The First Painting is Finished!
May 2, 2008
The first ‘Phoenix Project’ painting is finished, the video uploaded to YouTube and the painting up for sale at http://zyllart.etsy.com
About the Painting: Our neighbor had a moving sale and made signs for it out of wood. After the sale, we found one of the signs she had put out down by the neighborhood market. I had seen her collecting the signs near the neighborhood earlier that day and just figured she either forgot about this one or didn’t want to bother to go down and get it.
So, I carried it back to the house and decided to use it as a free canvas. I debated whether to paint over all the text or let some of it show through. In the spirit of using up the ‘debris’ around the house, I picked out a few acrylic paints that just had a little bit left in them, added some water to some. So the paints were going to be a bit see through in some cases. But after I saw the words showing through, I sort of liked the effect.
Some of the objects for this painting were found on walks to the same neighborhood market. Others were part of the ‘debris’ collection. Old soldering wire, shower curtain rings, small metal objects, left over parts from plumbing projects, bits of cardboard, etc. For some detail, a page of text written on a sheet of tracing paper. And for a kick, a small card that says ‘Play Money’ worth one penny from a Mallow Cup candy. (It’s worth 5 points and if you send them 100 of these cards, they will send you a dollar.)
The entire background is covered with the wax/resin compound, then heat treated for a smooth, shiny finish. Then the objects were secured with the same compound, mixed with some Burnt Siena pigment for a little color and shading. I’ll probably show a little of this techinique in up coming projects.
I’m still learning how to edit the video clips together and add transitions and such, so hopefully these will get smoother~~here’s the video:
May 13, 2008 at 9:04 pm
I am very interested in your work!! Its absolutely gorgeous! I am anxious to see the uploaded video of your wax/resin technique. How does it work?
May 14, 2008 at 2:04 am
Hi Rachel,
Thank you very much! You are my first comment on the Phoenix Project
Briefly, about the wax/resin technique, I will try to shoot some video on that in the next 48 hours and post it. In the mean time: It is Beeswax and Damar Resin Crystals melted together in crock pot. Damar Resin won’t melt until it reaches 250 degress, but if you get much beyond that, the wax will start to smoke. The crock pot provides the perfect low but constant temperature, with a ‘Keep Warm’ feature. I then apply the wax mixture with a brush until everything is coated. Then, using an ‘embossing’ heat gun, I heat the mixture back to liquid. It then will either ’settle down’ into a smooth coating or drip if you tilt the painting. Make sure you do the heating outside. Breathing the fumes can make you feel a bit crappy. I don’t know if either ingredient is toxic, but the lungs don’t seem to be too fond of ‘wax mist’
This technique is fun for securing objects or coating over sheets of writing. It gives you many uses and cools and hardens very quickly. Once cool to the touch, the painting is finished. (I’m a fairly impatient artist, so I love this technique)
again, thank you