No Post Today due to Holiday Weekend

It is Thanksgiving weekend, so no post today.  Please check back on Wednesday.

Goblin Halloween Diorama - Part 32 - Photos - Field Project

Goblins have been added to the diorama.

Somehow the field project photo was deleted, (most likely my bad), so I am reposting this with the field photo.

I completed adding the Goblins to the diorama.  For such small pieces, they took a large amount of time.  The Goblins are only about an inch tall.  There were not many places where I could get a good hold on them while trying to work on them.

In an earlier blog, I had mused over whether to paint the Goblins red or green, and whether they should have tails.  I have some books on antique Halloween items and they have pictures of Halloween cards with tiny Imps or perhaps they were Devils on them.  The Imps were red, and had tails and carried pitch forks.  I thought the idea was cute, but practical matters caused me to decide not to use them.   When an item is that small, the parts tend to be fragile.  At some point, the tail might break off.  Given the size of the figure, I would not be able to support it with the wire I used to make the armature because it would have caused the tail to be to look too thick for the body.  Without a wire support the tail would be so thin, that a slight bump or touch could knock it off.  I opted to not use tails on the figures for the long-term good of the diorama.

As to color choice, I decided on a grayish green with dabs of gray.  Rather than have the Goblins stand out brightly, I thought they served the story better by being a little less colorful.  Most of the Goblins are close to the ground and are close to the color of the base of the diorama.  The colorful roof and leaves on the trees draw the eye first, then as the eye wonders over the diorama  they are eventually noticed.  They are there, but not as the most obvious feature.  That fits in well with the last piece for the diorama.  (More about that next blog.)

Field 11-23-2014

In  Old-World folklore, Goblins are tiny creatures who were characterized as annoying, mischievous, evil, or greedy in various stories.  Goblin stories abound in practically every culture, England, France, Germany, the Netherlands, and even Moldavian Gypsy tales to name a few.  Other cultures also have words that meany tiny little creatures in their folk tales.  Goblins were referenced in writings as early as the twelfth century.   Many place names have the word Goblin or local words that mean Goblin in their names indicating that the tiny creatures were thought to reside there.  If you would like to read more about Old-World Goblin mythology, read the Goblin entry in Wikipedia. 

 It is Sunday, so it is time for another field project picture.  Today's photo was taken at 8:35 am.  The temperature was 35 degrees Fahrenheit.  Winds were from the South South East at 6 miles per hours.  The sky is overcast and rain is expected to come in overnight.  Some of our low temperatures this week have been in the upper teens.  Only the hardy mustard and a few weeds are still green.

The voting for the Mystery Build competition is now closed.  I think they will announce the winners in about a week.  I want to thank all of my family, friends, and readers who voted for me and even those who took to time to go to the site, even if they voted for someone else.  There were a lot of great projects there.  I am always amazed at how many ways a theme can be interpreted.  I will let everyone know the outcome once the winners are announced.

Diorama Update and Competition Voting reminder - Photo

About That Flying Dream.

No photos of the new diorama today.  In spite of my optimistic plans for this week, I find that time has not been on my side.  Something that I thought was going to take twenty minutes turned into a half day event.  The rest of the day was spent on errands.  However, today, tomorrow and Friday are relatively clear, so I plan to spend most of that time in the studio.  I may yet get to complete the goblins portion of the diorama this week.

The voting for the Mystery Build art competition voting ends Nov. 20th.  The main prize is awarded by jury.  There is also a People's Choice prize that is awarded through public voting.  The voting ends tomorrow.  My diorama is titled  About That Flying Dream".  It is project number 37 which is on page 2.  I have included a link to the voting site:http://mysterybuild.com/    I don't recall exact date but the winners of the competition will be announced soon. 

Goblin Halloween Diorama - Part 31- Photos- Field Project

This week I was working on my little goblin figures for the diorama.  I started out using cornstarch peanuts to build up the bodies over the wire armatures.  Then I came to my senses.  The cornstarch peanuts are a lot of work because they have to be built up layer by layer.  After four hours of work, I had only two layers of the peanuts on the figures.  In order to get this project completed, I needed to step up the pace.  I decided to complete the figures using paper clay.  With paper clay, I could have the figures completed in one application. This is one case where I had to decide that using a newly purchased product was preferable to trying to be green and use every piece of scrap from other projects.  At least the remaining pieces of cornstarch peanuts will dissolve in
water.

I made a trip to the craft store and purchased the paper clay this week.  Now I have started shaping the figures.  I have completed four of the six figures.  The small size of the figures was still a bit of a problem.  They are only an inch tall.  It is hard to handle figures that small.  Even the tiniest pinch of flattened paper clay was almost too large to cover the arms and legs.  However, it was still faster and easier than my previous method.

Field 11-15-2014

After I had put on the first layer of cornstarch on each figure, I determined where each of the figures would go on the diorama and posed the figure accordingly.  Then I put on the second coat of cornstarch.  It was at that point that I decided that I needed to switch to using paper clay.  The first photo shows all of the figures lined up under post it notes that tell where the figures will appear on the diorama.  The second photo is a close up to show the difference made between one layer of paper clay versus two layers of the cornstarch. You can see why I felt I needed to switch.  Building up a piece layer by layer has a certain meditative quality to it, but there are times when speed is called for more than meditation.  I have been on this project over long, and other projects are calling.  I need to get this project finished. 

My competition piece:  About that Flying Dream.

I will finish the figures this week, and hopefully I will get them painted.  I might even get them positioned on the diorama this week.  Once they are mounted onto the diorama, there will only be once piece left to make the diorama complete.  Check back for more on that on Wednesday's blog post.

Today is Sunday, so it is time for another field project picture.  The photo was taken at 9:00 am.  The temperature was forty degrees Fahrenheit.  Winds were calm.  We had our first freeze earlier this week, and you can see the change in the field.  Many of the grasses
and weeds have turned brown.  Most of the green vegetation still visible are mustard greens.  They were not planted by the farmer, they just show up wild from previous plantings.  I notice that the farmer has removed his stakes that he had for his tomato plants, and pulled up the tomatoes and whatever green he had planted in the other small bed.  The field is getting ready to go to sleep for the winter.

Just a final reminder, I have a piece in the Mystery Build art competition: About that Flying Dream.  First prize is determined by a jury, but there is also a People's choice award as well.   People can see the art and vote online.  The voting is still open until mid-week.  My project is project number 37 found on page 2.  Here is a link to the voting:  http://mysterybuild.com/

Goblin Halloween Diorama - Part 30- Photos

First layer on the armatures.

I'm very late posting today.  Apologies to my regular readers.  This morning we were in update purgatory.  There was a big set of updates for the computer posted yesterday.  We live out at the edge of farmland.  There is no such thing as high speed internet out here.  I just had to wait until everything finished downloading because the updates were downloading at a snail's pace.  We seriously need more band width.  Anyway, it did give me time to get enough work done to have a new picture for today's blog.

Goblins will lurk around the house and trees.

I spent the better part of the last two days pondering about the goblins for the diorama.  What do I want my goblins to look like?  What actions are the goblins performing?  Are the goblins only imaginary: a mental construct generated by the sight of the abandoned house?  How can goblins further the story line?  Are goblins really lizards, and their shape only suggests goblins?  Should goblins have tails?  How large should the goblins be?  What color?  What construction method shall I use?  All these questions circled around until I figured out an answer.  I suppose I've really had a good long time to think about this, but I did not really have to come up with a concrete answer until now.  Until this point, the goblins were just some abstract consideration.

So now I have some answers.  I decided that the goblins needed to be small, menacing creatures.  I have not yet decided as to whether their skin will be gray/green or devil red.  I guess that question will be decided once the creatures are ready to paint and I can see how the color choices actually look.

These goblins are going to be very small to stay in scale.  The door of the house is only two and a half inches tall.  If you consider that scale as human sized, then these goblins will only be about an inch to an inch and a quarter tall.  It is really tough to work on such a small scale.  With that in mind, I began making the armature for the goblins out of magnet wire.   This is a very thin wire used to make magnetic coils.  I made six armatures.  I only plan to use five, but it is nice to have an additional one made in case I mess up one of them. 

Each wire armature has been covered with its first coat of cornstarch packing peanuts.  I cut the peanuts into small bits, and the small bits into halves or quarters.  I coat the packing peanut bit (One piece at a time.) with a mixture of glue and water and press it onto the armature.  Then I glue another piece on the back side so that section is covered.  Then I move on to the next section.

The glue is close to a fifty/fifty mix of Elmer's Multipurpose glue and water.  Since the pieces I am working with are so small, I did not dilute the glue in advance.  If the mixture is too thin, the bits of packing peanut dissolve into a slurry.  I found that it was better to dip a small watercolor brush in the paint, smear it onto my pallet (in this case a bit of aluminum foil is covering the pallet),  then dipping the brush into water and mixing it with the glue.  I add more or less water as I need to keep the glue at a thickness that is spreadable on the packing peanut bit.  The brush I am using is a child's craft paint brush. The brushes are inexpensive, and can be thrown away when it is too covered with glue to be useful.

Anyway, the first layer of cornstarch packing peanut is on the armature.  At this point, it is only a basic body shape.  The armatures do not have heads yet.  The goal of the first layer is only to get something to stick to the armature.  From there, the shape will be built up layer after layer until it looks like I want it to look.  This is one of those times when you have to have faith in the process.  The beginnings of it do not look like it will look when the project is finished.  Beginners are often discouraged at this stage.  It takes a few big project in making things to understand that building a figure is a process. 

At this point, the goblins are not yet posed.  Once the figure is build up a little more, each goblin will be posed for its particular position.  Any cracks that form during the posing will be covered with a piece of packing peanut or filled in with a cornstarch  slurry. 

So this is where I will end for the day.  The goblin forms are starting to take shape.  It will be a few days before they become something recognizable.  You can only do so much at one time.  The figures must dry before another coat can be added.  Trying to do too much at one time adds too much moisture to the piece and the cornstarch dissolves into a slurry.  I would normally have made these figures out of papier mache', but I had a small amount of cornstarch peanuts left over from another project.  Since it is unlikely that I would have another project small enough to use them up without running out, it seemed like the time to use them.  Papier mache' would only have been marginally faster.

Goblin Halloween Diorama - Part 29 - Field Project - Photos

Ghosts are on the trees.

When I started this project, I had a certain idea for the project: specifically, goblins.  I was inspired by the poem, Little Orphant Annie, by James Whitcomb Riley.  The refrain from the poem (paraphrased here) "an the goblins will get you if you don't watch out!" was the inspiration for this piece.  I wanted to do a Halloween piece about the fears and superstitions.  The one time of year that people explore that subject on a large scale is at Halloween.  Hence the working title I have been using: Goblin Halloween Diorama.  I guess everyone is wondering, "Where are the goblins?"  Up to this point, there are only a couple of ghosts and some colorful leaves that suggest that it is Autumn. 

Diorama for the Mystery Build competition.

Well, things are about to change.  I have completed the house, the birds, and the trees.  Now it is time to concentrate on the goblins and Halloween.  I am now moving into the phase of creating creepy creatures.  I'm hoping that I can do this without the diorama becoming too campy.  Along with the poem mentioned above, I'm also drawing inspiration from older sources of horror stories.  Before the hack and slash of modern day horror movies, there were Old World stories about strange creatures that lurked and crept about; or ghosts that lingered, attached to a place.  I'm planning to work some of these types of creatures into the diorama. 

Field 11-9-2014

I don't want to give away the whole show, so I don't want to blog too much ahead of what I am actually doing.  Sometimes plans change or ideas that arise take me in a new direction.  I don't necessarily want to lock myself in to something.  As the saying goes:  "I like to keep my options open."  But, I do expect that there will be a few goblins appearing soon. 

I'd like to remind my readers that the Mystery Build competition for the People's choice award is open for voting through November 20th, 2014.  I have entered a diorama into the competition.  This year's theme is "Build a Dream."  My piece is called, "About that Flying Dream."  I am project number 37, found on page 2.  Here is a link to the voting:  http://mysterybuild.com/   There are a lot of great projects there.  Naturally, I hope that my readers will vote for my project, but vote as you will.

Today's field project photo was taken at 9:10 am this morning.  The temperature was 47 degrees Fahrenheit.  It was overcast, but no rain is forecast for today.  The winds were calm.

Update on Diorama -- Competition Voting -- Photos

Still adding leaves and branches.

I have spent a couple more hours adding leaves and branches to the diorama.  I don't have a new photo yet.  I'll post the new photo once I complete this part.  It seems as if I should be further along, but making the leaves and branches takes a beastly long time.  It is starting to look better now that they have been added.  I also made the house in this diorama.  Check back through earlier posts on how I constructed the house.

Branch made of wire and plaster cloth wrap.

As I had blogged earlier, the branches are made from flexible wire wrapped with Plaster Wrap Cloth.  It was a bit of a mess.  Because the project scale is so small, I had to cut the Plaster Wrap Cloth into short lengths and then cut those strips into quarters lengthwise.  The plaster was powdery.  While cutting and manipulating the strips, the some of the powder fell off.  If you use Plaster Wrap Cloth, make sure you have something on your work surface to collect the powder.  Although it does not say to use them on the usage directions for the product I wore gloves. Plaster can dry out your skin.  With as much plaster dust as there was around, it might also be a good idea to wear a dust mask, at least during the point that you are cutting the product into pieces.

About that Flying Dream.

Once the pieces were cut, I dipped a strip in water to soften the plaster.  It only takes a second to dampen it.  Then I used my gloved fingers to smooth the strip to spread the plaster across the cloth.  Then I wound it around the wire that served as the armature.  You don't have very long before the plaster starts to set up.  It has to be done one piece at a time.  The strips were small, and sometimes they would tangle.  Sometimes I could untangle them and sometimes I just had to consider a piece a loss.

I used this method to construct the branches for the Goblin Halloween Diorama and  also in the diorama I made for the Mystery Build competition.  The Plaster Wrap Cloth came in the Mystery Build Kit.  For this competition, you purchase a kit.  You have to make an art piece using nothing but what comes in the kit and on the theme that is given by the company.  After I had completed my project, I had some of the Plaster Wrap Cloth left over.  That is how it ended up in the Goblin Halloween Diorama.

The Mystery Build competition first prize is awarded by a jury.  There is also a People's Choice award.  The public can vote for their favorite art piece.  My piece is titled: About that Flying Dream.  It is project number 37 on page 2.    Here is a link to the voting site:  http://mysterybuild.com/ Naturally, I hope my readers will be voting for my project, but there are a lot of good projects out there.  Enjoy.

Next blog I will have new photos for the Goblin Halloween Diorama.

Diorama - Competition Voting - Field Project

More leaves added to the trees.

The photos this week don't have the best lighting.  I've been going so hard this week that I'm having to do everything at top speed.  I did not have time to set up lighting and all the extras that make for better photos.  Last weekend, my husband was complaining about the slowness of the internet.  I suggested that perhaps it was because so many people were Christmas shopping.  Then it hit me.  Oh no!  It was the end of October and I have not even started on Christmas.  So this week I have been hitting the stores and shopping the internet.  It took up the whole week.  Not that I am finished; only just well begun.

Birds are more visible with the addition of contrasting leaves.

The holiday party season has begun.  Halloween was Friday night.  We had a few trick or treaters, but not as many as I had expected.  Saturday night we had a party to attend.  November is starting to get booked up as well.  My studio time is going to be somewhat limited until the end of December.  However, I hope to have this diorama complete by Thanksgiving.

Competition entry:  About that Flying Dream.

I managed to complete the leaves on the first tree and start on the leaves on the second tree.  That is about as much as I had time to do.  The leaf bundles take longer to make than one would think.  Part of the extra time is because I am working on such a small scale.  When pieces are small, they are difficult to handle.  The other part of the situation is that I am using hot glue to glue the leaf bundles to the branches, then the branches to the tree.  Hot glue is somewhat difficult to work with because it leaves long sticky threads of glue everywhere.  I get them on my fingers, on my clothes, and on the project pieces.  Some can be dealt with later, but some have to be dispensed with immediately to keep them from becoming a permanent part of the project.  Every little bit adds to the time it takes to get those leaves on the trees.

Field 11-2-2014.

On another subject, I entered the Mystery Build competition.  The main prize is awarded by a jury.  There is also a People's Choice award.  People can go in and vote for their favorite project.  I'm hoping that my readers will vote for my project, but of course there are many worthy projects there.  At least you will get a chance to see some other art.  Voting is open from November 1st through November 20th.  You can vote once per day.  My project is project number 37 which is on page 2 of the entries.  Here is a link to the voting:  http://mysterybuild.com/

Today is Sunday, so there is another picture for my field project.  Today's picture was taken at 8:50 am.  The temperature was 43 degrees (Fahrenheit).  Winds were 15 to 20 miles per hour.  It was overcast with spats of rain.  There is a freeze watch here for tonight and a freeze warning at higher elevations.  It is hard to believe, but there are only a few more pictures left in my field project.  I started on Winter Solstice 2013 with the intention of documenting the changes in the field from week to week as Winter changed to Spring and the field was planted and the crops grew.  Unfortunately, the field was not planted this year because the field was sold.  The entire neighborhood was glad that it was sold to a farmer and not a developer.  Because the sale was so late in the growing season, the new owner put in some tomatoes and a few greens and left the rest of the field fallow.  That was not exactly in line with what I was planning.  Oh well, such is life.  I will continue with my plan to document the field for an entire year.  The project will end on Winter Solstice 2014 which is about seven weeks from now.  Maybe I will try again next year.  I haven't made up my mind yet.  I do enjoy going out for an early morning walk.

More on the diorama on Wednesday.