Masks and other Art

[Buster's Uncle]

So I took the pig snoot and base to the gallery yesterday, and took my time doing a nice, thick, mask.



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...

[Buster's Uncle]

 

I just couldn't resist...

 

I doubt I have enough wick left to do all six colors I have on hand, but what the heck...

[Buster's Uncle]

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.



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...

[Buster's Uncle]

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...

[Buster's Uncle]

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...

[Rusty Edge]

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.

[Buster's Uncle]

...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.

[Buster's Uncle]

Well, two molds that I have to redo...

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.

[Rusty Edge]

Barbie must have mob trouble if she's getting cement shoes...

[Buster's Uncle]

This makes me feel better about the fight the doll shoes are putting up.


I made another cast at bedtime last night, because I wanted to get more of the bottom.

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.

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...

[Buster's Uncle]

...Putting myself in the running for absolutely no patience prizes, I tried something somewhat new...



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...



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.

[Buster's Uncle]

Never forget to grease the outside of a mold with a little Vaseline before making the mother mold.
   

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...

[Buster's Uncle]

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...

[Buster's Uncle]

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.

[Unorthodox]

I've actually heard that problem happening regularly.  Certain silicone cures better than others.