Finnabair Workshop Day 2 - Steampunk Machine

 

Off we go again, our kit for day 2 - steampunk machine.

Anna, telling us what the first step for today is.

Our table painting their wooden panels.

And the other half of our table.

Burnt sienna, umber and black ink acrylic paints with lots and lots of water. Spray the canvas, spray water into the paints and have a wet brush. The more water you use, the more fluid the paint will be. Dry and repeat until you get the depth of colour you want.

Added some stencilling using 3d soft gel.

Table 2 back at work and table 1 getting their demo from Anna at the top table.

Then our turn again for the next stage, which is flakes!!!

I decided to use just the silver and gold flakes. They look really good over the stencilling.

Everyone adding their metallic flakes.

The next step was the composition.

This was mine. I did include quite a few of my own embellishments.

Anna just taking the lid off a new pot of white gesso, so guess what was coming next!

A thin coat of white gesso!!!

I coloured the majority of the elements with bronze age wax and added black gold in as a contrast. Loved both colours and together they look amazing.

I added some green and orange to try and replicate patina / rust effect.  I felt I need to bring out some of the textures, so I used old silver wax to rub across the top of some of the elements to bring the hi-lights out.

And the last instructions of the day from Anna were to add micro beads and also use the sparks to create splatters. But only if we wanted to.

I decided to add both the microbeads and the splatters. I'm not very good at splatters but these ones didn't turn out too bad.

And finally, I added my image.

Finnabair Workshop - Secret Garden

 

Two huge tables had been set up with name badges.

We we actually sat opposite Sylv and Heidi and I was next to Helen and then Sheliagh, who I first met the the Powertex garden party.

A bit of housekeeping and then Anna being introduced to the group.

Anna explaining the first stage of the process.

Everyone listening intently.

There was also a pop up shop for us to indulge ourselves in.

The first thing to do was to cover half of the canvas board with tissue paper.

Next stage of the project.

Adding stencilling using fibre paste.  I went for the brick.

Building up the composition.

We had a wooden window and a variety of paper flowers, cogs, metal embellishments, resin pieces and I added a couple of light bulbs. I glued everything down with heavy body gel.

Next everything got a coat of white gesso.

Anna showing us the next stage.

Which was to choose our colour palette.

As you can see, the colours are pretty vibrant.

So lots and lots of coats of dry brushing with gesso were needed.

Back to the table with Anna for the next step.

White Pearl metallic paint added over the white gesso, and once dry I added Finnabair Magic Potion effect paste.  It's still wet here but will dry clear showing the sparkly pieces.

Industrial Bird House

 

I picked this bird house up today from Aldi for a fiver.

I prised the door and the starfish off the front.

Next I covered all the sides with an industrial style paper.

I cut up a sheet of rhinestones on a mesh background into various shapes and stuck them on the back and the two sides.

I took the roof off and covered both sides with air dry clay.

I pressed different embellishments, tiles and found objects into the clay and I left some of them in to create different textures and interest.

I added clay to the bottom of each of the sides and the back underneath the panel of rhinestones.

And again pushed found objects and embellishments into the clay.

I gave everything a coat of white gesso and once dry a coat of green paint. I used PaperArtsy Tinned Peas.

I added shades of yellow ochre and raw umber with water to the project and kept drying between adding the different colours.

Then I knocked it back a bit by re-apply the green but with a dry brush effect.

Next I added some waxes, aged brass, gold and silver.

I added some carmine for a rust effect and then started working on the top section of the bird house.

Once stuck down, I gave them a coat of gesso.

Then I painted the sides with the same green and umber and ochre paints.

Added the same colours of waxes.

Feet added and studs to the roof.