As done as they are getting for now.

running low on time

Wasted the last two days making frames that are really too much and probably will not be used. Gotta finish tomorrow.

Think I will make it.

Monday

Tried to put a smile on some peoples faces.

Sunday

Gotta finish by Christmas

long time gone

I have not blogged in a long time. Someone is pestering me to up date so I will. I finished the Phoenix. Here are some pix.

Thought I would be finished

I thought I would be finished by now but I'm not. I am pretty happy with the progress so far. When I blogged last I was concerned with the Netflix logos all over the bird, the cardboard edges and the base. I have addressed all of these issues but have not really totally settled the base issue.




I think by having a range of colors it emphasizes the individual feathers and the pattern of the feathers overall. Also it brings a richness to the field of color.






I also like the imagery that I am able to hide into the form. The edge issue has been solved by extending the skin beyond the edge of the cardboard on both sides and then glued. It looks fairly believable to me.

So much for quick

I'm a little frustrated with this piece. I am at 36 hours and have mostly covered the Phoenix but still need to resolve some issues. The base, the edges of the feathers, the eyes, and the fact that there is just too much netflix (it looks like an ad or something).







I figured out the gum wrapper issue. I used rubber cement. For those of you not in love with rubber cement remember to paint both sides and let it almost dry then put it together.



I still need to fix the edges of the feathers. I thought that keeping the cardboard visible I would be strengthening the message but it just looks junky.

Dang!

Okay I know I said that I hoped to be finished with the phoenix by the end of the weekend and it's the end of the weekend and I'm not finished. Yeah but anyone knows who knows me and my sculpture knows that there was no way I was going to finish. On the other hand I made a lot of progress. I had also hoped to stay under the 20 hour mark on this sculpture and unfortunately I am at 20 hours. Okay so yesterday I was able to finish out the body but had to remove it from the base to do it but I would have had to do that anyway to put the feathers on.






Today I began to put the feathers on. I am using Netflix packages because they are red. You know the end that you have to pull off to send it back. It is going well but slow.




I was able to complete one of the more complicated areas (the feet).



Oh well actually they are not complete because I am going to use the inside wrapper of gum to do the actual feet and beak an the glue that I was using did not stick well to either side of the wrapper. I kinda expected that on the foil side but thought the other side that is paper would stick well. It didn't. I think that the paper must be waxed or something so I will need a different glue for that part.

Phoenix Rising

I added the longer feathers on the wings (pin feathers?).




Then I started to add some thickness to the wings.




Only put in about a half hour on this piece as I was tired from working on the GWS base all day. I hope to get this piece mostly finished by the end of the weekend.

Working on the Base

I don't know if you noticed but the base when last we looked was clamped to the stool it was sitting on. That was because it would tip over forward if it wasn't. So in order to correct that I added an extension on the front.



I hoped this would correct the tipping problem, and it did nicely. However then I needed to move the front edge forward to the new front edge. So I had to clip the rail and re-bend it.





I also needed to add a little piece to the front rail because now it is a little longer than it was.




Abby felt it came out well.



Oddly my beginning cartoon of the base started very close to this final proportion and I made it thinner to clean up the lines. I should trust my first instinct.



Lastly I began to cage out the base so that I can cut small pieces of sheet to skin the base. Did not finish.