Painter Girl

A Little More Progress With the Shades

 

 

I'm using a combination of metallic paints and foils to further embellish these shades.  I know I showed you how these foils work at least once, but I thought I'd give another quick overview.  Here, I have already applied the sizing and it is ready to go.  I've placed my sheet of foil over my designed and burnished with a stiff brush, so the green foil comes off the sheet,transferring to my canvas shade.

 

 

 

 

 

Here is what is left on my shade...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...and here is what the foils sheet now looks like.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm using a little of this "Extreme Glitter" from Plaid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I applied it over a stenciled scroll with a liner brush.  It goes on white...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

...but dries clear, just adding a little more sparkle.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cast of paint characters I used for these shades.

 

 

 

 

 

With the painting piece is done, I will glue on some Swarovski crystals and attempt to adhere these pieces to the shades.

 

 

 

Fish Folding Screen, completed

I put so many crystals on this folding screen, that I lost count!  The fish scales really lend themselves to the gems.  You will be able to see the details better in the close up pictures that follow.  All photos were taken before the screen was assembled and delivered. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is one of the fish.  I used clear and two different colors of blue crystals, in 2 sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is better look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the top portion of the panels.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's an even better look at the gems. Remember, there are three fish, so I did a LOT of gluing!

 

 

 

Lion and Tiger Folding Screen

Ok, I hope I am back on track here with my blogging!  Here is the update on the Lion and Tiger Folding Screen I last began posting about.

  Here is the completed screen, but the panels are not attached yet, just standing next to each other, in order.

For this project I used two two stencils:  the Moorish Trellis by Royal Design Studio and Birds On A Branch by Cutting Edge Stencils.  I eliminated the birds and just used the leaves with the latter stencil design. 

This folding screen differed from my previous screens because it was made from three, solid panelled doors.  I found it much more difficult to work with this type of panel and more restrictive when it came to laying out and working on the design...  Not to mention, because they are solid, they weigh a ton! 

I used A LOT of Swarovski gems on this one!

 

 

A closer look at the center portion of the screen.  All of the leaves were done with a combination of metallic paint and foils, then the gems were added.  Only the eyes of the two animals received gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wider shot of the center.

 

 

 

 

Leaves!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Closer look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bottom portion of screen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The gems worked really well for the eyes, giving them just a little sparkle!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ready For Their Close Ups!

With all three panels finally completed, I stood them up in my studio for one last photo shoot before I wrapped them up for delivery. 

 

I zoomed in on the details of each dress, so you can hopefully get a better idea of just how much the Swarovski crystals enhance the gowns and accessories.  I ordered 1200 assorted gems for this job and used every single one of them.  I always think I have ordered enough, but in the end, wish I had more to play with!

 

 

 

 

This is the bottom part of the above sash on the green dress.  The longest part of the sash utilizes Goldens Glass Bead Gel over gold metallic paint.  All the Gals shoes also have the Glass Bead Gel with additional gems to coordinate with their outfits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The red dress has these large roses at her hip.  The shading is not showing up in this pic, but it does look quite dimensional, which is why I did not want to cover it completely with the gems.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is her bracelet. Remember the foil I had used underneath that I showed the other day? The foils really help to add to the bling of the gems!  Her left hip and arm are only washed out in this pic because of the flash and crystals.

 

 

 

 

 

I love how the Glass Bead Gel worked on this gold dress!  It almost looks like gold lame'.  To further highlight this overlay of the dress I outlined with gold crystals and then added the beaded at the hemline... and her shoes, of course!  She is my "elegant gal".  I really love them all, and try not to play favorites!

 

 

 

 

I ended up doing a chevron pattern on the bottom portion of each panel.  I used a light purple foil, then taped out the chevron pattern with blue tape and applied the Glass Bead Gel to every other stripe.  Once dry, I added a crystal at each point. This photo does not do the color justice. :-(

 

 

 

I did a 1.5" border around this, using a gold foil and glazes, then shaded a bit. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now it was time to transport them to their new home (sniff, sniff).  I carefully wrapped them and loaded into my car.

 

 

 

 

 

This color in this photo is actually very good!  Here they are, trying out their corner.  You may recall this living room from earlier in the year.  The walls you are seeing in the background are padded fabric, meticulously hung, with self covered cording at the ceiling line, baseboards, and all edges!  There is only one, long wall that does not have the fabric and I did some stripes on it.  You'll see them in the next shot.

 

 

It's quite a long room, so this is just about one third of the length. The lamp on the table in front of screen is way too big and just does not go, so I had to convince the homeowner to swap it out.

Luckily, she was on board with that and quickly brought in this smaller lamp that is blown glass with a beautiful embroidered silk shade.  It really goes well with the dresses.  The only request my client had was to add more crystals to the chevron pattern, so I will order 600 more and outline that pattern.  I said good by to the Gals, knowing that I'll be back to visit soon.

 

Details

 

Now that I've blocked in all the colors, I begin to work on some of the shading and details.  I decided to periodically stand the 3 panels up together, in the order they will be put together, to make sure they are flowing nicely.  I did not do that with the 3 Geisha Girls and discovered when it was way too late, that one was really a bit too small in size and should have been adjusted. :-(

 

 

Now, remember... NONE of these panels are anywhere near finished!  This is just the work in progress.

 

Red dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Green dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold dress.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More shading.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I ordered these three rolls of foils from Prismatic Studios for this job, thinking I'd use the gold for the background, but decided it was just too dark of a gold and too harsh looking.  I'll use all three of these, but much more sparingly than I had originally thought.

 

I used the dark purple foil for the background of the headband and earrings.  I will be adding gems over this later.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Same with her bracelet.  Gems to follow.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used the lighter purple foil on the sash that is on the green dress.  Again, gems will be added here later.

 

On the gold dress, I have an overlay piece of the dress taped out and have applied glass bead gel in a striae pattern.  This is to make it look like there is a sheer beaded fabric over the bottom portion of the dress.  I also added the bead gel to everyones shoes, for more glitz!

 

 

 

It has taken me forever to come up with an idea I really like for the bottom portion of these panels, but I have finally found something that I think I will really like.  This is just the basecoat... don't panic.

Tick, Tock...Bling!

I thought I had at least one "before" picture of this little clock, but I can't find it, if I do!  Here is a shot of it, when I first began this project.

The base and curved top are done with copper foil.  The remainder of the body is done with Modern Masters Burnt Orange.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I used a small flower stencil from Laser Excel on the sides.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's a closer look.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finished!

 

 

 

 

 

Putting on the Finishing Touches

I used some black mica flakes for the girls hair.  To adhere, I used some sizing, let tack up for a bit, then just liberally sprinkled the area with the mica.  Later, I brushed the loose flakes away.  This was messy and not the best idea to do near areas that I had already foiled, as flakes stuck to that too, and I had to pick them out.  Note to self, I'd apply the mica flakes before I began any foiling.

 

 

I've had this jar of mica flakes for months now, just waiting to use some.  A little goes a long way, so I will probably have this jar until I'm 90!

 

 

 

 

I pulled out all my smallest patterened stencils and applied them to all the various sashes.  I shaded and  highlighted the fabrics.

 

 

 

 

 

The hands and facial details were kept very, very simple because I wanted the focus to be on the clothing.  I struggled with the positioning of one of the hands, so ended up taking a pic of myself with my hand in the position I was trying to draw.  I look quite intent, don't I?!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a close up of my Umbrella Girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Far shot, trying to fit her in the whole frame.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girl with Fan.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Coming along!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up of Hat Girl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Close up of bottom panels. If you are not noticing in the pics, I glued on a lot of fairly tiny Swarovski crystals. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Finally, installed in the client's Master Bedroom!  I won't tell you how long it took me to put these 3 panels together correctly!  They have piano hinges with a bizzillion screws.

 

 

 

This pic shows the screen against the wall I had previously done in this room.

Well, I'm kind of sad to see my girls go, but the good news is I have a second, identical size and shape screen to do for this client.  This time the theme will be Women from the 1930's.  These screens are very fun to do, so I'm excited to begin the research on this next one.More on that later.

Technical Difficulties and Mistake Follow Up

I don't know why the date July 29th is appearing for the entry entitled "The Folding Screen".  That date should read July 23rd, and precede the post entitled "Progress on the Folding Screen".  Oh well, I don't have time to try to figure out how to change that, so am just going to let it be for now and hope you are not too confused!

In the The Folding Screen post, I wrote that I had made a mistake, but then forgot to mention what that was in the next post, so let me backtrack a bit.

In my original mock up for my client, I had indicated that the bottom panels would have a green foiled panel, framed with copper.  Then what did I do? 

I went ahead and applied copper foil to the whole section!  I decided that this was a good mistake and that the copper foil on the bottom would help to balance out the room more, once this screen is in place.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once I added the gold stenciling, I felt this really did look better than bringing in more green. 

 

Progress on the Folding Screen

 

Next, I begin to block out large sections of color on my girls.  I am using all metallic paints for this. Some areas will have foil over them, others will not.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Remember the bottom portion of the panels that I foiled?  I used this Scallop stencil from Royal Design Studio, which I absolutely love. This is the perfect design to embellish with gems, which I will do later!  I used a metallic gold to stencil.

 

I added some gold foil to highlight some of the clothing on my girls and then used some stencils to add some pattern.  This stencil is just a piece of a stencil I had left over from when I did those yellow and white stair treads.  It's quite dirty, and should be cleaned, but since I was only using it in a small area, I thought I'd give it a shot and use again, rather than spend time trying to clean this and possibly tear it.

 

 

A close up of my very dirty stencil from Royal Designs called Moorish Fleur de Lis.  Don't do as I do.  Try to stay on top of it all and clean your stencils before they become so caked with paint! 

 

 

 

 

 

This head dress has the gold foil topped with dirty stencil.  It did work out fine for this small use!  And did I clean it after?  Not yet.  

 

 

The Folding Screen

Oh yikes!  This week has just gotten away from me and I had no time to post more about the Folding Screen Project until just now.   I last left off with the screen panels on my table in my studio waiting for me to get to work.  I had already projected my images on the top portion of each panel, upstairs in my living room, where the light was better for this.  Each panel will have a different Geisha Girl image on the top 2/3rds of the screen and the bottom 1/3rd will have a foiled and gemmed panel. 

I made a rough mock up, to scale, on an 8 1/2" x 11" sheet of paper for my client, so she could get the general concept I had in mind.  This screen is going in the Master Bedroom I recently completed, so she understood the same foils and gem colors would be used and the theme would tie in with the Gingko leaves on the accent wall.  While I used a projection method to get the size I needed for each Geshia to fit on the panels and still be in proportion, you can find Geshia modellos at ModelloDesigns.com and also Geshia stencils at the Stencillibrary.com. 

This blurry photo is the only photo I have for a "Before" shot of the screen.  It was covered with this fan fabric print.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to put the Geisha Girls on it.  I found because the panels were each so narrow, that I could not put one large one on each panel, but would have to size them down a bit and come up with something to fill in the blank spaces.  Whoever covered this screen with the fabric did an incredible job.  It was meticulously sewn and also stapled with no less than a zillion staples.  I had to pull them all out with pliers and then discovered there was also wallpaper liner adhered to the luan, which needed to be stripped off.  The prep work seemed never ending!

 

 

All the work for the panels was done in my basement studio, so you know what to expect as far as what my studio looks like.  It's a far cry from an artist's light and airy loft studio!  But... the commute can't be beat, the price is right, and there is certainly no worry about spilling paint anywhere!  Oh, and the best thing about my studio this time of the year is the fact that it is very cool.  Of course, it is also very cool down here in December, when I'm wearing gloves and 3 sweatshirts to stay warm.  In this photo, I have based the bottom 1/3rd of each panel with a copper metallic paint, in preparation for some copper foil.

 

 

 

 

 

Applying the copper foil.

 

 

 

 

 

Finished foil....

 

and right off the bat, I've made a mistake!