Carousel Part 10-A Milestone Reached-Pictures

Sanded and coated with gesso.

I have reached a milestone in the carousel project.  All of the animals have been sanded and covered with a layer of gesso in preparation for painting.  I did end up sanding in my studio because it has just been too rainy and cold to get outside and do it.  The menagerie animals took several hours to sand.  You might not have thought it would take so long, but often my "sanding block" was a 1/4 inch wide craft stick with the sanding paper taped to it with masking tape.  (The tape was doubled over to make it sticky on both sides.)

Covered in paper mache'.

Paper mache' is not that easy to sand.  The multiple layers make for many bumps and crevices.  Unless you have many layers of paper mache', it is not easy to get a smooth finish.  These little animals only have a couple of layers.  If I had added more layers the figures would have been too bulky in the legs.  So the animals are not as smooth as I would have liked them to be, but they are as smooth as I could get them under the circumstances.

Armature covered with masking tape.

Readers, I can't tell you how much I wanted to have a picture of a fully painted animal to show you today.  However, before I begin to paint, there is one more step that must be taken.  I need to make a decision about the pole that will run through the animal.  The animals are so small, I only have a few options.  I have some small brass rods that I had purchased for another project and did not use.  I also have some smaller bamboo skewers that would be the right size.  I will have to go through my stash of parts and try to find the brass rods and see which option looks the best.  The holes need to be drilled through the menagerie animals before I begin to paint them, then the gesso layer will be repaired before the actual painting begins.

From the pictures today you can see the progress on the piece.