More Parts, Please!

Yesterday I took time to go have lunch with a friend and see some art, wander about a bit, then come home and enter my tidy, completely organized studio with work waiting on the table.......

I seem to keep acquiring things on the table....this is actually after I straightened it up after a few *parts* went flying and were difficult to find.

(Note to self: do NOT turn on the ceiling fans when there are loose paper pieces....)

Yes, there were a few moments of panic as I frantically searched for tidbits of torn paper. And NO, I could not have replaced them with OTHER torn paper......I was having a *Monk* moment. I seem to have a lot of those.

At any rate, I think this is where we left off:

Well, maybe I had added more.....I tend to forget to get the amount of photos I should once I am in the creative zone. Anyway, I did do a few close ups so you could see some of the process. I tend to start aging things at this point. Adding, covering with gel, then paint---pushing backward, pulling forward. It is all rather by instinct as I get a feel for where the piece is going and I generally try and stay out of the way. When I begin to push, that's when I leave the studio and let things sit and brew.

Certain elements were slow work, such as painting the back of the tracing paper the skeleton had been printed on. Doing so allows it to be opaque and stand out. It is the primary focal point, though the piece has more than one, and this is where laying bits out and thinking helps.

I still have not applied the skeleton to the canvas; that will be the last part to do. It is integral that all the aging be done first, everything else that might need to be under it's edges finished. I double, well...no....I probably triple sprayed it with varnish in hopes of not having wrinkles when I finally plaster it down.

The heart is a stamped image, and is also painted on the back, but with fluid acrylics reduced with some water, so it is not as intense. Same paper as the skeleton, slightly different way to apply color.

The *wax* seal in the lower left hand corner is Paperclay, dried and edges sanded to shape, then painted and glazed with a bit of black to bring out the lettering....strychnine.....a must in all old apothecaries.

This is NOT how you are to mount loose rubber stamps.....but it works when one is in a big hurry. LOL!

And that brings me to where I am leaving it for more work on giving it a sense of weathering and getting the colors all balanced out right. The sides will need work, as will other areas on the top. It is a back and forth type of process....a little here....a bit there.....

I am not sure what I do is a style that would appeal to others. It is slow work and requires a lot of trust in instinct. Sometimes I hit the mark, and sometimes I miss.

But when it all works right, wow.

It is a LOT of fun!

We'll continue later....this post has become a tremendous headache as Blogger is throwing images left and right and eating words and changing fonts......I've had all I can bear for one evening.

Besides, "Bones" may be on the tube and I want to go vegetate!

Pax.