma at lunchtime, and she was impressed. Mylochka showed up and liked it in detail. I worked on it a little bit more after cat lunch, and began to suspect that the faint symmetry problems couldn't be fixed without starting over with a different aluminum core, and that I was past the point of diminishing returns with my eyesight and fingers the size I have, and I was just making fingernail marks as fast as I smoothed them over.
I took a set of photos and went to bake Dixie, then dithered, because I knew I'd spot things I wish I'd tweaked before baking while I processed the pics -and I did- but Mom egged me on to just commit, so I did.
All but the last shot embiggen a little.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4986) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4987)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4992) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4989)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4990) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4991)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4988) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4993)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4994) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4995)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4996)
I'll go retrieve Dixie from the oven now, but I think I'll let her sit on my desk for a while and let my hindbrain decide if I need to correct the slight asymmetry in the nose from a certain angle with the dremel. Everything else I can literally paper over in the mache coating...
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Hmm.
I decided to leave the nose be, and did the mache enclosing -and building up the thickness/strength of the human face parts. That was hours ago, and it's drying now. -But I just realized, looking for no reason at a collage I made of the Dixie pics, that I made her nose too square. The leading edges of actual Dixie's actual nose taper/round significantly, to the extent of being a distinguishing characteristic.
It's not too late, and there's room, to grind down the difference w/ dremel. I need to bake the base some in the oven again, anyway -I added a little raw sculpey at the outside edges of the brow ridges before enclosing- and I can add some sculpey back if I need to, w/o it being extra work.
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I've been keeping Buster posted, of course, with pics taken and it written up for this thread anyway.
She looks jaw dropping-ly gorgeous! Her snout looks exactly like the real thing!
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Guess where I'm going with this.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4997)
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I did take the dremel to the leading edge of Dixie's nose this morning, added a pinch of sculpey underneath, mached over everything exposed, baked the shebang for about 15 minutes, and this is the third coat of latex just applied.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4998)
So roughly a week of that with something else - and need to take extra care the latex doesn't fill in details like the crease that runs down the middle, or the nose slits. Still, I'll come out of it with a very good hound base...
The Mars Face is doing the same inflation trick again. It's not nearly as bad this time, but I haven't decided whether to do the same surgery again, or what to try otherwise.
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Guess where I'm going with this.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4997)
Anyone?
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Stitches. I reckon, if I can get the loose bits on the Mars Face glued back down, I can sew them down with single stitches in three -maybe five, as I should get the corners of the mouth- key low points -it's nothing but mache under where the problems are- keep it simple, and they'll get buried in subsequent coats the same way the seams filled in. Just gotta be careful not to pull the stitches too tight, or they'll make a pucker.
-This came to me when I was waking from a mid-morning nap. No guarantee other spots won't develop them same problem, but it should keep these spots from spreading. Gooooo HINDBRAIN!
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SIIIIGH.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5000) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5001)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5002)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5003) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5005)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5004)
-Looks sorta thin Thanos, or at least, Thanos and Loki's hats had a kid...
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I saved these at full size, so they'll embiggen, if you want a closer look-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5011)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5012)
-If not embiggen to the size I saved them.
Ended up needing 12 stitches to tack down problem spots - but like I said before, it'll all cover over. I've already dabbed on a lining repair -I was going to dab the stitches anyway, just to glue the knots, also to close the holes I made- and over the surface spots.
This doggon base has been one crap-up after another.
-In related news, I think The Martian is about ready...
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GUESS!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5006)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5007)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5008)
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU!
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And what parched Martian
Its hour come round at last
Slouches towards Cydonia to be carved?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5013)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5014) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5015)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5017) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5016)
Done, and probably coated a lot thicker than needed - masks ought to pop right off that streamlined shape, for the same likely reason the Mars Face is giving me trouble.
Of course, I'll have to choose whether to leave in the top of the head or give up it functioning as a mask an Earth adult can wear...
This gets the coating rotation back down to five pieces, and I think I'm declaring Johnny finished. The Crone is a much trickier and difficult shape, with nooks and crannies irritating to get latex on, but needs a few more days, I think.
Latexing brings out my rice-puller tendencies to overkill, at the same time as the tedium urges me towards 'good enough'.
The Mars Face ought to be even easier to pop a mask off, with the regular shape and give of the slopes leading to a shallow slice of face, but I worry for the coating holding up for obvious reasons, and need to get the stitches smoothed over/covered. Dixie is tough to coat, but I'm motivated (and told Buster about a week), and the new horns are small & easy.
So I'm slowly digging out from under this coating heck, and have no new projects in mind until the Mars Face is done to make a pharaoh over. Maybe if Mom's in a better mood today, I'll start that full-face base of me...
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I decided on a whim to take a picture of every layer of a mask. I'll probably lift this wholesale for another page on the website - and vamp pics for a week on Facebook. -One of you is a true friend, BTW, and 'liked' every post I've made on the JKStudio (https://www.facebook.com/JKStudioArt/) page in 2019 while I was having supper; very much appreciated.
-Usually when I cram two to a row, you can click to enlarge, like here.
So I greased my alien friend with Vaseline and covered most of it in strips from the yellow -for easy identification after demasking- pages.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5022)
It looks like a sloppy mess because it is - and this streamlined face cooperated far more than most, as it seems to do in all phases so far.
The first layer went far more smoothly than I'm used to, so I decided to do a second in construction paper.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5023) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5024)
I'd already begun the second here; the green strip down the middle and the radial strips around the (lack of) chin.
Second layer complete.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5025) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5026)
Third layer, regular newsprint.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5027)
I just paper over the nostril holes, and punch a blunt tool through each layer as I go.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5028)
This layer was super-easy, even though I was using strips over an inch wide in the middle of the face. Noses suck.
Well, I broke off here for supper; my mommy was calling. Thought I'd share what I had so far. The rest will not show such obvious progression, of course, but back to work and taking photos of work.
I might stop at five layers because of the extra construction paper.
You may have realized I went for covering the entire base. That would be troublesome for de-masking on a normal face, and I'm eager to find out if I'm right to think it won't be a problem here...
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Between supper and making the last post, the first three layers got nearly two hours to dry. Cat time after the fourth layer was about a 45 minute delay. This harms nothing as long as the lower layers aren't too messed up - in fact, the mask will be drier in the morning for it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5035)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5036)
The first three layers were more of less covering the perimeter and working my way towards the center. This one is more systematic, with strips all laid left-right across the face. It's easier to keep track that way, and not miss any spots.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5037)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5038) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5039)
Strips running across the previous layer encourage what's under to lay flat, holds down converging ends -note how they do so on this layer at the top and bottom of the head- and ends converge -as they must for rectangular strips of paper to lay flat when they follow a curve- in a different place on the mask, thus not thickening the mask all in two spots. It's cross-bracing in action. It's just easier to keep track, alternating horizontal and vertical at 90 degrees.
I was having fun -crafting is serenity- so I did do a sixth layer next.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5040)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5041)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5042)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5043)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5044)
Horizontal again, with a vertical strip on each side to hold the ends down.
There isn't a lot of trimming to do, aside from the eyes, which I'm working on deciding what shape and how big. However, I'll probably do a second mask tomorrow, trying to rig it to work as a mask on a normal face, leaving the top and bottom out...
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It did come off the base just fine, and without any great struggle.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5045)
One made to work as a mask, with top and bottom open, will be demasking ease itself...
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The Crone isn't in any hurry, so I just put it on the shelf and add a layer when it's ready. The Martian got a teeny repair of a very minor coating blemish before it turned into a problem. The Mars Face will probably be ready by Monday - I did more stitches today, and when they're under about six more coats, they'll be covered/smoothed and I'll take my chances.. The horns dry fast, and will probably be ready before Dixie. She's coming along, but I'll probably email Buster Monday that she needs longer. (My current Facebook posting is on serious Devil, and I'll be to the horns Monday, which means I'd like to have horns action pics by Wednesday. Fortunately, appliances are less coating-needy than whole faces...)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5046)
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Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5047)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5048) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5049)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5050)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5051)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5052) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5053)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5054)
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU!
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5058) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5059)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5060)
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Demasked.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5063)
Letting the interior dry a little more to be sure before trimming and lining - and punching the little holes for stringing.
Time for another round of dabbing - they were all ready four hours ago when I finished mache-ing mid-afternoon, but we had company which tied me up until time to grill supper, which tied me up another hour.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5064)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5065)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5066)
Discussion is permitted...
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Is the mask goin' to be for the silent type? I mean, no opening on the mouth.
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I'm just bad at cutting mouths...
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The Crone seems ready, and I'm taking her out of rotation.
The Mars Face is getting to the point of I've done all I can, so in a coat or two -one assumes today- I'll be down to the horns and Dixie - and the horns are getting close, too.
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Say, I've never thought to show you guys this. It's what became of that baby head I was working on and never got the casts right.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5068) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5069]http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5069)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5070) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5071)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5072)
They enlarge, of course. Actual size fills the palm of my hand.
A fair likeness, when Buster was that age, and some nice detail work on the hair and eyebrows. I see now that those irises protrude too much - I'll have to work on that if I ever try to do anything else with this.
-And for added value, here it is with the antique-looking thin patina old, dry, sculpey gets, especially after making a latex cast. The cracks and everything vanished with a little vaseline polish.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5073) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5074) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5075) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5076)
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I recognized Buster in the first picture.
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Great! Like I said, not a terrible likeness.
Here without the shininess, but less patina, too.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5077)
-The more I look at it, the more I wanna shave those eyeballs...
---
They showed up this afternoon -the Fink came by yesterday, and cost me a whole coating cycle- but HA! I had latexed all three things 20 minutes before.
Dixie came both times, so I got to study her head - and the muzzle I made is too square, a little. Can't be helped, I guess.
I think I've figured out how to mount the cloth ears and still allow Buster to paint the mask...
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Les Français regardent ce fil - comment l'ont-ils trouvé? Quelqu'un s'il vous plaît dites … (J'espère que vous apprécierez mon art. Merci - je suis flatté.)
People in France are watching this thread - how did they find it? Someone please tell... (I hope you enjoy my art. Thank you - I'm flattered.)
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Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5047)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5048) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5049)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5050)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5051)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5052) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5053)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5054)
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU!
I like. Reminds me of something out of a 50s budget scifi.
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The creepy way to go, along those lines? Not the typical/expectable featureless dome eyes, or facets - but human eyeballs to scale of the sockets I made. Not bulging. Like a guy wearing the thickest eye-magnifying lenses ever, w/o the glasses. Maybe human-ish skin tones to look as much like a severe burn survivor as a stereotypical space dude, confusing the issue for the viewer. (The shape of the top in this version, w/ impossibly low brow, feeds into a subtle wrongness of the look, too, though good luck fitting it over a human actor.) Evoke an uncanny valley/valley-adjacent effect. THAT would make a creepy-butt alien...
Hard to do then, easy now.
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I'm thinking/hoping the horns are ready for a test drive.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5078)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5079)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5080)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5081)
Here's the deal: I wasn't that thrilled with how the Serious Devil came out, somehow. So, two ideas behind this. 1.) Horns with a lot more pizazz - that will, incidentally, stand out more in photos. 2.) Done as a facial appliance like this, I think I can get it to turn to let the curve of the horns slide out of the mask smoothly enough. It certainly wouldn't be workable if the horns were part of the base, what with the chin and nose both fighting it coming off turning that way. I'm researching a little mask-making science, and I'm eager to see it work.
I'm certainly hoping the latex coat is thick enough, and I don't have to mess with that for this no more...
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU, RUSTY!
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Most of the way through layer four...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5082)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5083)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5084)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5085)
We are committed to doing our best for you. ;nod
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It looked so cool, sitting to dry in the low light as I went to bed last night...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5086)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5087)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5088)
Rarin' to go...
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WOOHOOOO!
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc::danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
:danc: :danc: :danc: :danc:
I wasn't sure this would work.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5090)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5089)
-But the nose gave me considerable more fight, demasking, than the new horns. Woo. So, a fifty-Lal post, because we are committed to doing our best for you.
-
I'm thinking/hoping the horns are ready for a test drive.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5081)
Here's the deal: I wasn't that thrilled with how the Serious Devil came out, somehow. So, two ideas behind this. 1.) Horns with a lot more pizazz - that will, incidentally, stand out more in photos. 2.) Done as a facial appliance like this, I think I can get it to turn to let the curve of the horns slide out of the mask smoothly enough. It certainly wouldn't be workable if the horns were part of the base, what with the chin and nose both fighting it coming off turning that way. I'm researching a little mask-making science, and I'm eager to see it work.
I'm certainly hoping the latex coat is thick enough, and I don't have to mess with that for this no more...
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU, RUSTY!
HAH! I saw that before I read the caption!!!
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5006)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5008)
WE ARE COMMITED TO DOING OUR BEST FOR YOU!
;lol ;lol ;lol
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I saw that the devil half-mask had West Nile Virus.
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Nah - just regular Nile Virus, no west.
Someone reads my masks. Gotta get trying my hand at painting. ;)
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Now, this is more like it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5092)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5093) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5094)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5095)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5096)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5097)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5098)
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you've been busy... Looks good
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I plan to mask the Mars Face today, if I'm not too tired after the dentist and depending on the new comics...
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Looks like I definitely AM getting to this today. The mood just came on me.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5099) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5100)
That's the first layer done, and the beginning of the second. I have to get my shoes on and go to my appointment, now, alas.
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Got another coat of latex on Dixie before I resumed mache-ing, while my hands were clean. I've been doing some subtle shaping, letting the latex build up ridges in some key places. I won't jinx it predicting a time range for completion, but the coating is getting a bit thick...
So, I hate to have denied everyone the glory of a future back-pic of the mask w/ a polychromatic circus-y construction paper interior, but I saved the colorful stuff for the second layer. This damn thing has fought me the hardest of any face I've ever crafted, taken forever in time and labor and kept messing up; I don't trust it, and I'm casting a backup base in plaster in the first mask. I can sand off those ripples on the south end of the space helmet, get it closer to the size I want, and so on. -So I started with plain newsprint for a more regular interior, sorry. ;)
On the definite upside, we'll get an interior photo posted tomorrow that Rusty can also read. ;b;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5101)
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Despite the size, this is a lot easier to mache on than the devil mask. The double curve of the sides of the space helmet are tougher to get a strip laid over w/o wrinkles than you might think, but then I'm getting away with hugely wide strips.
Layer three.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5102)
Halfway there.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5103)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5104)
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I decided to tear most of those wide strips in half, thinner, and -HOLY CRAP- have I been wasting time/doing it the hard way.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5105)
I think I'll do the last two layers diagonal, just for kicks.
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Four fifths of the way through the next layer, I had to knock off to cook supper. Then eat. Then kat supper. Then latex Dixie again while my hands were clean. I wanted to keep working, but do not live in a vacuum. Here.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5106)
Insert GeoModder joke here.
One layer to go.
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:danc:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5107)
-Actually, still gonna go around the edge a couple strips to hold the ends down, yada etc. -But count it done.
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Y'know, I set the Dixie base on my desk to apply a first coat of latex of the day and get it out of the way so I could work on something in a more interesting phase - and thought "ta heck with it; this is ready".
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5108) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5109)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5110) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5111)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5112) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5113)
So I need to pry it off the base -hope the rubber cement doesn't cause complications- and I ought to have a mask ready to address the trimming issues -I need to engineer a way to mount/attach cloth ears Momma plans to make, but allow Princess to paint the mache- by tomorrow morning...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5114)
Legible. ;nod
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Well that took a little plaster.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5115)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5116)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5117)
I had an easy shortcut in engineering support for the mask/mold, and these are cropped to give Uno a good look.
I doubled the lining and vaselined the interior of the mask - the latter, I didn't when I cast Johnny, so I don't anticipate trouble demolding.
Using the back of a teaspoon to smooth plaster up the sides yielded a neater -one assumes stronger- result. The first -roughly- quart of 2:1 revealed the ledge a couple times during that, and I'm hoping the plaster didn't take surface flaws from it after I added about a half quart more for thickness/strength and spread, pictured.
I really noticed how much that volume of plaster heats up while curing when I took it to set in front of the dehumidifier after about 20 minutes in place...
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I can definitely work with this...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5118)
More flaws than photographed, but I had some sanding in mind, anyway.
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Seeing you make these makes me really want to try it; but I feel like I should organize my house and the like first lol
Definitely cool to see paper mache crafting tho, might do some similar type stuff after my big house cleaning.
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:D I would love to see it.
A clean -or at least, organized- workspace matters.
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I'll keep you posted. I also got a painting I am doing for a novel I am writing, to serve as its book cover:
(https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/f/f858c48b-9185-415f-a9c3-3598787729e3/ddc08a8-fab477cc-7191-4867-bc0e-d48198661b7a.jpg/v1/fill/w_774,h_1032,q_70,strp/wip_painting_by_comradecrimson_ddc08a8-pre.jpg?token=eyJ0eXAiOiJKV1QiLCJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiJ9.eyJzdWIiOiJ1cm46YXBwOjdlMGQxODg5ODIyNjQzNzNhNWYwZDQxNWVhMGQyNmUwIiwiaXNzIjoidXJuOmFwcDo3ZTBkMTg4OTgyMjY0MzczYTVmMGQ0MTVlYTBkMjZlMCIsIm9iaiI6W1t7ImhlaWdodCI6Ijw9MTcwNyIsInBhdGgiOiJcL2ZcL2Y4NThjNDhiLTkxODUtNDE1Zi1hOWMzLTM1OTg3ODc3MjllM1wvZGRjMDhhOC1mYWI0NzdjYy03MTkxLTQ4NjctYmMwZS1kNDgxOTg2NjFiN2EuanBnIiwid2lkdGgiOiI8PTEyODAifV1dLCJhdWQiOlsidXJuOnNlcnZpY2U6aW1hZ2Uub3BlcmF0aW9ucyJdfQ.ET6xbZZmTy_8z7wzjy8be-zXzsRyM3Zd5ZT4MHr6m9I)
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Good anatomical underpinnings, there.
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Thanks! I always try to improve my grasp but the efforts are... mixed results.
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-Taking a break halfway through; noses are tough, and this one is all nose.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5121) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5122)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5123) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5124)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5125)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5126)
(No need to copy/paste this line to Buster, but I'd really rather be working on the plaster Mars Face base; I was sick of this dog before I started masking on it today. It's all awkward curves, and I can't get the side facing me lit while I work on it, mostly. I'll be glad to have it off my plate, finally.)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5127)
Done and drying.
-
Can't imagine the dog bein' a happy camper while you masked it. :D
-
So, will you post some pics of the final product, while they are being modeled by someone (Maybe Buster?). For one, it would give us some better idea of scale.
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I will ask her for some action pics. That's a good idea. -But the painting and ear-making schedules won't be under my control...
Wow, it is really coming together. For the ears, I had a hair brained idea: you could possibly go in and add a small wooden rod to the top corners of the mask, about as long as the top of each ear. It would be partly on the mask, with most of the rod sticking out to the sides of the mask horizontally. You could fold the top half of the ears over the rod. In person I could explain it better.
I replied:
"😁 I got this.
The mask is dry; there's a couple hours work left getting off the form in one piece -not easy, I think- and trimming. I should have pics of what I came up with for attachment today..."
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Lord did it fight coming off the base.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5128)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5129)
I knew it would, of course -even expected to have to cut the lower jaw- but now I need to repair that and dry the repair before I can trim and work in the ear support...
-
...I need to do three layers, roughly, on the me base to glue inside the Dixie mask, so it'll sit on a human face in comfort...
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Ok, and the initial trim came out distressingly cockeyed, with the right side low on the outside, and the left side high - just as well use attaching the inner shell to put some back...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5130) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5131)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5132)
-Guess that throws getting it into a shape I can call finished 'til tomorrow...
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On reflection last night, I separated the Dixie main mask from the lining to dry.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5133)
They were going to bond weakly that way. I wouldn't be able to get at a lot of interior that wasn't completely enclosed to latex-line. I needed to do some trimming -mostly eyes- that would be awkward that way. And a big one, the lining was going to take forever to dry completely covered like that.
I've gotten this and that done now that was better done on separate pieces.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5134)
So these linings ought to cover most of the interior needing it and be dry enough in a half hour to glue together good. Got a pile of clothespins waiting to use as gentle clamps...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5135)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5136)
Probably ought to give it three hours or so to dry/bond - but maybe no surprises and I can get this finished today...
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Dry and trimmed to my satisfaction...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5138)
Mache-ing in the wire for mounting the ears along the top was part of the plan. Covering the gaps between the outer mask and the lining was not - but does look slicker in the back.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5139)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5140)
This should be dry enough in another hour for latexing the inside and signing it with a JKStudio label, and -finally- be finished for Princess Pretty Perfect's pleasure - the little holes for stringing it are already punched. ;nod
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Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5141)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5142)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5143)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5144)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5145)
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Huh?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4937)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5141)
Huh? Huh? Huh?
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About an hour's work with rasp and sandpaper has done considerable to smooth and regularize the slopes of the space helmet.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5146)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5147)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5149)
I need to do a little building up on the facial features -the nostrils came out sunken in, and there's scratches that don't show much in these photos- and there's sanding left to do on the sides, but I think I can do a mask on this tomorrow...
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Darkseid IS committed to doing his best for you!
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-Et pour nos amis francophones, et parce qu'un Bing-bot cherche beaucoup, je veux juste dire:
"http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/"! C'est JK Studio (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/), notre masque -art site Web, actuellement remarquable pour les pages de démonstration / tutoriels de masque en papier mâché.
-And for our francophone friends, and because a Bing-bot is looking in a fair bit, too, I just want to say:
"http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/"! That's JK Studio (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/), our mask-art website, currently notable for paper mache mask demonstration pages/tutorials.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5150)
Several more hours sanding, painting on more plaster, waiting for that to dry and more sanding, and I think the difference shows, despite all that white being tough to photograph.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5151)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5152)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5153)
I'm at the point where I'm thinking about perfection versus being a rice-puller... As always, my timetable projections for mask-crafting were incompetent, but it'll be dry as a bone in the morning, and I can't sand on it forever, perfection being impossible and my rice-puller nature being a real thing I fight.
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You've been pretty productive.
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Yep; I'm almost down to trying my hand at painting devil masks myself, working on a Tut mask, and making a full-face base of myself. I'm in danger of running out of projects. Oh - and doing something JKStudio webpagey out of the historical overview text and powerpoint images Mylochka used in that conference presentation - then see if I can't work in a link to DR Mylochka's aforementioned work on Wikipedia. That's SEO gold, having a legitimate academic's work to publish and get referenced there...
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How many hours are you sleeping/night?
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Since Thursday, eight or more. It was an abrupt change from maybe six, for no reason I can figure.
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Phooey - that last post jinxed it; six hours last night.
Still-IT LOOKS AMAZING!
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Since Thursday, eight or more. It was an abrupt change from maybe six, for no reason I can figure.
Winter is coming...
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You know nothing, GeoSnow!
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Definitely time to stop before I pull up the rice.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5155)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5156)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5157)
For perspective, this is how it came out of the mold:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5154)
Considerable improvement, I'd say.
(It was a good cast; the rumpling was in the original, a result of the sculptamold shrinking, as a thick mass of it will, and the latex-separating problem.)
I'm going to try skipping the (&^%$#@!) latex - with a face so smoothed out as this design, and surface sanded so smooth, the only challenge should be getting the tool slipped under an edge and worked around, and it ought to pop off easily...
-Need to make another batch of paste, first...
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-Needed to tear some paper strips first, too.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5161)
I've been getting straighter strips torn lately, holding it just so that my left forefinger and right thumb sorta act as guides when I tear only a couple inches at a time - and doing an accordion fold ahead of where I'm tearing doesn't make much of a crease more than six pages at a time, but that helps, and so does the folds being held flat, keeping the pages from wandering as much while I tear.
-When I greased the base, I took a shot, wondering if shiny would make all that white even tougher to photograph:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5158)
I'd say the shiny highlights are actually an improvement.
Partway through the second layer:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5159)
Four layers later, done and drying:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5160)
(I'm nursing some extra shots out of used-up batteries. Duracells have lasted me three weeks.)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5162)
It was indeed an easy de-molding. Uncoated plaster can be a challenge, not least because there's zero give in the base, so I worried a little.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5163) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5164)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5165)
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So, after supper I went out to sit and enjoy the good weather - and I realized my hindbrain was seriously working on a King Tut mask.
I guess I better google him and study the famous gold one, make a few decisions...
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Work has begun on the Pharaoh.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5166)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5167)
Only four layers, but it's past my bedtime and I'll reinforce it when I'm gluing it to the rest. I would have liked to get at least that much done on the space helmet, but late start and bedtime, etc.
I'm going to work up my own version of the headdress -Tut's got this weird thing w/ two snakes at the top that I can't make out and don't want to fool with, and the bulk of that headdress is flat- and so pharaoh Johnnetep, and... I'm still thinking it over, but probably need to think with my hands on the shell I'm pretty sure I want...
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So I decided to build this over the original Mars Face base, because I'm only using the space helmet, it's a little bigger, and most of that's going to get covered with alterations, so the ripples won't show.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5168)
Boss Duke cut the power three times while I was mache-ing this, and I did most of one layer in the dark.
I got the Johnny face pried off, and a little trial and error with the scissors gave me a flat edge to sit on the ledge. This is unattached.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5169)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5170)
The space helmet is still wet here, and I went ahead and mache-d them together, as well as adding a layer over the actual face.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5171) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5172)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5173)
This'll all be a while drying - gives my hindbrain time to work on design... Rock on, Johnhotep!
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Demolding went smoothly, though the inside was still a tad damp - that's actually better for removing separation strips.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5174)
There was nearly an inch of ledge sticking out into nothing in places - here, I've cut it about every inch, and rubbed paste on the underside.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5175)
Here, I've folded the tabs of plateau down into the face, and began covering that with newsprint strips.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5176)
Now the entire face got a new layer inside, letting strips spill over to further the binding of the two parts.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5177)
Here the whole shebang has two layers added inside. It's a shell and it's big, and it needs to be thick and strong so I don't have to depend on a Mars Face free for it to sit on while I work - the original Mars Face itself had more give than I'd rather in the center of the face.
I've got that stuffed back in for early drying - by the time I was done lining the whole thing so thoroughly and it not being real dry inside to begin with, the outside top had soaked through some. I can probably go pry that out, over an hour later, so the inside will get bone dry before the end of time...
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I don't know if I ever posted this here...
(https://www.weplayciv.com/forums/uploads/monthly_2011_12/100_0758.jpg.ad95350cb6b6f5079e5b098352e4f1ba.jpg)
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Lose that.
Was face to face with a room full of these today at pikes market. Really nifty and something I hadn’t known about. https://www.etsy.com/listing/645552713/wooden-mask-tibetan-skull-citipati?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-home_and_living-home_decor-wall_decor-wall_hangings-other&utm_custom1=a158eae5-158d-4b98-a3ae-4896a83e70bc&utm_content=go_270948755_45071285947_194172882714_pla-305562556206_m__645552713&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlNbRy5vU4wIVAdNkCh1yuAXEEAQYAyABEgLUyfD_BwE# (https://www.etsy.com/listing/645552713/wooden-mask-tibetan-skull-citipati?gpla=1&gao=1&&utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=shopping_us_a-home_and_living-home_decor-wall_decor-wall_hangings-other&utm_custom1=a158eae5-158d-4b98-a3ae-4896a83e70bc&utm_content=go_270948755_45071285947_194172882714_pla-305562556206_m__645552713&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIlNbRy5vU4wIVAdNkCh1yuAXEEAQYAyABEgLUyfD_BwE#)
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Lose what?
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Well, this is just a rough bulking out shape w/ sculpey detailing to follow, and I need to add another, roughly, 10% on the right, but I got a gratifyingly smooth result with a spitwad/plaster mix this time.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5178)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5179)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5180)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5181)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5182)
Sitting in front of the dehumidifier now, of course.
I know pretty exactly how I want to finish off the top, the snake on the headband, and the false beard at the bottom - but still thinking over the precise details of the bottom of the headdress...
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Added the 10% more on the right - and what the heck; put bottom corners on. It's a representation of a cloth headdress, but those Eye-jipshans worked heavily in stylized and I don't wanna mess with the crap going over the shoulder and have to end at the bottom SOMEhow.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5183)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5184)
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I slid a board under it for handling/moving purposes -the spitwad is still damp- and did the detailing I had figured out for sure.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5185)
I should have enhanced the lips, too, at this stage. It's in the oven now, I'll pull it out in about six minutes.
To come is working out the bottom, probably some all down the sides, and a little of that fey eye-liner stuff in relief.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5187)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5188)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5189)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5190)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5191)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5192)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5193)
…It's more improvement since last night than I fancy stands out. I bulked out the sides/bottom more, changing the angle of the slopes, rounded off the sharp edges -more forgiving of flaws showing that way- and considerably improved the symmetry. The flattish part on either side of the chin is more triangular now - triangles hint at Egyptianess for more than one reason.
When I've done a little follow-up on the cobra, and detailed the lips and eye makeup, this'll be ready for a long, low, bake - to speed the drying of all that sculptimold, too. If I can manage an effective sand/smooth on the perimeter, this'll be ready to enclose in mache and start coating.
Stay posted, and don't spare the commentary - I've been craving that sense that anyone cares, lately.
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Well, this is interesting. When you said you were going King Tut, I assumed a cloth headpiece attached to the mask, but I see as how this is going to look more like a sarcophagus.
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Sarcophagus. I like that - good excuse for the departure from the traditional pharaonic nemes headdress that shows ears and lays very differently.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5194) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5195)
So there's a little story to go with this, but I want to get a fix done and baking before I take the time to tell... Stay tuned.
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Well, all of those additions above fought me harder than they should have. I assume something to do with the face being a bit damp from all the spitwad - and spraying of same during smoothing as it began to set. I'm especially disappointed in the eye stuff. Nothing would stick, and I can't do neat work on sculpey that comes up and rolls around while I'm trying to smooth it down and into shape.
So I got it all into what's pictured above -not happy with it, but it'll do- and took it upstairs to pop in the oven. As I rounded the hall door, I was suddenly facing a sweaty Buster. "Oh, neat!" she exclaimed looking at what I was holding out, "a pharaoh!"
I didn't know they were around, mowing Mylochka's yard for about an hour previously. She'd already been in the sewing room and seen her Dixie mask, which I missed, darnit. I hate being hard of hearing.
-And now it's sunset and the cats are waiting. Gotta turn the mask base down to 170 to help dry the spitwad, too. I'll pick this back up in a half hour or so...
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So I popped it in the oven, and visited with Buster while she started a project. -She made an excellent wolf costume last year with a foam rubber head under the fur - it was impressive, seeing so much tenacity and patience in a 15 year-old, as she'd try it on, cut a little away with scissors, try it on again and look in the mirror, etc... So she talked her Principal/art teacher into asking her to make the school's lion mascot, and she started that this afternoon.
Like I mentioned with dessert-cooking a few weeks ago, she likes to come over here to work on that sewing-related stuff, not just because her gramma is a sewing wizard, but because her weird mom gets weird about having someone in her workspace touching her stuff, and Momma's cool with that and tolerates the mess - or at least can pretend to. This lion project will see Buster back over way more often for a while.
I also got to spend time with Dixie and inspect her ears further, shape and how they're anchored and hang. Momma actually started talking about doing the cloth ears yesterday, finally -got cloth out and discussed the shape, ect., with me- and of course, conferred with Buster about them today.
Buster loved the Dixie mask. (Her Fink dad did, too.) I saw her several times randomly pick it up and hold it to her face when she didn't seem conscious that I was looking. I believe we can rely on getting some pics of it painted fairly soon. She took it home - even if the ears had been made in a timely fashion, they couldn't be attached permanently until the paining was done.
So the last pics above were taken shortly before 4, and there went four hours before I got back from popping Johnhotep in the oven...
I had Mom take a good look before I came back, and she observed that the nose was warped. Johnny has nostrils not alike from casting, but something was wrong with the bridge, now, and that was the quick fix from before. I didn't go big, wanting to hold on to the Tut-ish boyish face look that was why I chose Johnny, but I gave him an "Egyptian" nose, covering the warping. Pics soon.
It's only a matter of being satisfied with the drying of the sculptamold -and maybe some light sanding with the dremel- before I'm ready to mache over it all, and begin a new &^%$#@! latex coating cycle for about a week. Better start thinking about painting, I guess...
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That's a lot of stuff. Snakes creep me out, but I think you did a great job on the cobra part! Will that be a challenge to peel off?
There's been little word of Dr. Mylochka. Is she okay? I would have thought she'd take a shine to the Mars mask project.
Or would it take a Barbie mask? Or a Klingon or something? Well, that's not to pry, just my general concern for others.
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Ninja'd. Response to follow.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5196)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5197)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5198)
So the fix was just to build up the bridge of the nose -and a little more on the nostrils, for symmetry- I think the restrained bump is enough to add personality without adding a lot of years to the face...
This is the first time the spitwad structure has felt dry. I reckon I'll let it sit overnight -being cautious because I'm still put out about all the give and wrinkles from shrinkage in the first draft of the Mars Face- before I attempt sanding/smoothing and enclosing...
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That's a lot of stuff. Snakes creep me out, but I think you did a great job on the cobra part! Will that be a challenge to peel off?
If you look carefully at the profile shot, you'll see that I cheated and filled in behind the cobra. I was relived last night to see that it's fairly common, in pharaoh statuary, for them to leave the fake beard back-filled, like I had already done. Every detail adds to the difficulty of separation, but that's going to be more annoying to mache over w/o loosing all the detail and/or introducing unintended folds than to slide off that near an edge where I can pry around/against it. Noses suck partly because they're in the center of the face - this will be easier to get at. The sheer size of the mask will help with the rest; more room = more flex while I'm prying around the edges with a tool.
There's been little word of Dr. Mylochka. Is she okay? I would have thought she'd take a shine to the Mars mask project.
Or would it take a Barbie mask? Or a Klingon or something? Well, that's not to pry, just my general concern for others.
She seems to be in a state of near-permanent suck for the last several years. Headaches, mostly. She has good days, or at least passible and able to go out and/or do productive stuff ones, but this and that -especially adulting, tending to her dogs, and her ongoing decorating of her own house and yard- burns off all her good time before stuff like my projects ever come up in the priority list.
I keep her informed, somewhat, on what I'm working on, and she seems interested when I actually show her something -she loved Johnhotep, and thinks I should roll with the eyeliner as-is- but never says "paint" and neither do I. It's less enraging if I just let it go.
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Something to make UnO jealous: an Egyptian-styled Halloween. ;)
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Something to make UnO jealous: an Egyptian-styled Halloween. ;)
:) And I'VE got Cobra Commander.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5199)
COOBRAAAA!
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Halfway through enclosing, about two and a half hours ago...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5200)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5201)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5202)
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Fully enclosed.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5203)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5204)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5205)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5206)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5207)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5208)
I quick-dried w/ low heat a half hour in the oven, trimmed the perimeter, and a layer of edge strips that lap the back are currently drying.
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Lose what?
Love autocorrect. I was trying to say I love that mask on Buster.
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I finally figured that out after a day.
I suddenly realize that I owe you a Plague Dr. mask. I don't know how I managed to forget that after you mailed me your face.
I've had An Unorthodox Halloween linked on the JKStudio links page since I first made it - link exchange? Your site does way better for search engine hits when I'm looking for mine... http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/)
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This is going to make the latexing much more pleasant, that it looks like something, and it looks good.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5209)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5210)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5211)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5212)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5213) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5214)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5215) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5216)
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It's a very thin coat of spray-paint - I wanted the goldenness, but to avoid a presumed tendency to interfere with the latex coat bonding. Coincidentally, Mylochka and I have said "paint" to each other today; it was her paint, and she has offered me the use of some stone texture paints, which is some binary thing in two cans she'll have to teach me. She's trying to get out of painting eventually, of course, but spray-paint, I will do. I told her the two Mars Faces I've mached need to be red sandstone, by the nature of the thing, but future Johnhotep masks would look magnificent in most any stone texture/color, like statuary.
Buster showed up right after supper, and spent about two hours on her lion...
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I finally figured that out after a day.
I suddenly realize that I owe you a Plague Dr. mask. I don't know how I managed to forget that after you mailed me your face.
I've had An Unorthodox Halloween linked on the JKStudio links page since I first made it - link exchange? Your site does way better for search engine hits when I'm looking for mine... http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/)
My website is some pretty bizaar top hits in search engines. It annoys a lot of companies.
I'll have to look next time I'm into the back end. I'm not even sure I still have a links page, but I can certainly go find all the posts and linky to that site in the posts that mention/tag you.
I actually filled my camera on vacation, so trying to edit up pics to post as it is.
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Awesome. Thanks.
I need to see if I can figure out the password for Mylochka's DeviantArt JKStudio page. She doesn't recall. It does better than the site for SEO, too, and a link to the site would be a great help...
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I've been processing photos for posting, myself.
Here, I started off with a layer of uncut, in hopes it'll bond better and be sturdier until I've built up thick enough that it's not accident-prone.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5217)
It's almost dry already, and before bed I'll follow up with lightly-diluted. I'd like to reduce the number of coats needed, but thinner smooths itself out better - it's a balance. My early work after I started latexing my bases got some pretty gnarly cumulative surfaces, using only uncut...
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Ok, got one up on the sidebar, but I'm adding that sidebar to my list of changes for that C word holiday. (when I do most my website updates)
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;b; Experience indicates that five months or so featured like that will do wonders for the poor SEO.
Mylochka used my email when she was setting up the DeviantArt account - I have several setup and change password emails from them in late 2011, but the links are stone dead and the site doesn't recognize the email now. Their login interface isn't very intuitive, either. I can't tell if it's basically a dead account now, or what. Pity if she can't figure out how to get in; it does well in search engine hits, as does two mentions on your blog, and the thread on the Halloween forum. -I need to log in at the Halloween forum...
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H Forum is on my [poop] list of late, but yes, they do well in searches, and my link in my sig there does well as a result. My only better spot is at Pumpkinrot...but he's gone dark since early June.
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I need to move forward on making a page from Dr. Mylochka's academic conference presentation on masks - I've saved the pics from the powerpoint, and found out the lousy OCR on the current printer makes .pdfs that I can't copy/paste from, so I have to re-type the lecture - but it's only six pages of large print. It's sorta lightweight stuff, but it's legit academia, and I bet I can place at least one viable link on Wikipedia. That would be two of the triumvirate of sites that are everywhere, since I'm already working Facebook.
If I got her to linkback from a relevant painting YouTube video or two -and give them a page on the site for good measure- we'd have a hat-trick... Probably ought to talk her into doing it with whatever painting vids there are, since getting her to make anything new is unlikely...
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I didn't have any trouble logging on. I should really find a pretext to post where the do-it-yourself crowd is, shouldn't I?
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I would think so.
Love Tut.
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I didn't have any trouble logging on. I should really find a pretext to post where the do-it-yourself crowd is, shouldn't I?
No, it's just gone corporate shill crapshow with the new owners. Ads designed to look like posts embedded in threads even if you're logged in. Bleh.
Crafts section: https://www.halloweenforum.com/forums/halloween-crafts.181/ (https://www.halloweenforum.com/forums/halloween-crafts.181/)
Even a tutorial or three: https://www.halloweenforum.com/forums/tutorials-and-step-by-step.162/ (https://www.halloweenforum.com/forums/tutorials-and-step-by-step.162/)
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Mylochka got into the DeviantArt account, and I have made changes, including posting a cutout of Johnhotep and, of course, spreading the URL around. https://www.deviantart.com/jkstudio1 (https://www.deviantart.com/jkstudio1)
Uno, you know that it's gone suck doesn't concern me as long as SEO happens... Thanks for the link, so I don't have to search...
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...Mylochka has half a million vids on YouTube but most of them are tutorials for Daz/Poser computer art. Now I gotta go find her account and search though to find painting videos and present her with a list of links - she seems amenable, if not enthusiastic, about adding linkbacks to http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/)
-Also, she says I should make slide show videos in Windows Movie Maker of the pages I've written up my process. Lame, but a dedicated JKStudio account would be a good thing for my SEO purposes...
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I've made a dedicated YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0Shpm7BPPyyNpNlA5vdiw/featured?disable_polymer=1 (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCD0Shpm7BPPyyNpNlA5vdiw/featured?disable_polymer=1) -Now I just need some videos to post...
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-I only found one painting video, BTW, but I may not have found all her YouTube accounts...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5223)
Still on this, of course. Just applied another uncut layer - then spritzed with a little water to encourage the surface to smooth. It's a job, latexing this, because the face has a bunch of fine details I don't want filled in/smoothed out, and the crap around the eyes -and the join of the cobra to the headband, and the cobra's face- doesn't leave a lot of room for my finger to fit between. Soldiering on...
I'm, dunno, about halfway through creating a page for Mylochka's convention presentation, starting over 24 hours ago. I'm not much of a touch typist, so getting her text down is a slog. -Still, I've finally worked out the layout, maybe. The work goes slowly, but it does go...
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Done. http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MasksAndMaskMaking-JKStudio.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/MasksAndMaskMaking-JKStudio.html)
I'll hold off indexing on the other pages until she's had a look and a chance to request changes/
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Time to upload all the re-indexed pages; the new page has met with Dr. Mylochka's total approval, including my intro and about-the-author, layout, and also minor proofing/re-writing and insertion of a pic of myself mask-making - she says she'd have actually used it there if she'd had it seven years earlier.
I got M to dig around for material for the deceased webpages for both the shows she did that I masked. She found something a couple of disks for Touring Mayaland that I'm soon to inspect. I think she's come down with gonna-be-crazy-until-I-find-it for the Frida Kahlo show stuff.
She also also stumbled over some material from the mask workshop that followed the lecture I just made a page of - I haven't been through all the text files, but only two pics are of someone with a mask in the shot, and they're small and they're her. I'll add them to the text about her at the bottom, but feeling a little disappointed so far...
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Well, I got a cute set of five pics of her lecturing out of it, to put in a row right over the about the author crap I put at the bottom - and the first word of the name of the conference I'd missed in her physical notes.
She's single, boys. ;nod
-Maybe better stuff on the Touring Mayaland disks - but don't hold your breath...
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The updates to the site are live, now...
http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/)
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I. will. be. John. Browned. if there isn't -allegedly- a video of the entirety of Touring Mayaland, and if 45 minutes ago wasn't the first I've heard about it.
If she can find it, and if she can transfer it to a computer - screenies off 20 year-old video will certainly suck, and not just a little, but we can upload to YouTube and embed, that gives us enough visual -along with maybe some screenies possibly shrunk pretty small for crispness- to make a viable page that isn't just a wall of text. We were both there, and can easily generate text, though she was looking for her director's notes when I left.
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-Also, she says I should make slide show videos in Windows Movie Maker of the pages I've written up my process. Lame, but a dedicated JKStudio account would be a good thing for my SEO purposes...
Apparently, WMM can make the slides for me, but I've no idea how to get it to do that - so making screenies. Ain't nobody going to be able to read my verbose pages as a video -and my pages don't do variable width/wrap- but I can link the page in the description and urge viewers to go read it the way it was designed for...
Bad content is better than no content, and YouTube SEO and all that...
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[link deleted]
-Soundless test video that requires pausing to read -unless you read several times faster than me, and you don't- but it's legible and the wipes work. Takes three minutes and change to load, but the runtime's only 2:48 if you don't pause to read the whole thing - according to what Mylochka thinks, I want to maybe just leave it too fast and use the description to advise viewers to follow the page link and read it the way it was designed to be read... The object is traffic to the site, after all, not YouTube views...
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Here it is on YouTube, instead, w/ Wagner.
Making Small Sculptures - JKStudio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=24RjyCjtD-4#)
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M has come through with some content...
Masks (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CP64OHVCK9M#)
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There is a thing you have to do in collaborating, where you take what you get, because your partner has free will. M has not painted anything, or worked on the website, or gotten any of a number of things done that I've waited a long time for. What she did was generate another video about masks last night.
Six Reasons for Using Masks in Performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5bL83hue9I&feature=youtu.be#)
She likes poser art and she likes making videos. It was a pleasant surprise when I got on this morning. I'll take it...
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Second time this week that I looked down and noticed something wrong with a mask in a box in my room - first time was the green horned skull, which was warped badly and had a tear along the teeth on one side. Repaired and reinforced days ago. Yesterday, I noticed one of the wrestling masks almost crumpled up. Sitting on a face to straighten out, and I probably ought to reinforce it, too, or it won't stay straightened out.
And I come before you today, my friends, to show you how very, very right the wrestling mask looks on the right face.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5237)
That's the ring of authenticity, right there. Looks like one time when Wahoo McDaniels -who had a nose just like that, and just about exactly the same weight and face-shape- snuck back in after being banned.
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There is a thing you have to do in collaborating, where you take what you get, because your partner has free will. M has not painted anything, or worked on the website, or gotten any of a number of things done that I've waited a long time for. What she did was generate another video about masks last night.
Six Reasons for Using Masks in Performance (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r5bL83hue9I&feature=youtu.be#)
She likes poser art and she likes making videos. It was a pleasant surprise when I got on this morning. I'll take it...
The credits were mercifully short. ;)
And the video certainly states a truth thousands of years old. One only need to look at Greek theater performances for that.
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She left out the transformative effect of a mask turning the actor from an individual into something more universal and archetypal, an embodied idea. Tsk.
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Resolved to beef up the Mask Presentation.
Have plans to make additions to the lists of Types of Masks and Uses for Masks - with videos!
I have created a monster - thank goodness. :danc:
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Holy crap. I win. Mylochka said to me, about an hour ago, "I need to paint some masks."
Well I got a stack of 12 unpainted new masks from the last two months and three days, dear; I will totally hook you up.
-We were talking about her commenced project to expand on and improve the mask lecture page with a couple of videos expanding greatly on two points where her lecture notes were thin. She started thinking about a painting process video. I did have the integrity to tell her I took pics after each session the last time and wrote them up here - I believe she considers that mighty low resolution, and my comments and speculations about where she was going with this and that beside the point of a tutorial-ish process vid.
We've got an appointment to watch Thor: Ragnarok after I've done cat feed at sunset; I'm carrying the pile to the same table as before -all her paint and brushes are still out there from Fall 2017- so I can say I did when I see her in a couple hours...
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Well, I hope that it makes her feel better.
If not, I hope that it provides her a distraction.
Maybe that doesn't make sense to everybody, but it should to somebody with tinnitus.
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The hissing is pretty loud today, at that.
-Having reviewed the pics I posted from last time painting, they are indeed, little help - she didn't know I was photoing behind her, and way too many disappeared with nothing of how they turned out.
When I picked up the recent mask stack, it was, correction, lucky 13 masks, most of them devils. I also un-stole so much paint I had to use my shirttail to do it in one trip. She's actually been down to look. Looks like painting might actually happen. She asked me what I'd like, which would have been more helpful if we thought at all alike about design and decoration; she likes busy argle-bargle, and does beautiful stuff that way, while I make a face and think in terms of it looking like a face. "I was just thinking red devils" I said. Well, that thing I said yesterday about taking what I can get. Variety makes it more interesting, "but painted like just a mask sometimes would be nice" I finished...
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Attn: Uno.
I'd like some input about what you see a really good Plague Doctor mask looking like. I've asked Mylochka the same question. I have a pretty good simple eagle beak -you've seen me and young Buster wearing crudely-painted examples- and I could just do that as a half-mask and be done with it, but I'd like to do something nicer, in part because it also fits into our years-old ambition to do up a commedia del arte' set.
So, more beak or cartoon nose? Poking straight, or angled down over the mouth? Any clever ideas about incorporating lenses very cheaply? (The best notion I've got is lowest-power magnifying/reading glasses from the dollar store -round lenses if available for $5 or less- just pop 'em out and mache into the mask, if the wearer can take the blurry vision.)
Anything else, Plague Doctor-wise, I haven't mentioned?
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Well good news. Momma's sisters are here for lunch, so I threw out the Plague Dr. lenses problem to the three of them, and Aunt Pokey, a trained and accomplished artist herself, suggests cutting out of the double-curved part near the top of two-liter soda bottles. Tricky to do a neat round cut, but a good balance between sturdy and flexible, no serious vision distortion, free material we go through regularly, so very available - and I meant to embed the edges in the mask as I build it, so the they need to be close, but don't require anything like perfection in the cutting out.
We go through one or two clear bottles a week, and one or two green bottles. Provided it looks okay when I actually try it, maybe this conundrum is solved.
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Mylochka and Mom say sunglass lenses, instead. The teardrop-shaped pair attached is the best that have been thus far volunteered for sacrifice... I haven't decided whether to turn the points in or out, but I think pointing horizontal is best if I use these, not least to break up that top edge alignment that'd say glasses...
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I'm trying something a little new today.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5238)
All along, I've been encouraging the latex to form thicker ridges over some key details. I had fair luck extending a tendon along Dixie's muzzle that way. And well, it struck me that that Pharaoh's face was taking a lot longer than the headdress, despite me doing a poor job of building up the eye-liner details, instead of letting the latex smooth them out to oblivion. So I'm trying a few layers of just the ridges, to mitigate against that smoothing tendency, and more neatly at that.
Attn: Uno.
I'd like some input about what you see a really good Plague Doctor mask looking like. I've asked Mylochka the same question. I have a pretty good simple eagle beak -you've seen me and young Buster wearing crudely-painted examples- and I could just do that as a half-mask and be done with it, but I'd like to do something nicer, in part because it also fits into our years-old ambition to do up a commedia del arte' set.
So, more beak or cartoon nose? Poking straight, or angled down over the mouth? Any clever ideas about incorporating lenses very cheaply? (The best notion I've got is lowest-power magnifying/reading glasses from the dollar store -round lenses if available for $5 or less- just pop 'em out and mache into the mask, if the wearer can take the blurry vision.)
Anything else, Plague Doctor-wise, I haven't mentioned?
? I'm caught up on the internet promotion for the moment, and I've got nothing serious in the pike but Plague Dr. I need a project right now, and haven't gotten a straight answer from Mylochka yet, either...
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Okay; instead of simmering in my own juices waiting for input -I mentioned it to Buster as next and she pronounced herself excited, so her, too- I think I'll pop those sunglass lenses, get out the eagle beak, and make a simple test P Dr. on my face. (The beak appliance was made to fit over that nose, so no variables but working in the lenses.)
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Correction; this is the face it was made on.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5239)
Today's new comic book day, so I'm not in a tearing hurry, but this is standing by for when I catch up and get bored... Mylochka says this is really all she has in mind; the beak and make the lens inclusion look good...
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Drying in the backyard for about the next hour:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5240)
Mylochka wants to do something for the website -video, I think- in the painting process line, not unlike the first four pages I made of mostly mask-making process. This is the base coat for a sandstone texture, and then she'll see about Mars color and what her hands want to do for decorationdetailing…
She also found the files for the former Frida Kahlo in Love -a masked show, as I've posted a few shots in the past- webpages so we can do something with them/bring them back. I haven't looked at what she found yet, but am about to.
P.S. :danc:
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After this has dried an hour, she plans to spray another stone texture atop the sandstone - not rust-red, either, and I have my doubts about anything beyond this working well. But life is risk, and a collaborator makes making more interesting, what with the surprises.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5241)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5242)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5243)
The red wagon is my vintage mid-60s steel frame original, never in storage, and we've moved refrigerators balanced on it - it's very useful, or was when the wheels were a lot younger, for moving heavy things when you needed more stability than a wheelbarrow.
I'm going to have to break off before beginning chapter Four of Pyrebound. The Frida Kahlo in Love pages are lovely, but going to need some additions -no masks shown/discussed- but if a.) KompoZer doesn't break the frames and b.) I can figure out the file system from the button addresses, I'm going to have something uploaded and working before bedtime. We're going to give all the show pages she can turn up their own folder -because she was CHEESED when they took her show pages down; it's a carrot for getting cooperation on the useful mask-related stuff- and linkback from the mask shows...
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Let's see if this works...
http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove)
:danc: YES! :danc:
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It appears there's going to be significant expansion of the Frida site - M got an early start today, and it turned out she still has most of those masks, and has photographed them.
Looking through stuff and making suggestions is rather fun. I'm on her to add material about how it turned out, what I found when I first saw it yesterday being a bit about Frida and the inspiration, a lot about the collaborative directing, and absolutely nothing about the use of masks -sets, costumes, story, etc.- and how the show was and came off in the final product.
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The pics she took this morning. Turns out I did do at least two monkeys - though I still think the third was a paint-alike improvised on the same sort of super-cheap plain mask the Day of the Dead one was done on.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5244) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5245)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5246)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5247) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5248)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5249)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5250)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5251)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5252)
Looking at these, I wish I'd been able to do the final trims - I don't think I had anything to do with those eyeholes, and the full-face Frida needs the bottom cut out to not make her look fat and let the actresses move their chins. I am pretty proud of the good likeness I produced of Diego Rivera.
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I replaced the gallery set on the homepage with the masks of Frida Kahlo in Love. http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/)
-About to add JKStudio linkback buttons to the Frida Kahlo in Love website.
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I like the monkey quite a bit. I'd love to see that done with fluorescing paints. (note, not bright fluorescent colors, just colors that fluoresce under blacklight)
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After this has dried an hour, she plans to spray another stone texture atop the sandstone - not rust-red, either, and I have my doubts about anything beyond this working well. But life is risk, and a collaborator makes making more interesting, what with the surprises.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5241)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5242)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5243)
The red wagon is my vintage mid-60s steel frame original, never in storage, and we've moved refrigerators balanced on it - it's very useful, or was when the wheels were a lot younger, for moving heavy things when you needed more stability than a wheelbarrow.
I'm going to have to break off before beginning chapter Four of Pyrebound. The Frida Kahlo in Love pages are lovely, but going to need some additions -no masks shown/discussed- but if a.) KompoZer doesn't break the frames and b.) I can figure out the file system from the button addresses, I'm going to have something uploaded and working before bedtime. We're going to give all the show pages she can turn up their own folder -because she was CHEESED when they took her show pages down; it's a carrot for getting cooperation on the useful mask-related stuff- and linkback from the mask shows...
Yeah, I've had rather mixed results with multicoats on the textured paints.
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She didn't do anything else to the Mars Face yesterday - it appears the second texture caused the "sand" to have dark and light specks, and look less like a cement casting, but only up close.
I'll pass along about a glow-in-the-dark monkey. This may turn out to be a good time to express ideas like that...
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I'm talking SUBTLE. Like a good day/night picture:
(http://timdavismurals.com/murals/murals_set_files/vlb_images1/110_day_night_uv_sky.jpg)
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In fact about 50 of them. I can't get a good video of the full effect.
Basic concept.
Error 404 (Not Found)!!1 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Le42Das2p94#)
HOWEVER, I'd add a really slow strobe. Like one pulse every 10 seconds or so. This lets you see the normal paint for just a moment, and messes with your eyes.
Typically you have a black suited employee or two with masks on their hands as well so some of them move.
The subtle day/night change coupled with that monkey shape would be a big improvement on the basic idea that's become standard as it's JUST off the expectation.
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Did I mention that she did a couple glow in the darks in the green set of mold masks from late 2017? Nothing I can photograph satisfactorily, of course, but I think of you whenever it registers on me.
That day/night cloudscape is impressive.
I've actually copy/pasted the relevant suggestions in email just now.
---
Yesterday at supper, she asked me to get together all the finished masks for her to photograph. I've suddenly become so used to having my collaborator -abruptly- back from the dead that I didn't run downstairs and report this 20 hours ago. It's quite a stack, one mask going back 20 years, but I have done so now.
P.S. :danc:
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I still don't see how she's going to make this rust-red, which I gather is still the plan, but the black and white granite speckle effect is an improvement after all...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5254)
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I'm talking SUBTLE. Like a good day/night picture:
(http://timdavismurals.com/murals/murals_set_files/vlb_images1/110_day_night_uv_sky.jpg)
That's cool. For that matter, the ceiling fan reminds me of a steam punk UFO in the night shots.
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Here's a WIP of the Dixie mask painting process.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5255)
Momma got the ears done about a week ago, and Buster finally picked them up yesterday...
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I've been working for most of the last 24 hours on fixing the Frida Kahlo in Love (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/) photo gallery page. Mylochka thinks her assistant director/grad/minion, Nkechi -who is proof immigrants can be pure win and awesome; I got to know her a little when I was living in Texas last- used Apple software -boo!- in making the page, and I probably broke it running the file through KompoZer to title it and stuff for the search engines. I'd swear what I first saw off the floppy disk worked for selecting the thumbnail to enlarge, if the page formatting was already broken.
Anyway, broken it was -the thumbnails tiny at 100x75 and in a line scrolling forever off to the right, instead of the grid she clearly intended, and now, the expansion script was stuck on the first pic in line. Also, it only had 41 pics, all from the same early rehearsal, despite there being over 100 in the pic folder. -It also stank a little in not following the design/look of every other page.
I know how to make pics display as thumbnails in a grid, clicking to show full-size on a blank page you have to backbutton on your browser out of -M and I agree that's lame and sucks, but it's what I could do for a gallery, and she said to go ahead and do it- and I ended up re-making the photo gallery page from scratch. There was something screwing with the grid layout I was substituting, probably leftover Apple script I couldn't find.
In addition to the page working, within the limits of my finite tech skills, the thumbnails are nearly twice as big, and there are a LOT of pics now added from other than just that one rehearsal, including a painting session and a performance - 92 in all. It was grinding work, mostly, once I'd figured out what and how. It beat the hell outta me how to get half-Frida up against the left side like the other pages, so I did what I could until I realized Front Page is better for that kind of precision stuff this afternoon. -Then I had to put back page arrangements Front Page broke, and neither Front Page nor KompoZer displayed the change, so I didn't know it worked until I uploaded the file and saw it on the browser.
However, work it did, looks great, puts half-Frida back like the other pages, and the pic selection is an infinitely better representation of what went into making the show - Also, none of the paltry few pics with masks were in there before.
Where's Godking when you need him? http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/photo.html (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/photo.html)
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Added two pages to the Frida website today - consistent with the design of the rest, which are made of finicky joined graphics bits that I dare not touch, lest gaps happen. These didn't need extra room like the mass of photos, so both have the content in frames and working. I didn't think this would work, but it did. I also figured out what font was used on the buttons in place, and how to do the drop shadows, so everything matches, including updates to the JKStudio linkback button and the Home button at the bottom of the photo gallery page.
I'm fixing to add the fancy photos M took the other day of the surviving masks to the photo gallery...
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Done. Y'all have a look.
http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/)
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I've added a coming soon page stub for something M intends to put together about the Frida Kahlo paintings, poems and letters she built the show around. I also made suitable versions and put the other buttons at the bottom of the gallery.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/images/frida_05c.gif)
M allegedly took photos of a bunch of finished mask this morning, but came down with a bad case of storm brain this afternoon, so nothing's been processed yet.
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While scanning in Frida Kahlo paintings for Mylochka Friday -no net, no Google Images- I lucked into some mask pics on Momma's computer that I didn't have.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5256)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5257)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5258)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5259)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5260)
-One day, about 12 years ago, I was told Buster wanted a cat mask. Her cat was black, and I painted this myself, and sewed in the whiskers and coated them in black latex...
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http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/VoluptuousMan/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/VoluptuousMan/) -It turns out to be a mask show, though before we started collaborating...
http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/PostModernMyFairLady (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/PostModernMyFairLady)
-Also, serious updates to http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/FridaKahloInLove/)
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Mylochka tried something with two devil halfmasks and some spraypaint Friday; I don't know what she was shooting for -she said she was trying something, but not what- but I don't think it worked out, 'cause nothing else has happened.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5261)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5262) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5263)
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So this is how I kept sane, once I resolved to Sunday.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5264) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5265)
Johnhotep is a nice design, but flawed and difficult to work with - I had such excellent results with casting the problematic Mars Face in plaster and smoothing, that I always intended to try it with this.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5266)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5267)
That's, like, nine layers on the sides, two of them color Sunday comics printed on oddly heavy-grade paper, and it feels really stout. Two more layers of latex lining, and I should get a cast made tomorrow...
Really - it's okay to comment and let me feel like anyone cares...
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Mylochka produced the video of painting a reproduction of Frida Kahlo's "Self-Portrait with Monkeys -1943" on her garage wall, and it has been duly posted on YouTube.
FridaMural (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7esxUbJveY&feature=youtu.be#)
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So how does this compare with "knitting" chain mail? Do you ever cut yourself on one of the multitude of paper edges? Does one craft clear your head more than the other? Or make you feel more productive?
I'm liking this Johnhotep mask. I'm impressed by the asp, I'm diggin' the eye relief and the headdress/ base. I liked the Mars mask, too.
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Well, chainmail is more physical labor - it's heavy. Dunno, it's durable, so you can take it places, and people are really impressed. I had callus on my right -whatever you call the finger next to the pinkie- so thick you wouldn't believe in the mid-90s. You ultimately can't do that many different things with it, everything takes forever, and I certainly aren't interested in knitting w/o a TV to half-watch during. No papercuts so far with the mache.
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Holy crap, did that take a lot of plaster.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5268)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5269)
I'm being patient and letting it dry overnight before I try to demold...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/AutumnPig.png)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/BeijingOpera01.png)
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I am satisfied.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5274)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5275)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5270)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5271)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5272)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5273)
No flaws I'll have trouble fixing. This is going to be awesome by the time I'm through with it.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/CarnivalTime.png)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/CroneMask01.png)
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I painted this one myself.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/GingerMask.png)
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The painting of the Heart of the Jungle series, of course, is inspired by the work of Frida Kahlo.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/JungleFaceGorilla.png)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/LimeAlien01.png)
-
Something vaguely familiar about that last one's paint job. Specifically around the mouth...it's bugging me...
-
[shrugs]
```
Hey- Check. THIS Excrement. OUT. http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/)
:danc:
-
I have had a steep learning curve w/ the .html lately, and have figured out how to get the button light-up rollover thing to work. I struggled with that from Friday to Monday, and kept breaking out in grins the rest of the day after I cracked it. G'won - click on that link in the last post. Poke around and enjoy.
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Something vaguely familiar about that last one's paint job. Specifically around the mouth...it's bugging me...
I get a sci-fi alien/vampire vibe but all I can remember is the M-113 creature but it's not that one.
-
I have little to add - it looks vaguely like something tribal to me. I guess I could ask Mylochka about it...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/LimeOni.png)
-
We've added two sites in the last 24 hours. http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/)
http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/CrueltyToAnimals/ (http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/CrueltyToAnimals/)
http://dasav.net/ (http://dasav.net/)
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Kelly didn't try to get you in on a play?
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Nnnope.
Assistant directed a production of Camelot right here in America, near two years ago, and never said a word to me.
-
Handpainted Masks by JKStudio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsBM3Odr2CE&t=201s#)
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Nnnope.
Assistant directed a production of Camelot right here in America, near two years ago, and never said a word to me.
Oh. No words.
On second thought, they missed out on some divine pizzas.
-
They missed out on a mighty fine Arthur, is what they missed.
-My pizza is pretty out of practice...
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Do you sing?
-
Better than okay voice. Geo seemed impressed.
I used to be an adequate tenor, and a good base - that was before being loud in renfairs for nine years hurt my upper range. I fancy my bass range is still pretty solid.
-
I never thought about whether somebody I knew in a forum could sing or not before. It was a "Hey, wait! Wasn't Camelot a musical? moment for me. I figure there's a high correlation between having an ear for voices & accents and having an ear for relative musical pitch, so it makes sense that you can and did. I simply don't remember you mentioning singing.
Even before my inner ear problems, I couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.
-
Better than okay voice. Geo seemed impressed.
Since I can't hold a tone, I'm easily impressed with anyone with a good voice. ;)
They missed out on a mighty fine Arthur, is what they missed.
That's for sure!
Even a Merlin would be thing.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/MaskedMarvel.png)
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You know, somebody claims to be an actor, assume they're a decent singer. Exceptions are a distinct minority.
Here's what I did yesterday...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/TaylorSchoolShows/Other/Petrified3.gif)
Look several seconds...
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Why not a barking dog? Or a stealthy cat? ;)
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Because the show I made this for a webpage background -it embiggens- was set in a beauty shop run by a single mother. Her five year-old, running around the shop and irritating the customer -note her expression changing- was played by a beachball they'd bounce across the stage. Really.
-
You know, somebody claims to be an actor, assume they're a decent singer. Exceptions are a distinct minority.
Don't know if I'd elevate myself to ACTOR, but certainly scare-actor.
My singing is covered by the constitution under cruel and unusual punishment. Though I can pull off reasonably convincing demonic chanting.
-
Besides the selection pressure, it's a matter of you can't do a lot of plays w/o getting a good deal of semi-formal training. The dancing didn't much take, but I'm not hopeless at that, either - not for an abundance of talent.
-
Ah, this time I noticed the mouth go down.
-
Besides the selection pressure, it's a matter of you can't do a lot of plays w/o getting a good deal of semi-formal training. The dancing didn't much take, but I'm not hopeless at that, either - not for an abundance of talent.
There's a fair bit of training that goes into the haunt actors if you are part of any quality establishment. But it wouldn't equate. I imagine it's the difference between close up magic and stage magic. In fact, the biggest skill involved on the haunting side of things is the ability to read people. You have to pick the target out of a group in order to get the reaction. I think that's why so many of the people who get real interested in it tend to come from fairly [poop]ty circumstances where that was a survival skill.
-
[Language - please watch the compound words so I don't have to.]
Yeah; working in a dirt-floor theme park is at least as much like that -and they all got childhood horror stories, now that you mention it- as doing plays, though the singing and dancing do come into it...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/MrMysterious.png)
-
Ok, I like the messed up clown paint job a lot more than the mexican wrestler.
-
She still named the file MrMysterious.png...
-
I've been grinding away on an actual AC2-related project since Friday... http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=1244.msg121519#msg121519 (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=1244.msg121519#msg121519)
-
That is a LOT of grinding....
-
Yes.
-
...It really burns my butt, BTW, that the Wayback Machine has copies of the Firaxis AC pages -I count 407 hotmetal files in the folder I keep that stuff in- clear back to 2000, while Touring Mayaland, and sites for a few of Mylochka's other shows -as little as three pages apiece- are gone forever if she can't find the files on floppies. They were taken down about the same time, and most were up almost as long...
-
Companion to the previous dog mask I painted myself.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/PropstMask.png)
That was Ginger; this is Propst. They were Mylochka's dogs at the time, and I made her masks of them for a gift occasion, I don't recall which.
-
is the yellow top coat or under coat on that one?
-
Looking at it, I think top - I do not remember after almost 20 years, of course. There's a faint suggestion that Mylochka -or Momma with my knowledge, for all I recall- touched up a teeny bit behind me.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/SunflowerCat.png)
Not at all the mask-painting I would have chosen for this, but interesting/charming, nonetheless.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/TableRock.png)
-
Re-posting this to see if it displays, as Draz was busy this morning.
Handpainted Masks by JKStudio (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HsBM3Odr2CE#)
-We're httpS, now, if no one's noticed, but that doesn't seem to change needing to take out the s for videos. Weird; I could see it in Preview, and one Draz posted in the Staff Room displayed.
-
Another test post - I'm inconsistently getting my own posts marked as unread when I surface from them, sometimes in the subforum, sometimes up at the root level. Please let me know if you get that; I assume it's a spinoff of a couple long-standing problems being fixed this morning...
-
Another test:
-
This seems to work:
There's a YouTube button now over the Reply box - which does nothing in Edge, BTW, 'cause Edge sux.
;woohoo
-
WTH!?
That worked right in the Staff Room...
-
Trying again…
[shrugs]
-
This should be fixed, now.
-
looks normal to me
-
Me too.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/JKStudio/2018%20Masks/WitchinHour.png)
-
That ones needs a different background.
-
As in, over half the face is flat black, or she's already done Hawksbill and Table Rock a bunch of times?
-
Just that it's not good to photo black against black.
-
-Just shy of two weeks work, it's done: http://alphacentauri2.info/official/
-
Does anyone know their way around Wikipedia editing to help me? The Anna Cora Mowatt article -Mylochka is actually the world's greatest scholarly authority- extensively cites her original ACM webpage -which has been down for eight years, so they use a Wayback copy- and I figured out that a single edit in the References to substitute the url for the current updated site at the new location is all it would take to fix all six cites.
-However, when I go to edit that section, it's in a template "{{reflist|30em}}" that I have no idea how to get at to alter. Help!
-
..It appears that what needed doing was to change the first cite in the article, which changed the reflist thing. I also fixed the cite for a stranger I happened to know was in the same bind -retired professor who had moved his cite and now had old archive referenced- and emailed him heads-up, because his site is probably all over Wikipedia, referenced Wayback. Anyway, I been laying the political groundwork; it's already lasted nearly two hours, and if the baby makes it to midnight, it'll probably live...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5324)
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Polka dots, neet
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You'll like this next, then...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5325)
Like the previous, this is doll-scale. Would fit an 18'' American Girl pretty well.
-
nice, although, blue with white dots would also be good... (I'm more a black,blue or gray color person)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5327)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5334)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5327)
I swear, a little dirtied up, that one could be in a horror movie.
-
I was very disappointed when M misunderstood me and cleaned the mold off that one before she painted the glaze on...
-
Also? I thought you'd enjoy the following, because it, inadvertently, turned out to look like a horror movie poster or something. It's actually an attempt at page background art for when we get to making a website for Touring Mayaland, the show that began our mask collaboration.
"Everybody hates tourists" is actually a line from the show.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5339)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5328)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5329)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5330)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5331)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5332)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5333)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5335)
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Kewl
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5336)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5337)
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I've been remiss in sharing Buster's painting progress on the Dixie mask. This is from the end of October.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6116)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6117)
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I find the dogs disturbing.
Just so you know.
-
:D
-
And that snout is wickedly good both sculpt and paint job.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6119)
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WOW! I want to hear the story of when dog meets masked Buster.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6121)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6122)
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Doggy! With velvet(?) ears!
-
Velvet ears, yes.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6128)
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I think it's very appropriate for hound ears. They are so soft!
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6123)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6124)
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Mask-painter and perfect niece Buster models our work...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6125)
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I like the effect around the tip of the muzzle. Don't know how one would achieve a "hairy" effect with paint--best not to risk spoiling it by trying, eh?
-
I guess so.
A close examination of the actual dog -or at least the pics I've posted- reveals that the borders between the various colors could have used just a smidge of blur; but the black fading into the white, as you note, is really masterfully-done.
-
looks good.... Doggie!!
-
Mask-painter and perfect niece Buster models our work...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6125)
Awesome!
-
You ever finish the bearded devil?
Reworking my 'green man' mask is on my to-do list. It's really showing it's age after....5 years, 4 of those wearing it. As my cold weather go-to.
-
You ever finish the bearded devil?
Which one?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4774)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4953)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4815)
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Ah, so they're awaiting paint.
I like that one on the red cloth best.
Reminds me of a logo, though I can't place for what right now.
-
Yeah; JohnnyDevil is what I'm posting on Facebook lately, and I find that revisiting those pics really pleases me. Like, there's the least frustration associated with the making and maybe the best execution of the initial idea. Probably my favorite creation of last year.
-Too bad it's kinda small for a grown man's face...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4955)
-
Buster did this in-progress design for a contest at the county library.
-
Impressive.
Most impressive.
-
Gurlz got MAD talent, yo. Not just sayin' 'cause I'm fond.
-
I need to upload you some of Talia’s drawing. My dear lord never in my dreams was I even close to that good at drawing.
-
Watching them noodling away so much more patiently than we could before the age of 30 is something, isn't it?
-
As I said before, I've been posting pics of JohnnyDevil in the making, on the JKStudio Facebook, lately, and Sunday, Mylochka sez to me, she sez "I ought to paint that."
Next day, I had it laying out for her when she came by. She asked me how I'd like it painted, and I said "Red devil, black horns and beard. Like a mask when we were kids." -Not just for you, Uno, but because my tastes in decoration run a lot more literal-minded than hers. I am trying to work up energy to make a second mask for her to indulge her busy-decorative-and-possibly-not-thematically-connected tastes on. I brewed up a new batch of paste not two hours ago...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6133)
Silver base coat to give a good surface and a faint sparkle
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6134)
Candy red bottom coat
-
Think the time has come for a plague dr?
-
The thought had occurred to me...
Actually, I made a new batch of paste Wednesday, and am trying to work up to making another JohnnyDevil - since Mylochka is painting this one as a red devil like when we were kids as I asked, it seems fair to give her the option of doing one all busy and decorated however she fancies, like the VanGogh cats...
Plague Dr. definitely has had his hour come round at last, though, yes...
-
I have a feeling plague Dr. could eclipse [Sleezebag] masks.
-
I am being influenced by my friends here...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6135)
A touch of brick red to shape contours
-
I have a feeling plague Dr. could eclipse [Sleezebag] masks.
I tell you, I would pay damn good money if someone showed up to the first debate against [Sleezebag] wearing one.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6136)
A little orange-red to accent highlights
-
First layer yesterday on a second mask for Mylochka to indulge her own fancies painting...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6170)
-
(https://miro.medium.com/max/762/1*VT6NFZWmNCjHkE0Av1GvDw.png)
-
I sense a theme emerging...
-
FWIW I was told in no uncertain terms NOT to wear mine to work.
I was only half joking at the idea in the first place.
I am debating if it would be bad form to do it by halloween.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6171)
-
Nothin' drums up activity -in other threads- like pic of my works, so here goes...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6172)
-
Let's see how long it takes today...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6173)
-Layer two, BTW.
-
Two-and-a-half minutes for the first pic, two-and-a-half hours for the second, four-and-a-half yesterday...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6174)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6175)
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Right now I wish I had a plague doctor mask after watching the presidential press conference.
-
I did hate the part where his lips moved.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6176)
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Third layer.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6177)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6178)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6179)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6180)
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Would you be able to make some of the simple cloth Masks? I had even seen asome hybrid masks, part what your doing and part cloth for the mouth/nose.
-
Dunno. A halfmask with cloth sewn to the bottom wouldn't be tough to work out.
-But I dunno what devil horns adds to the protection.
-
Fourth layer.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6184)
-
Fifth.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6185)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6186)
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-But I dunno what devil horns adds to the protection.
Reinforces social distancing. Absolutely necessary addition.
-
-But I dunno what devil horns adds to the protection.
Well, since younglings seem to be main spreaders of the virus (less chance they show signs of infection, so stay mobile), using the mask to invite keeping a social distance helps. ;)
-
-But I dunno what devil horns adds to the protection.
Reinforces social distancing. Absolutely necessary addition.
-But I dunno what devil horns adds to the protection.
Well, since younglings seem to be main spreaders of the virus (less chance they show signs of infection, so stay mobile), using the mask to invite keeping a social distance helps. ;)
;)
-
One cannot repeat the means for basic measures enough. :danc:
-
Finished.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6237)
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Nice.
I just ordered some of the clay I used for Trevor 2.0 to make some masks for me and the boys.
-
I just envisioned a future, not of Red vs. Blue, but of people's ideology expressed as either a plague doctor mask or a Guy Fawkes mask.
-
I just envisioned a future, not of Red vs. Blue, but of people's ideology expressed as either a plague doctor mask or a Guy Fawkes mask.
Purge. Add purge to the mix.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6238)
-
They were showing pictures from the Woton Provence, where this supposidly all started. They are supposidly back to work, but but everyone in the pistures are wearing Masks and gloves as well as outer clothing that is easily removable. That is looking like it will be the new Normal, moving forward in the near future...
Make several base molds for quick base build up from simple materials. Make them from people with various size faces, so as to have a variaty for sales. Cottage industries are on the upswing again and it behoves people to get in ASAP!...
-
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/buildup-2020/unnamed.jpg)
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/buildup-2020/IMG_1041.JPG)
Actually has a custom fit gasket inside since I have the lifecast and latex handy anyway.
-
I'll take 2 dozen (2 for every resident of St Fransis House, where I currently reside, as well as my Case Manager). Do you take Paypal?
I also seen on the news where a hearing impared kid made a bunch of see through Masks, so that he and his friends could still communicate and stay safe...
-
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/i-still-need-be-able-read-lips-locals-rally-craft-see-through-masks-help-deaf-community-continue-communicate/IVSFAYVCVVAORHWSZG4Y4VURXE/
-
https://www.wftv.com/news/local/i-still-need-be-able-read-lips-locals-rally-craft-see-through-masks-help-deaf-community-continue-communicate/IVSFAYVCVVAORHWSZG4Y4VURXE/
Interesting. I was more envisioning a full face shield situation. I'd think the plastic actually reduces the effectiveness of that particular mask, actually.
-
true, BUT, for the problems of people whom need to see lips and parts of faces for things like Identification, it's a good hybrid. Just has to be better protected for simplicity of use and manufacture as well as reuse. This was a first attempt, but is a good step in the right direction as well...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6764)
-
Rumor is there's a market for bleached masks opening. 😉
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6765)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6766)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6767)
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6768)
-
She begin painting on the second mask...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6769)
-
No Corona Hybrid Masks??
-
I really like the swirly beard.
-
That beard definitely points in the right direction.
KEEP UR DISTANCE!!!
-
Nice
-
I still want a Corona Hybrid Mask!!
-
So does Buster, now. I have five weeks to work up to that...
-
You've had longer to have worked towards it, at least the Design Phase... Especially with request from myself...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7623)
Starting a new piece/shell-base today - over the Captain base, which has the right smile...
-
I love that base.
-
Smilin' Buddha...
-
Shortly after I last posted about it, Buster told me she was working on doing a leather plague doctor herself - as if she'd never asked me to make one...
I finally got her to email me pics of the result a half hour ago...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7628)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7629)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7630)
Pretty sharp work, I'd say. ;nod
-
Very nice.
-
Pretty sharp work, I'd say. ;nod
Especially the beak! :P
-
Very nice!
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7677)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7678)
A little side-project while I'm at that stage, just to have a backup of the Captain. None of these bases made of this and that are going to last forever; the latex topping turns dark brown and gets fragile after about ten years...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7679)
Needs a little refining work - but the bubbles will fill in just fine with a little plaster applied with a paintbrush, and I can carve some improvements and sand it smoother than the original pretty easily...
-
I've wanted a plague doctor mask ever since COVID hit. Not badly enough to pay Amazon twenty bucks plus shipping, just badly enough to dream about showing up for lab in one. Buster's looks nice.
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7681)
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What's with moon man?
-
I just thought, back in March, that a crescent moon would look cool.
I've recently concluded that a companion sun-mask w/ same face ought to be a thing.
-
It does.
If you were into creating helmet masks, I'd even say moon sickle on the one side, with sunrays on the other.
Might be a thing for those who like the punk style.
-
;nod
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7682)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7695)
-With the forehead portion of the crescent roughed in, and the chin end fairly finished...
-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7696)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7697)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7698)
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With both ends smoothed and finished, and the nose sharpened up.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7719)
This is from Thursday while the power was out and I was feeling motivated to do anything that didn't take electricity and was less boring than sulking...
-
I'll have you know you've firmly stuffed Mack the Knife into my head as an earworm with this...
-
This is not to do with that. I do recall the commercial, but it was no inspiration.
-However I ate in the Manhattan McDonalds about that time, and they did have a pianist in a white suit playing Mack the Knife - no mask, though.
-
Buster's prize-winning Plague Doctor ensemble...
-
Yeah, we had at least a dozen at our place. Mostly those storebought jobs next to her, but one kid had clearly made his own.
And whether it was your inspiration or not, it certainly triggered that in my brain. I think it's high time for that commercial to make a return actually, such a fun character. (though I understand it's being used for racist memes now, though I haven't personally seen them)
What clay are you using there?
-
Crafter's Closettm Oven-Bake Clay - think Sculpey, but a little (annoyingly, for this) softer.
-
Mo' Dr. Buster.
-
I loaned her a roughly 7' dogwood staff, and the Jesus stick, and she was sporting the latter at this event - there were at least three Halloween parties she attended, I hear.
Because you can't make out Jesus worth anything in these above, here:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1618) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1619)
I gave her the hat, too -Mom made it for my last renfaire outfit, and I never used it on account of it sucking- and for a wonder, she likes the lame thing.
-
Ok, random...I dig the pumpkin tree, but what is that corn-ish plant in the background?
-
Some ornamental bush, unless you mean in the first, third and last two pics above - which looks to me like actual corn stalks put out for decoration.
The stone building in the background, I attended sixth grade in the very last year it was a school; it's been re-purposed as a cultural community center thing, having a passably large theater in the center, and I believe Geo will attest that the whole structure looks sort of a huge castle from the road.
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Some ornamental bush, unless you mean in the first, third and last two pics above - which looks to me like actual corn stalks put out for decoration.
The last picture. I don't see any tassels atop which usually rules out CORN propper.
The stone building in the background, I attended sixth grade in the very last year it was a school; it's been re-purposed as a cultural community center thing, having a passably large theater in the center, and I believe Geo will attest that the whole structure looks sort of a huge castle from the road.
They tore down my elementary a year ago. :/
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Hmm. All the outdoor shots she's standing are clearly in heavy wind - it was gusty for quite a while after the hurricane.
But that might be an overachieving local breed of a grassy/broomstrawish plant - there might even be some growing in an island of the building's parking lot...
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I'm having, btw, considerable trouble figuring out how to make the sun-face. I did a shell on the new Captain Sunday night.
I've got a clear enough idea of how it should look -obviously, a face set in a circular plane that's bordered by ray/triangles- but not how to build that as a mache base, just yet...
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Some ornamental bush, unless you mean in the first, third and last two pics above - which looks to me like actual corn stalks put out for decoration.
The stone building in the background, I attended sixth grade in the very last year it was a school; it's been re-purposed as a cultural community center thing, having a passably large theater in the center, and I believe Geo will attest that the whole structure looks sort of a huge castle from the road.
Yep!
The crenellations seemed to trigger memories too.
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I couldn't find satisfactory pics online in a quick search that give a sense of how freakin' big it looms over the surroundings, but:
(https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/85/Valdese_Old_Rock_School-Old_Valdese_Elementary_School.jpg)
(https://i.pinimg.com/originals/c7/ce/aa/c7ceaa726d9dc38f8d7a2083766aa55b.jpg)
That's it in the background below on the far left, maybe 1,500' or more behind the building next to it in the pic.
(https://www.ashevilleguidebook.com/wnc/wnc-cities/City%20Images/valdese-downtown1.jpg)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7715)
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It's better looking than the castle/prison of Ogden High.
https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&rlz=1C1GCEJ_enUS869US869&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=ogden+high+school&sa=X&ved=
2ahUKEwiW6rWYmunsAhXfp3IEHdJlCK8QjJkEegQIDRAB&biw=1920&bih=969 (https://www.google.com/search?safe=strict&rlz=1C1GCEJ_enUS869US869&source=univ&tbm=isch&q=ogden+high+school&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiW6rWYmunsAhXfp3IEHdJlCK8QjJkEegQIDRAB&biw=1920&bih=969)
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Looks like it was built by Mormons.
Now my high school looks like the saucer section of the fake Enterprise - though it was built ten years earlier. Wouldn't mind seeing that razed to the ground; no windows and no walls.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7716)
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Are you going to exaggerate the eyes/mouth on this? I think it's begging for a caricature treatment all the way through.
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I was planning to emphasize a crescent shape to the eyes in the trimming, but nothing in mind for the mouth.
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Looks like it was built by Mormons.
Now my high school looks like the saucer section of the fake Enterprise - though it was built ten years earlier. Wouldn't mind seeing that razed to the ground; no windows and no walls.
I don't think it was mormons. It's on the national register as a historic example of art deco style...
In general, "Ogden" is a big clue of very limited Mormon influence here in Utah. For ages, Ogden was 'the other side of the tracks' where all the heathens lived. It predates the Mormons, and was a railroad town more than it was a Mormon pioneer town. Renown for prostitution, bootlegging, and other shenanigans, one of the local madams famously bought Brigham Young's carriage on his passing to ride it around Ogden. At one point the faithful were banned from so much as shopping here.
This didn't really start to change till after WWII, and the temple not built til 1972. With Ogden high dating to the mid-30s. googling the architect does yield one ward building on his resume, but mostly heathenistic Ogden landmarks.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7717)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7718)
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I'm actually way ahead of this stage...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7756)
Really happy with how it's turning out. Getting those curves just right took some doing.
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I need to make a new batch of paste, ac'tully.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7757)
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You mentioned a sun counterpart as well I believe. Almost want to see comedy-drama representations.
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I'm still very slowly working on thinking out how I want to build the Sun. I think it's going to be pretty shallow/flat...
I declared the Moonface base ready Thursday, but I need to make another batch of paste, and current events upsetting me and trying to work out the Sun are distracting me and slowing things way down...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7758)
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This seems to be how I egg ET on to post anywhere else...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7759)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7760)
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Comin' into shape me thinks.
Kinda wonder how you're goin' to attach the sun-part to it, and make it wearable as a helmet.
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I've been wondering that for weeks, myself.
Almost got it worked out, but still working on the details in the back of my head.
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First layer of latex...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7782)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7783)
-Time to stir up more OT activity...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7784)
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I got the plaster backup Captain smoothed out, and have used it...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7785)
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You were the captain? Who was your lieutenant?
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The way I heard it, hEt is the Captain - and Uno, her handsome boy sidekick/goon/enforcer/gofer.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7786)
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I know you got both of us stashed somewhere. My eyebrow wart/witch mark should be a dead giveaway for who's who (on the original)
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No, no hEt - Alex, I think.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7787)
There's no mistaking who has a giant face, at any rate.
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I think I only send you the hydrocal casts, which were only hEt and I I think.
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I think I only send you the hydrocal casts, which were only hEt and I I think.
Nope - one of the boys.
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This one, ten years ago.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7788)
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This is my favorite from first post:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=16613.0;attach=21723;image)
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My sister did the painting...
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Looked through 10 pages, the blue-one is still my favorite.
Some pictures didnt loaded, maybe broken links. But this is take my attention:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1897)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1898)
My sister did the painting...
She's got talent ;b;
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I see the chair here =) What it's story now?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2388)
And I like this two too. They are so full of kindness and carelessness. As far as masks can be...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2395)
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This:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5153)
(https://scx1.b-cdn.net/csz/news/800/2015/4-facesoftheso.jpg)
Aeons ago cosmic people has doing the masks ;)
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I believe my brother sold the chair - there were several. The cat, I just got in from feeding.
I should certainly hope my run at a mask of the Face on Mars would put a body in mind of the Face on Mars...
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Umm. My favorite got on the video ;zak; :)
3:50
Now I know the story of your Avatar, Uncle
Maded by your self ;b;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5223)
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This one, ten years ago.
Oh that was Kyle...that was basically done teaching hEt how to use the stuff so she could get mine done.
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Trying something towards the Sun mask...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7793)
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The first casting try, a ridiculously thin section of the face, was both too long forehead-to-chin, and way too fragile - it doesn't stand out in the photos, but this broke in two getting it out of the mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7796)
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I really need to save up the money to get more alganate to make a whole bust lifecast...not my quick and dirty 'nearlifecast' methods.
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Though...I am getting pretty damn good at my quick and dirty methods...
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/buildup-2020/F622C97A-0085-4470-8D68-CBED96984EE5.jpeg)
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I really need to save up the money to get more alganate to make a whole bust lifecast...not my quick and dirty 'nearlifecast' methods.
Though...I am getting pretty damn good at my quick and dirty methods...
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/buildup-2020/F622C97A-0085-4470-8D68-CBED96984EE5.jpeg)
It's certainly something to build on - often, the details were gonna get covered up anyway...
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I really need to save up the money to get more alganate to make a whole bust lifecast...not my quick and dirty 'nearlifecast' methods.
Though...I am getting pretty damn good at my quick and dirty methods...
(https://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/buildup-2020/F622C97A-0085-4470-8D68-CBED96984EE5.jpeg)
It's certainly something to build on - often, the details were gonna get covered up anyway...
Yeah, the almost creepy level of details alganate can do aren't needed, but I still have the problem that I can't do it to myself. The alganate is actually easier from a certain point of view, and hEt knows how to do it.
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The first casting try, a ridiculously thin section of the face, was both too long forehead-to-chin, and way too fragile - it doesn't stand out in the photos, but this broke in two getting it out of the mold.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7796)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7799)
I regret not getting a direct overhead shot that shows how wrong the shape was for my needs, but you can see it from behind in the casting pic:Trying something towards the Sun mask...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7793)
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...So I cast it again, a bit thicker, and started carving...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7797)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7798)
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Some sanding and a bit of trimming on the chin later...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7794)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7795)
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Around this time, I began thinking this looked a little like a doughboy helmet from a mystical WWI...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7815)
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Kinda thinking with a few alterations it would make a decent base for a stage play lion...
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I can see that. Hmmm...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7816)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7817)
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When will you start on the mane? :D
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I'm still designing the lion in the back of my head.
I am several steps ahead of the above pics on the Sun, mind you. Next phase tomorrow...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7818)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7819)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7820)
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I sometimes wonder, how do you determine beforehand how much space you need for facial details?
I imagine so many extra layers (plaster, paper) does a lot to wash out the finer details of a mask.
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...That's something I worry about, and a factor in why I tend to make pretty exaggerated-features faces. The lion face I'm brain-building ATM is mostly challenging for figuring out something that looks like a mane/hair, but w/o a million tiny grooves that I'll never get the mache strips into...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7821)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7822)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7823)
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...That's something I worry about, and a factor in why I tend to make pretty exaggerated-features faces. The lion face I'm brain-building ATM is mostly challenging for figuring out something that looks like a mane/hair, but w/o a million tiny grooves that I'll never get the mache strips into...
Monster mud to the rescue!
Ditch that, actually, and do Uno mud instead.
Mix latex paint about 60/40 with slush latex. Dunk fibers of your choice (I'd suggest sisal or jute twine unwound actually) into it and arrange to serve as both the sculpt and it will become the base. If your're wanting to have it actually be fibrous instead of a sculpt, you can use this to attach the bases to the mache, and the remaining will dry flexible.
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Dry brushing jute netted monster mudded into place:
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/gb6LPT5iV75pDD_QwNnDpRa0tVmb2OxTS4gfbP9A_BRnlYKJ4O9sRZ49uOhpIVbvwunUK47KJDey9UfX-gxBaZoILYpzyZvXZgjLtbVIwYc-wGyCnrfcYpAOaKksCvLYlrtMn_UWolyO8aJHTUbuvgO_IxD3MtN0apiDlccMPZk--epcnnJa4HsBNlt4lFwhFokjtg50TYsK2vOMn9kdoONO6qSCuuNvq8Oali7QfBrBymtebDwvt5RzZqtx20t1_C3pDajvCcMs1jgdf0cBIVAKdH0Bs7QJlev7LRzqYJel2mI5zwvOB6a6wlmvP-un9N-FhhxArIxSCgrI75aP1ME5VdeBzcz5xaymbOdTZTZWL28oMSMyIQLYIv5q-lF7BXtTYxD1DT-KbR2UwCXHhDyo0iOALmUDr64I3yo0XEmxQKgrMD4oWmlMv-A_2P6EsTMUShFh3rOTM-hv9pAZGSgv0WFJ_STw-NHMtb6VRAjh5wRA-uXaXX4JOum4WMt9D2cliH4okSOE1FrEWkilfJ4wtd3XDhJTv6YgPgCdZmWr5tdT8zdm582qNjXMhG6FQUW7tXK8yS0fhY3CPruikNht4wb1r3EbZnJ6HTPDC0q1JNf8xXvKu9k6Yc2AuxFyMSspjI6LDG71lh4qWDdeXFABB-mGljW6OodRDbHI2KQx59VMk8oMnVO1WjFSrBM=w477-h319-no?authuser=0)
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...That's something I worry about, and a factor in why I tend to make pretty exaggerated-features faces. The lion face I'm brain-building ATM is mostly challenging for figuring out something that looks like a mane/hair, but w/o a million tiny grooves that I'll never get the mache strips into...
Maybe not only the mane can symbolise the lion.
A combination of "Cat nose", two "top fangs" and a "crown" can convey meaning - lion.
I mean, that could be a variant. Don't know easier it or not.
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7824)
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Moving on to the next stage:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7825)
-Those ray-groves are too small to work with, BTW. I'm gonna have to do some fixing in the plaster version of the base, but the last of my plaster was no good for the Moon, and I've been seriously de-motivated for weeks. I'll post pics getting into all that eventually.
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Oh, I do like where that's going. You've had me a little on the fence up to there.
-
Strictly as a thing-to-paint, which the mask certainly will be, I really ought to have done the simplest thing and just stopped at a face on a plate - but, y'know, I'm a sculptor who works in faces in cheap mediums, and it was radial groves or triangles. It took me over a month to decide, and this mostly won for being easier to engineer.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7826)
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Youre dipping in towards some southwestern sun wall plaque style here. You probably saw some in Texas, but super popular in Southern utah and Arizona.
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It's been making me think about clocks all along - copper wire frame, against wood paneling, circa 1975. The 70s are a big blur to me...
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7827)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7828)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7829)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7830)
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Interested to see how the paint goes with this...I'd be tempted to swat the ray grooves to be built up and the other areas as valleys as well.
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I'll be interested to see if this gets painted in any reasonable span...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7831)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7832)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7833)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7834)
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Now with the latex.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7835)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7836)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7837)
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This is just something I'm considering...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7838)
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This is just a later layer of latex...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7839)
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So, back to the Moon face...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7841)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7842)
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Oh man, had to go back 5 pages to see how it was last you posted pictures of it.
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The plan was always to cast a plaster form, on which I could shave down the bottom into a better shape. -But there was something wrong with the last of the plaster, which I've found seriously demotivating all month, although I've got new plaster now...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7840)
Pics of how it turned out tomorrow...
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Mom has been on a doll-crafting kick for a few days, and what should I find on the floor of my office but this?
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7895)
Moses -he wants me to call him Mosesangelo now- undoubtedly knocked it out of the clutter on my desk while lolling about. So I decided to make Momma a couple doll-scale masks, suitable for painting up as ball masks and gluing to tiny dowels to rubberband to tiny hands.
One's drying now, the next will be a halfmask...
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First layer.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7896)
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Two...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7897)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7898)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7903)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7902)
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Hey....no creepy dolls till you show us the moon man finish.
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Man, I never quite finished the Pharaoh...
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That doll half-mask is giving me some Jet Li Black Mask vibes.
Maybe Persona 5, though I've only walked past my son playing that a few times.
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[Shrugs] Dunno. Just a halfmask.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7901)
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And a third.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7905)
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I think it’s the nose. How it almost comes to a point.
https://shopmadmasks.com/persona-5-joker-mask/
I like #3
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7906)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7907)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7962)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7963)
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There's a bad moon on the rise...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7964)
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Looks almost as cratered as the real thing when seen through a telescope... ;cute
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I had the last of my plaster in October go bad - and the dremel break. It was very demotivating, and I've only demolded this week. The chin horn was broken clear off - I've glued it back, here.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7965)
Dunno what I'll do with this...
-
Made a decent casting since then.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7996)
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Reminds me of a cupcake cast. :)
-
[shrugs]
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7997)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7998)
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Now, you can see in the previous photo that the sun-base sunk in, and more to one side than the other - I did a better cast with the mask/mold suspended on the rim of my trashcan:
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7999)
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Man, I gotta find where the shop-vac got to; I've been carving and sanding, and there's plaster dust EVERYwhere.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8000)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8001)
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ooo, updates!
-
Yep. Back at work.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8002)
Much better basic shape to this casting - I gave the last to my artist aunt, who's sick and staying with us.
-
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8003)
...And then I set on it with a rasp...
-
See, it had turned out those round grove-rays were horrible to mache.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8020)
I was pleasantly surprised how well it cooperated with this...
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8021)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8022)
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-So I set about repairs to the bad/cracked/pitted moon casting...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8023)
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Hello? Is this thing on?
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Humph.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8024)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8025)
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What plaster are you using?
(I'm running into a lot of my colorblindness on the pics and can't really tell the extent of the pitting)
So...lets see if I have a pitted Talia head picture...
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hmmm, it's in the limbo place. I DO have it but it's hard to access and impossible from here.
So. my el cheapo life cast method leaves a pitted mess as the initial casting. I'd then scrub the ever loving daylights out of it to get the remaining petroleum jelly off, and set about correcting the thing.
Taking a knife to the bits that were too raised, and making a thin plaster to actually add into the pits and essentially sculpting a new layer on top.
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DAP Plaster of Paris, it says on the bag. From the hardware store.
I paint plaster on -like, with a brush- where/when it doesn't need a lot of mass. The water sinks into the already-set plaster and leaves behind a pretty dense shell. -Then I file/carve and sand.
The last three pics skip the painting in the cracks and pits -I th0ought I'd snapped pics of that stage, but no- and show a few spoonfuls of plaster slopped on the horn points in a hurry while I was casting the good base.
---
You probably missed the four shots last page of what I'm fixing up for the heck of it: https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=16613.msg131161#msg131161 It's pretty clear.
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Like, a good casting don't come out of the paper mache molds all THAT rough, but there's always a few bubbles, and the smoother, the better/easier they demold the masks...
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Yeah, I treat it like clay. Soak the cast in water, then treat the new plaster like clay and just smooth it on with my hands.
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Makes sense.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8026)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8027)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8028)
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So after considerable time and effort carving, filing, and sanding - I had something presentable to give my aunt...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8029)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8030)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8031)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8032)
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moon man looking good.
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Welll - I wasn't sure I could do anything with the ol' cracked & pitted thing, so that's good.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8033)
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almost want to see it full mac tonight...
(https://64.media.tumblr.com/55baee107b464166d8c2d79196c8ce9f/f00b9ca11f253f69-8d/s640x960/230e3b5ad7950336d08aa8a546a5e994625819e5.jpg)
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Pepsi: the taste born in the Carolinas. ;nod
Here's the second cast of the Sun after quite a bit of filing...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8034)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8035)
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Pepsi: the taste born in the Carolinas. ;nod
You mean, inside and outside America? :P
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I believe it was first formulated in South Carolina...
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Outside America thus? ;nod
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Well yes.
South Carolina is North Carolina's New Jersey, actually.
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South Carolina is North Carolina's New Jersey, actually.
I don't get that.
New Jersey has appearantly an about as dense population level as the Low Lands here in Europe, and South Carolina has barely half the population of North Carolina, and is less urbanized.
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Well, the part of Joisy adjacent to New York City is a vast junkyard, and the Yorkers rarely tire of making fun. -So that's my joke about an inferior neighbor, which SC most definitely is. 'Mericans tend to get the joke.
-Alternate answer: well that's it, right there; the Euro Lowlands are pretty low-rent, too.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8036)
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I finally started work om smoothing and detailing the plaster Johnyhotep base, and to avoid having to search back 24 pages for the before shots again...
I am satisfied.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5274)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5275)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5270)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5271)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5272)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5273)
No flaws I'll have trouble fixing. This is going to be awesome by the time I'm through with it.
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I really don't know why, but I want to see that done in chocolate easter bunny style.
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That's a lot of chocolate.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8037)
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That's a lot of chocolate.
Not solid, hollow shell. Gold foil wrapped. I'm telling you it's a seller.
Not sure what holiday, but it's a seller. Maybe even fill the hollow shell with something. what screams egypt? gummy snakes?
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I assumed a shell - but it's still a couple quarts of chocolate, I know from doing it in plaster so thin around the edges I had to add to the inside last night for fear my smoothing would break through.
-And ooh - gummy snakes! Yes! I wonder if you could get Harrison Ford to endorse.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8038)
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I assumed a shell - but it's still a couple quarts of chocolate, I know from doing it in plaster so thin around the edges I had to add to the inside last night for fear my smoothing would break through.
-And ooh - gummy snakes! Yes! I wonder if you could get Harrison Ford to endorse.
Hell, with the artificial actor tech that brought back folks for Star Wars, we could get Karloff.
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But, but - Indy hates snakes...
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They make Indy 5, it could be a good tie in product.
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I heard that's in the works. Sounds like a winner to me.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8039)
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-The chocolate Johnyhotep, that is; I expect the movie to suck.
This here's the back of the fixed-up bad cast, after I rigged wire for wall-hanging and poured more plaster to hold it in place. That's the good cast underneath propping it up.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8040)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8041)
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That's the bad, patched-up cast on your left.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8068)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8069)
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Johnyhotep needs a Nerdfertiti, BTW. Obviously, this would be a version of the Nefertiti bust; my wimminz -and this includes the sick aunt/accomplished painter with an art degree- unanimously said to just do the front of the big inverted-cone hat...
(https://cdn.britannica.com/18/110218-050-14BAD112/Nefertiti-limestone-bust-New-Museum-Berlin-1350-bce.jpg)
(Yes, Geo; the aunt you met.)
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how heavy are the moon men?
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I'd use a middlin' stout nail to hang one.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8070)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8071)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8072)
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(Yes, Geo; the aunt you met.)
Erm... pictures, or it didn't happen? ;)
I have to admit, the uncle is more vivid in my mind, because of the dialect.
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The one who was staying with us, not his wife. Uncle Tony was a character, wasn't he?
-Working in from the edges.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8075)
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I set it on an inverted pie plate.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8076)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8077)
-Just got a new jar of latex in this morning; a small backlog of masks in need of trim/finishing ought to clear up soon.
Meanwhile, I've pretty much finished with Johnyhotep, and the back of my head has been kicking around the engineering/design for Nerdfertiti all week...
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8078)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8079)
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It looks like the first layer not quite finished, but that's thin white strips over the nose and chin.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8080)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8081)
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...
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8082)
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So, I had a little mishap demolding the mask...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8083)
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...Turns out that if you fail to grease the outer edge and the mask is bone dry, thin points of plaster will break off...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8084)
This is a detail/zoom from the previous shot, problem points post-repair highlighted.
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Another shot of the damage:
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8085)
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Time for some DUCT TAPE!
Yeah, I know, won't work here. :(
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AKtully...
-Tune in tomorrow.
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I clearly needed to add considerable thickness to the base for strength - not the first points I'd had to glue back on.
So I painstakingly duct-taped the outside edge:
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8086)
-Here, ready to pour more plaster.
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You could have fooled me. It almost looks like a proper baking form. ;banjo
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It's a strip of tape. ;nod
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8087)
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8088)
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I know, but still... ;chef;
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Tape.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8089)
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;popcorn
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Plaster will plug its own holes in the containment, if it's not super-thin, especially when added to previous dry plaster that sucks up the water in a hurry.
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Anyway, the pour of more plaster thickness worked as I'd hoped, without leaks, and with pretty good shape.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8091)
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Pie... ;excite;
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=8092)
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I had a bunch more pics of further stages when I ran out of mood-gas/motivation. I need to process those and get back to sharing. Stay tuned...
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My motivation has absolutely tanked after 2 years of covid-cancelled plans. To the point I flat out HAVEN'T planned on anything. There's a thing I want to finish, and will bug me if I don't get to it, but it's mostly shopping for stuff rather than making.
Kind of focusing those efforts into cooking and yard changes...I actually could see retiring from Halloweenery for most of the year being in my future.
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You can imagine that I'd have some motivational problems w/ bipolar disorder in the mix. FWIW, I'm eager to see what you've done/do.
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In the planning stages for xeriscaping the front yard. This will include more standing stones, though I haven't found an arrangement that speaks to me yet.
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Well not that I need to tell you this, but there's art to just decorating and maintaining the yard, if you do it right. I wish my aunt Pokey was rich - at about 78, she doesn't feel up to the work of landscaping, which is -she's genius at it- a pity. She needs to hire someone to do the work under her supervision, wherever she lives.
Remember to mix in as much pretty as you can - hEt and the neighbors have to look at it...
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Well, I have a list of what I'd LIKE to put in for the xeriscaping, and I'm sure it will just absolutely shock you that it is so off the wall I can't even FIND the damn plants for sale. I might have to go acquire them in the wild, since it's all native natural, would require 0 additional water stuff.
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Neglect-tolerant is good...
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My milkweed and raven grass already require 0 additional watering so it just makes sense to keep with that theme.
I might split out some more raven grass. My butterfly bushes are very low watering and can be split, I have some burning bushes the side of the house that if I can manage to transplant would make good show pieces if I can shape and let go wild, which would be zero water needed. I've really already got a LOT of the pieces ready to go on site, I just need some stuff under 5' tall to add contrast.
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Right. Native/local life just makes sense, if you like the look of it - why plant something you'll have trouble keeping alive? Mylochka has been doing some planting on those lines in her yard for years.
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Her front yard.
I'm sure I posted this before, but there's some local tradition behind rock walls - our hometown was settled by Piedmont/Savoy immigrants, used to getting the most out of farming very hilly country.
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My biggest challenge is actually losing the grass.
Not for making the front yard look nice, mind you, but you lose that versatility of a blank canvas for Halloween. And, come what may, if nothing else, the pumpkin party will be returning when safe to do so, even if my interest in spending months building things departs.
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Well, your bag is making things - it's fun to put on a show, I'm sure, but just making things w/ no deadline sounds more relaxing. It's nice to have extra motivation in place, and a deadline to keep you moving, but I don't think you're all that different from me in that avoiding stress is excellent. Just make neat things.
-I still think you should build a cinderblock/stucco step pyramid in back - double as a shed and maybe a possible storm shelter...
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Oh, like I said, I've been more than satisfied just rolling that making things into cooking to the point where I can foresee getting a little more leisurely with the Halloween stuff.
And to say cooking, I've always been a pretty good COOK, but the last 2 years have been a MASSIVE upgrade in that department, and I frankly enjoy meals that take all day.
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Cooking is not one of life's more onerous burdens, no - and there's art/craft to it, not just cake decorating. I can't say I enjoy it, but yeah; not a big chore. Most of my dishes are simple things that you put on for two hours of more, and leave cooking low.
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Her front yard.
I'm sure I posted this before, but there's some local tradition behind rock walls - our hometown was settled by Piedmont/Savoy immigrants, used to getting the most out of farming very hilly country.
Lots of ants living in the rock wall? ;lol
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No, my aunts both have their own houses - though the one I was talking about -the one you met- we're probably going to have to take in one of these days; she's getting forgetful.
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Ants, not aunts. ;cute
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Those nice ladies are people, you filthy furriner!
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What a folly, filly. :P
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Here's what aunt Pokey did with the sun and moon casts I gave her.
-Taken yesterday afternoon by Mylochka. I've asked for a not-terrible angle on the moon, and closeups of both so you can make out details of the painting.
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I've always thought of the moon above the sun. Seems like your womens have other thoughts on the matter. ;cute
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I can't even get behind displaying them outside - they won't last long, even protected by a thick coat of acrylic paint...
She did do a much nicer paint job than you can tell in that shot.
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Well, without a James Webb-level of resolution, we definitely can't see on such a small shot.
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They really should bring back the mac tonight commercials...
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;lol
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So...I don't know if I posted about Talia's art lately.
Painting is light years ahead of anything I could pull off, and her daily makeup is often more face painting fun than makeup. But her 3d art class, she's mostly focused on casting jewelry, and got put into the district art contest....
Well of the two rings she submitted, her school chose the one she wasn't as happy with because it was more contemporary as a jewelry piece and thus more likely to win. (only 12 entries of any type per junior high allowed, so it was actually a big win to begin with).
Well, at the district level, there were no other jewelry entries...so they put her ring in the sculpture category...which the OTHER ring would have been better suited for to begin with but that's a totally BS category to put something like that. I need to upload pics when I have a decent connection.
Her final project in that class had to be a mixed media sculpture. Several ideas were squashed by the teacher as "You're style is too advanced for this class, you need to wait til college to do something like that". Talia really wanted to do a Greek styled bust.
So, she's settled on a mask that sure sounds like she's going surrealist with it. I did a plaster shell on her face last weekend for a base, and she took the dremel to it to carve out sections, and we bought DAS clay, sea glass, and sea shells for her to add on top.
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Talia’s mask.
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Impressive.
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Bored at school…
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Even more impressive.
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To be fair, the mask was literally the first time they'd used DAS clay or tried sculpting a face, and was a forced mixed media assignment.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10258)
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"Beware, here be Fawkes' !"
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Yes!
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10259)
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is the yellowing just from weathering?
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I do not know. I've never seen those in person.
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(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10260)
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Ah, I was going to ask how they'd been waterproofed.
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Thick coats of latex paint all over, I believe.
-I told her they wouldn't last outdoors...
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That level of beading, I'd bet there's a top coat rather than just exterior latex.
Almost looks like when I tried the clear flex seal, but without the tell tell bubbles (spray on version there might be brush on clear now which wouldn't do the bubbles, either way, that stuff gives you a solid 2 years before it breaks down in the sun). If the yellowing is from sun weathering on the top coat, I'd guess a urethane.
Exterior mod podge would last as a waterproofing agent at least several years on such a base form. (SUPER CAVEAT, basing on Utah's worst wet conditions, which may very well not compare. It gets kinda soft after a good soaking rain of 2-3 days, but dries right back to clear. I wouldn't trust it in, say, seattle where you can go months without a dry spell)
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I simply do not know. I gave her a couple of bad plaster castings I had no use for, and any decorative pleasure gotten from them is gravy...
Glad she at least took the weatherproofing seriously.
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Buster, in what I think is a coincidence, tells me she's planning to paint the sun & moon masks I gave her for her birthday last year as dorm room wall hangings. She's promised me pics when she gets there...
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Bored at school…
I like this one.
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I don't think I ever posted this shot of how the Johnyhotep base turned out...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10349)
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Very nice.
Love to see a solid paint job on a copy.
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I would, too.
I've got one on my desk, just needs a little trimming - I should talk to Mylochka, who had a great brother spend five hours straight last night fixing up her new website...
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Aunt Pokey's moon on the fence recently became no longer with us... It was always just a matter of time, the substrate being a mess, and 100% waterproofing not really being possible...
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...I always openly opposed hanging them any further outside than the back wall of the back porch, actually, and wind would eventually kill them there...
Yes, the Sun is still with us, AFAIK.