Tag Archives: acrylic paint

DIY Project #13 or 12A, Part 2

5 Apr

The progress for the latest DIY project has been at a snail’s pace. Could it be due to the superstitious stigma of the number 13? I should refer to it as 12A; then there won’t be all these clouds of doubts or distraction.

But I have to admit, the pieces of this set are very tedious and minute. And I find myself feeling intimidated having to make all those minuscule fruits and vegetables. Sigh. So I have been procrastinating, hence the slow progress. The Chinese instruction manual does not help. Luckily, I managed to download an English PDF version of the manual to cross-check.

Every day, I try to get a piece done up, even if it is at a snail’s pace. Something better than nothing, right? Also, this set is very different from all the others that I have completed.

There are more hands-on steps required, as in painting up pieces of furniture and accessories. Things like the display racks and cabinets need either a paint job or sanded down for a worn look. Vegetable stalks, as well as their display wraps, also require painting! So much work.

The eye-boggling step for the display wraps involves untwirling the paper rope to spread it open before painting! Unbelievable and a real test of patience. With so much effort put in, I’d like to customize the set to my liking by changing and omitting things. We’ll see how it goes as I progress along.

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Tiny Pillows Challenge

21 Aug
Deft hands are required to handle these!

Working on the 2-story set that I took over has not been easy. There are so many pillows to make compared to the previous set. Being so tiny, the pillows are harder to hold and glue, and slows down my progress.

And as if this is not enough a deterrent, I discovered two pieces are missing to make the bedside table! I searched high and low, thinking they could have fallen out but nope, the two pieces were not included at all.

For several days, the problem was on my mind. How do I fix this? One night, the solution presented itself as I spotted a pack of ice cream sticks in my art taboret. It might just work because the sticks are of the same thickness.

So I cut the sizes that were required, and I even had orange acrylic paint to paint up the panels. And before I knew it, the bedside table was completed. Phew. With the problem resolved, I hope no further issues as I continue on.

DIY a DIY project!

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A Cut Too Deep, Part 2

22 Nov

My MacGyver skills came in handy when it came to rescuing the Whale with the broken tail. Given a second chance to be completed and not abandoned, it would have a whole tail section transplant instead of an itty-bitty prosthetic!

This was what I did…

After evaluating the damage and the wood surface, an itty bitty prosthetic tail wouldn’t do because that part of the wood was too porous and it certainly won’t stick. It needed more to be permanent and a transplant was a better option to replace the whole section. A little bit more work but I felt better about this direction.

So I worked on another piece for the tail part. Luckily the Meranti piece that I chose wasn’t that hard and it was quite effortless to get the shape right quickly. But after aligning the pieces, my estimates were off! Haish… it didn’t look right and I ended up having to shave off a little bit more of the bottom part on the main body.

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Bottom pics: Before (L) and after (R) trimming the base to fit the new tail section

Eventually, with the tiniest nails I could find, the tail section was attached to the main body. I then added Elmer’s glue and stapled the section to secure it.

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How to add a tail to a whale, with nails, glue and staples

After the glue dried, I started puttying the piece to even out the nooks and crannies and the Whale was starting to look good. Phew! I decided to leave the staples in for peace of mind.

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A saved whale is a happy whale!

When I’m done applying gesso on it, you can’t tell that this fella had surgery in the first place. And once I decide what color it shall be, it will certainly look good when painted. I’m so glad I persevered on this to give it a second lease in life after that unfortunate cut that was too deep. A saved whale is a happy whale, and a happy me too!

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An Ambitious Piece, Part 3

4 Oct

I am at the tail-end to complete Ginormous Gnome. I’m satisfied with how the shape of the cap bob at the back turned out. I think it’s not necessary for it to be even more prominent because then I’d have to glue an add-on piece to it, like what I did for the nose and then tediously carve it down.

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Nose checked, gap in beard checked!

The nose which posed some challenges initially was resolved. Once I got over these issues, the rest was not that difficult – the body was effortless but the beard was time consuming to shape. However after shaping the beard, I was faced with a new predicament!

 

The front of the beard was looking so flat! Haish…

After all that effort to give the nose some prominence, the flat beard made all that hard work look wasted. So I decided to glue a piece and several add-ons to the beard part so that it does not appear so flat and square. Quite challenging to carve, shape and puff up that part but it was fun.

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The extra piece to puff up the beard

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The beard part resolved and putty all over to smoothen the surface

It’s good I am keeping track of what I am doing now because if I ever wanted to carve another Ginormous Gnome, I have this to refer to and would be better prepared. Sometimes what I envision in my mind does not quite come out right, so along the way, I have to adjust.

That being said, Ginormous is progressing at a good pace as I’m at it diligently almost every night. Soon I will be starting a new piece and it will most likely be another whale because recently, I gave one away.

At this point, I’m considering to paint Ginormous in the red and blue uniform like my other Gnomes rather than the Lavender of Gandalf. It should look good.

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Last step of putting gesso completed before the final paint job!

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Have Putty Will Do

13 Aug

This latest piece that I carved had some challenges. The sides were not even and riddled with holes and ‘craters’ because when I split the wood into two, I didn’t do a good job.

After carving out the whale shape, minimizing the craters, the holes were still there but there’s nothing that putty can’t fix. Having putty is essential to fix what carving can’t do smoothly.

img_4312You can’t even tell that prior to it looking like this, once upon a time there were holes. Whale #37 is looking mighty fine I might say and was okay once varnish was applied to coat the paint.

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Fresh Supply, Part 2

23 May

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The various stages of carving a Whale

With so much Meranti wood, every evening I am kept busy! When the sun is up, I would be playing golf (especially this week) but when the sun goes down, I would be carving.

The process is simple, find two Meranti blocks that are about the same size to Elmer-glue together. Then clamp it down with the work bench for a day or so before carving. And although there’s a fixed set of measurements and angles to ensure every piece is standardised, there are still some variations. After all, it’s wood that I am dealing with and the carvings are all hand-made.

The chipping, carving and initial shaping does not take long. This is the fun but dusty and messy part. If I stay focused, I usually get one piece done a night depending on what time I start. It is after the carving that the process takes longer and sometimes tedious too because every step of the way requires time or even have to be repeated.

Details on the eyes and tail take time. The eyes are usually marked, carved out first before drilling to ensure it’s perfectly round and even. For the tail, it’s the curves and corners that I have to work on. Then the sanding and filing to shape the overall curves.

Putty work is next to patch ugly holes and the piece is then left to dry, taking time because this curing process cannot be hurried. When the piece is ready—usually a couple of hours or more depending on how much is applied—more sanding and filing, creating more dust and mess. Sometimes this step needs to be repeated if the patch work is insufficient to even out the holes properly.

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Putty work: before and after comparison

But when all patch work are completed, a coat of white gesso is applied and the piece is left to dry again for another day. The next step – more sanding to smoothen the surface before a second coat of gesso. By now it’s the fourth or fifth day from the first cut.

Once I am satisfied with the surface, on goes the acrylic paint, two coats over two days. Of all the colors I have, the new Glitter Blue color is most problematic because it requires more than two coats, several coats in fact to be even.

The last process is the gloss varnish, also two coats, before the final touches are added – the felt cloth on the base, the date and my signature and voila! The piece is finally complete.

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Before and after of the final touches with felt base, date and my signature!

With the fresh supply, I find myself repeating this routine every other night with several pieces overlapping each other in various stages of the process. Tedious, repetitive but enjoyable.

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Working on four pieces in various stages simultaneously

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Killer Whale?

2 May

Whale 28 has turned out to be more than a Killer Whale, it’s killer gorgeous! With its wide body and the shiny pearl effect, I think Pink Taffeta is the color to use from now on for new whales. So I will go back to Meranti and work on more whales.

Ahhh… fun times ahead!

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More New Colors

25 Apr

I thought carving up Citizen #182 was significant so I bought new colors to commemorate it. This time, I decided to introduce shiny colors for variety.

So besides painting up Citizen #182 in pearl Taffeta Pink, #183 was also given the new color, the glitter blue. Not content with this, I then refreshed a few earlier Citizens, adding clear glitter on top of their existing colors.

Maybe this year, glitter is the way to go as this latest batch look very pretty and shiny. I like ‘em.

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Picture not giving the gloss and glitter enough prominence

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Nothing Goes to Waste, Part 2

26 Nov

When I carve my pieces using Meranti wood, the wood blocks are all at different sizes. As such, I have to cut them to the proportions I want and there’ll be wastage. Hubby felt that it’s such a waste to throw away all those excess odd pieces.

So he experimented with the leftovers, using them as a prop or base for his air plants. And with just coat of acrylic paint, no gesso, they became simple and eye-catching tabletop pieces.

I wonder if the next piece should be a bit more elaborate. Hmm? Well, there’s plenty of wood to fine tune the overall look. From balsa where the odd ends become little Gnomes, and now Meranti as props for air plants certainly nothing goes to waste.

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Ciabatta No More, Part 2

22 Nov

A couple of weeks ago, the effort reworking the second Gnome Home sapped me and I left it unattended for days after the first coat of colors. Eventually, despite a gruelling gym session where—in my trainer’s words “She went mental and gave it to us”— we were depleted of strength, I somehow managed to muster some energy to apply the final coat of acrylic to the roof and chimney.

The Fire Engine Red is obviously darker than the Cadmium Red but I think there’s character as well. I think the Gnomes like it.

Now in between mulling another home but a towering one for variation, I carved four phone holder whales, seven Gnomes and a Monument. So much carving to do, so little time.

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The Gnomes standing proudly in front of the two new Gnome Homes.

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