Paper Mâché Owl - Part 16 - Priming for Painting

One more step on the owl is complete.  I made some test pieces to make sure the cardboard was not going to come apart when painted.  It held up well, so it was on to giving the owl a primer coat.  I actually did two coats of gesso to prime it for painting.  It takes two coats to cover over the newsprint on the paper  mâché on the beak and feet.  That way no words or pictures are showing through.  Some acrylic paints are transparent so the coverage really needs to block out everything.   Also, I made sure that the cardboard was well coated along the edges of the feathers so they would not curl.  

Priming the owl was a two day project.  I was laying the bird on its side and back in order to paint from all angles.  I used a medium weight gesso.  All of the brush strokes were made from the top of each feather to the bottom.  I am hoping that the heavier gesso will hold some of the brush marks, which will give each feather from texture.  Now I am giving it a couple of days to make sure that all of that is completely dry, then the painting will begin.  I am really hoping that I can make some reasonable facsimile of what owl feathers look like.  

I plan to experiment with colors and painting techniques before I begin to paint on the owl.  If I can figure out a combination of strokes that can blend the paint before I start; I will have a better idea of how the owl should look.  

I will not have a post on Tuesday, May 28th.  The weekend before this is Memorial Day.  I have to get ready for the holiday festivities on the days leading up to the holiday, so I doubt that I am going to have very much time to work on the project this week.  I really hate to work on painting it when I am feeling rushed.  Look for the next blog post on June 4th, 2024.  

 

Paper Mâché Owl- Part 15 -Quick Post

I have just a quick post and no new pictures this week.  The photo below is the same as last weeks picture.  I have been out of town, and had very little time to work on the project.  The best that I could do was to finish the layers of paper mâché on the beak and feet.  I will be starting the painting this afternoon.  

After two coats of gesso, I will begin painting.  I am both excited and stressed about this part of the project.  I am hoping that I will make a good job of painting the owl.  I have put so much work into the project that I start to stress over perhaps messing it up at this stage.  

I have looked at a number of owl pictures for great horned owls and long eared owls.  I really had no idea how individual the plumage on owls actually are.  In some ways that is a relief.  There is so much diversity in the plumage that I can't feel that I am "doing it wrong".  Of course there are many similarities around the face of an owl, but I can readily say that you could tell individual owls from their markings.

Anyway, that is about as far as I have taken the project.  Next week there will be time for me to work on it.  Check back next Tuesday to see the latest on this project.

Paper Mâché Owl Part 15 - Finally Starting the Paper Mâché

It has been another busy week, but at least it has been busy in an enjoyable way rather than a good way rather than a stressful way.  However, that has left me a little behind in working on my project.  At least there has been a little progress.  I have started to put paper mâché on the beak and feet.

I have two layers of the paper mâché added onto the beak.  I used a sharp pick shaped like a dental tool to push the first layer under the feathers of the beak.  The second layer was pasted onto the feathers in order to give the layer a better hold on the cardboard. 

So far, I only have one layer on the feet.  The feet were more difficult than the beak.  I was trying to paste paper on the feet while keeping the rest of the bird free from the paste.  Both the owl and I were standing on our heads at some points while trying to keep clean.  The feet look bigger even with just one layer of paper mâché on them.   

At least I made some progress on the project.  I don't know if I will have much time to work on the owl this week.  Spring has brought on a slew of new activities.  Trying to keep up with it all has left me feeling like I have been shot out of a cannon; rushing headlong from one event to the next.  I expect to finish up the paper mâché  within a week.  Then it will be onto painting the figure.

In case you missed the previous blog post, I switched my plan from covering the whole owl in paper mâché and am planning on painting the rest of the owl.  Many of my family and friends who have watched my progress think that I should only use paper  mâché  on the beak and feet rather than the whole owl.  I am not so sure that is going to work, but I thought I would give it a try.  If things do not go well, I can still go back to the original plan of covering the entire owl in paper mâché.  If worst comes to worst, and the cardboard starts to curl, I can tear off everything back to where I waterproofed the carcass and begin again from there.  I really doubt it will come to that.  When making an experimental project, it is good to have a Plan B and even a Plan C though.

Check back next Tuesday for the next post on this project.