Green Man Pumpkin - Part 6 Painting and Mounting the Eyes - Part 6

 I have been working on the pumpkin quite a bit, but paper mâché is not a quick process.  I added the final layers of paper mâché to the inside of the pumpkin and around the large opening for the face and the opening for the light at the bottom.  I also added some of the last layers of paper mâché to the face.  

After all that, it was time to start reverse painting the eyes.  I wish I were better at it, but I think there is a lot of room for improvement.  Anyway, the first photo is the eyes viewed from the front.  The back of the eyes look quite a bit different.  

I will go into how I painted these eyes, but I suggest you look online at other people's online tutorials.  I found a few different methods for what materials to use and how to paint the eyes.  Some methods use acrylic paints and others used multiple colors of fingernail polish.  I chose to use acrylic paints as I had them in stock.  Using multiple colors of fingernail polish would have added about twenty or more dollars to the project.  

These eyes were painted on glass cabochons.  Cabochons are domed glass circles.  You can find them at most craft and scrap booking stores or websites.  However, I did not use those, I used the inexpensive ones that you can find in the home decorator sections of many department stores and dollar stores.  These cabochons are not perfectly round, but they work pretty well.  You just have to sort through them to find two similarly shaped ones.  Using the less perfect ones is a saving of several dollars.  

The domed glass surface reflects the light much like a human eye.  I did not have to paint in the highlights.  The bright hot spots are just reflections off the glass.  

This picture shows the flat back side of the eye where the painting takes place.  The first thing to paint in is the pupil.  Getting the pupil in the center of the eye is the most difficult part.  Not only do the pupils need to be in the correct place, but they also need to be the same size.  This is not easy for me, especially if you are working with smaller eyes.  I found the small, rounded surfaces hard to hold.

I tried a method numerous times that I saw on the internet.  It seemed to work for larger eyes, but did not work as well for smaller ones.  One way was to put a drop of black paint on the center back of one eye, and then gently touch the back of the other eye to it to create the pupil on the other eye.  Theoretically that works and alleviates the problem of trying to get the pupil in the same spot.  In practice, it ended up with me, my work area, and the glass cabochon smeared with black paint.  I gave up on that.  The failing may be with my stiff fingers rather than the method, but it is not as easy as it may seem.

I found the center for the pupil by using some graph paper.  I find the point on the graph paper that I want to be my center.  I put the cabochon on the paper and line it up so that the center sits on the marked point.  When properly aligned, I trace around the cabochon and cut out the paper and place it on the back of the eye. Using carbon paper, I transfer the mark to the eye.  

I dipped the flat bottom of a wooden skewer in black paint.  Before touching the eye, the skewer is pressed against a paper towel to remove most of the paint.  Then I lightly touch it down on the marked center.  The mark will be faint, but enough to determine the circle.  After that, I paint the pupil in that circle with a small detail brush.  

The next step is to paint in the black ring that indicates the boundaries of the iris.  I have found that you cannot just paint the flat back of the eye for this.  For it to be visible on the other side, you have to paint a small amount on the side of the cabochon.  Let the paint dry before continuing on with painting the iris.  

After the black paint is dry, I mixed Cad Yellow and Hunter Green for the yellow-green color surrounding the pupil.  The color is painted in a series of irregular marks.  The green part of the pupil is solid Hunter Green.  I painted the green while the yellow was still wet, blending in and out of the yellow.  

Once all the paint was dry, I painted the entire back of the eye with some exterior satin acrylic sealer.   The paint really needs the sealer.  It is a very thin coat and tends to scratch off easily.  Once the sealer is dry, it is time to mount the eyes.  The eye holes were initially cut larger than the eye.  This is because 

that once the holes are cut, they need to be covered with more layers of paper mâché over the raw edges.  This is not an exact science.  Sometimes I may have to make adjustments to the size of the eyes and sometimes have to carve out some of the layers of paper mâché with a craft knife.  It can take a while to get it like you want it.  

Once the eye holes are right, I mount the eye to the back of the eye hole.  Once the eye is positioned like I want it, I use a bit of blue painter's tape on the front of the eye to hold it in place.  Next, flip the mask over and use hot glue around the eye to glue it into place.  When the glue has cooled, remove the tape from the front of the eyes.  

This is as far as I have gone on this project so far.  I have not yet had time to add the lips and paint the inside of the pumpkin and the back of the mask, which is the next step.  It is a holiday weekend here, so I don't think I will get it done until after Monday.  But next week's post should show how I mount the mask to the pumpkin.

I hope you will check back next week to see the progress.

Green Man Pumpkin Part 5- Internal Work On the Pumpkin Needed Before Face Added

I apologize for the delay in getting this post up.  A family member had a health problem, and I have been dealing with hospitals, doctors, physical therapists, and a myriad number of other services.  On top of that we had a trip planned and have had relatives come to visit.  In short, my creative work came to a screeching halt for the week or two.  However, I hope to be getting back on track now.  

There is some work that needs to be done on the inside of the pumpkin before I add the face to the pumpkin.  If you read the earlier post about putting the pieces of the pumpkin back together, you may recall that the two halves of the pumpkin were glued together with hot glue, taped with masking tape, and papered over with layers of paper mâché.  (If you cannot scroll back and see the posts, you can look at the blog at folkartbycaroljones.blogspot.com).  That left two seams on the inside of the pumpkin that had not been covered with tape and paper mâché.  

Although it is not easy to see in this photo, one of the unfinished seams has been covered with tape.  It is far easier to do the paper mâché on these seams while the pumpkin has this large opening available.  It can be done through the smaller opening on the bottom, but it will be much less aggravating to do it now.  Some people may not wish to do the extra layers but remember that the hot glue is translucent and light may shine through it if not adequately covered.  

The openings in the front and bottom have also been covered in masking tape.  My plan is to cover all of the areas with paper mâché at once before putting on the face.  

I won't keep you in suspense.  This is how I plan to place the face on the pumpkin.  I hope to have pictures of all this in another week or so. 

If I keep the paper mâché below the line marked with a sharpie on the large hole, it will give me a small shelf to set the face on.  Then I will hot glue the face onto the pumpkin, tape it and cover it with layers of paper mâché.

At this point, it would also be worthwhile to paint the inside of the pumpkin while you have the large opening available.  I have another method for painting it using the small hole.  Which one is better might depend on how much tolerance you have for mess.  If you do choose to paint the inside now remember one important point.  The glue will not hold as well on a painted surface.  Even though there will be more tape and paper mâché to come, it is better to leave the area to be glued unpainted.  Otherwise, the hold of the glue is only as strong as the coat of paint.

There will be an area under the chin that will need to have some work done to have it flush with the pumpkin.  I may also want to do some work on building up the lips before I add the face to the pumpkin.  

Once again, I want to apologize for being late with the post.  It has been one of those times that life has thrown a curve ball.  Things are not getting back on track and hopefully things will run smoothly for a while.

Green Man Pumpkin - Part 4- Creating the Face

 Last week when I left off blogging, I had left off with showing the cutout where the face will be placed.  There was also a cutout on the bottom for a placement of a battery candle

or light to illuminate the pumpkin.  (I should not have to say this, but for everyone's safety, I will.  Do not use an open flame on an object made from paper.)  Today, I will be blogging about how the face is created.  

I did not want to have a regular pumpkin face because this is supposed to be an anthropomorphic pumpkin.  I want the face to resemble a human face as much as I can make it.  Once the face is made it will be covered with leaves.  The face and leaves will also be made from paper mâché.  The plan is for the pumpkin to be surrounded by leaves, fruits, nuts, and vegetable that would be part of an autumn harvest.

To recap from last week: the pumpkin initially had two circles drawn on it.  The larger outer circle marks the general placement for the face.  The inner circle was the cutting line.  This gives me about half an inch to hot glue the face to the pumpkin.  

To make the face, I started with a foam head that is available in just about any craft store or online.  I sketched out the area I planned to use for the face and covered it with a layer of masking tape.  

The nose is not very prominent on this foam mold, and layers of paper mâché tent to flatten the features.  During the time I was adding the tape, I also used some extra tape and cardboard to enhance the nose and give the area a little bit more prominence.  Also, once the face is covered with the paper mâché leaves, it will need a little extra clearance to be visible under the leaves.  

I did not want to over emphasize the lips very much because I may want to change the shape of the mouth's expression.  I just needed to have an idea of where it went for proper placement.  

Once I had it more or less built up, I covered the whole head with a product called Press and Seal a food storage product found in the grocery aisle.  This waterproofs the head so I can save it for multiple uses.  Also, the paper mâché will not stick to the Press and Seal and can be removed from the head easily.

After that, I added multiple layers of paper mâché on the area covered by masking tape.  In the photo on the right, you can see some of the black Sharpie line that I sketched onto the head to define the area I am using as a face.

The face was covered with six layers of paper mâché.  I only put on one layer at a time and allow it to dry before adding the next layer to help prevent mold.  

It is helpful to have a small sized aluminum pan or baking dish that the head will fit into fairly snuggly.  The head is rounded and wants to roll back and forth.  Placing the head in a snug pan helps to hold it in place when I add the paper mâché.  This saves time and aggravation.  If you don't have a pan of the right size, you would put some books in a plastic trash bags and place on each side of the head to brace it in place.  I am always in favor of using what you have rather than going out to buy something special.

Once all of the layers of paper mâché are dry, I pull the mask off the face mold.  The chin has a bit of an overhang and is a little difficult to get that part off the mold.  However, the face still has a little bit of flex to it and it will come off with a little persuasion.  

I found that the nose was still not large enough to accommodate a couple of layers of leaves, so I increased its height using some cardboard and tape.  All of this will need to be covered with layers of paper mâché.  That is still to come.  I would like to get to a point where everything is ready for the final layers of paper 
mâché before I get started with that. 

I made my first attempt at drawing on the eyes and mouth in this photo.  It needs some work. This is not going to be the final shape. It is very difficult to find the proper placement of the eyes.  Since the paper is not running in straight lines, even if you get the eyes in the proper place the optical illusion created by the disjointed lines makes them look wrong against the background.  

I plan for this face to have green painted glass eyes.  I will blog more on that segment when I get that far.  

I have some trouble getting my eyes to look the same size and shape.  My best recommendation for this is to get one eye as you want it, then trace around it and transfer the image to the other side.  It is important to cut the holes for the features larger than you want them to be.  Layer of paper mâché will decrease the size of the openings.

The mouth Is a little difficult as well. Not only do I have to plan for the shape of the lips, but I have to make room for some of the leaves that will be on the face as well.  

I cut out the features using a sharp craft knife.  The features have to be cut oversized because each cut edge will have layers of tape and paper mâché on top of it.  Before applying the tape, I put some white glue on my fingers and massage the glue into the cut edges.  The layers of paper mâché tend to want to fan out slightly in the cut area.  The paste and tape will help keep the layers from separating as much.

That is about it for today's blog.  Next week I hope to be blogging about painting the eyes and how they are mounted to the face. Or at least, have the rest of the features covered with their last layers of paper mâché.  Spring is here, and all the extra outdoor activities are eating into my crafting time.  After that, the blog will be about how to mount the face to the pumpkin.

I know some readers are wondering what is happening with my paper mâché carousel animals.  I am trying to work each project to a reasonable stopping point before switching back to the other project.  Once the face is attached to the green man, I will be transferring back to the carousel project.  

Check back next week for a new post.