Reflective Evaluation: Commission, Community, Collaboration.

Scenic Painting: Burial Mound

The burial mound was painted with a range of scenic painting techniques, beginning with base coats of varying greys and whites. Then darker washes were brushed over these, picking out the natural textures created by the Styroputz. Sponges were used to dab on a green moss effect.

Set flooring.

First the flooring that was cut out previously by other students was prepared for texturing and painting buy sanding and marking out where the Flints Mud texture would go. 

Once marked out, Flints Mud was applied wish brushes by me and Magda. However, there should have been a section left bare in the bottom left section of the flooring to allow for the resin bones to be stuck down securely, so this had to be scraped off again. 

Once dried, texture was mixed with more of the Flints Mud then applied to the edges of the platform. 

Styroputz and Texturing.

At this point the archway had been covered in the Styroputz, and had begun to be textured. Wooden supports and figuring out the set overall was also getting thought out. The flat wooden shape that Debbie is standing on will eventually be the floor of the set.

Guildhall: Prop casting

To create the axe head for the top of the log a fast cast resin was used in a silicone mould that Alex has previously made. Using a two part resin of polyol and isocyanate, the ratio used was 1:1. After measuring out and combining the two parts, this was then poured into the mould, allowing it around 15-20 minutes to go off.
Left: The resin type used, (for my own future reference)
Right: A silicone mould with resin inside, waiting for it to go off. A previously made hammer head is on the table next to it.

Multiple hammer heads had to be made as air bubbles kept forming, and those wouldn't have been a good enough quality for this commission. Therefore casts were made until one went off without forming any air bubbles.

Before and After: Axe Head

Demonstrative images showing the before and after effects of buffing the axe head with wire wool and bronze powder.

Sculpting and Texturing

Before texturing, we assembled the main body of the set build; the archway. This was to make sure it fitted together so far, so any changes to the shape could be sculpted from the foam before the texture was applied over it. The texture dries very hard, so making changes prior to its application was ideal. The advantage of having a texture that dries very hard is that its also fairly impenetrable, and seeing as this piece will be in public use, having that coat protecting the soft polystyrene is really useful. At this point I had also assisted in the sculpting of the polystyrene, so it was beginning to resemble a rocky surface.

Once happy with the construction of the archway, it was taken apart into three separate sections again in order to be textured. As the Styroputz is quite a heavy texture, both when it's wet and dry, it's easier to apply when the polystyrene pieces are flat, else it begin to fall off. This is both inefficient and a waste of materials so deconstructing the archway was the most logical solution. 

Stone Samples

Before texturing and painting the polystyrene, I carried out some test samples in order to practise the scenic art before applying it to the final thing.

For this 'Flints scenic mud' was used to colour, and Styroputz was used as texture.

The styroputz is a premixed texture that can be applied straight to the polystyrene and left to dry. Once dried, it leaves a thick, course, sandy texture. It was impossible to apply with a brush as it kept rolling up and falling straight off the surface so ,with gloves on, it was applied by hand.

Guildhall: Beginning making

After measuring out the polystyrene blocks we'd be using for the main body of the rock pieces, preparation for construction could begin. This included drilling into the polystyrene to begin creating the supports, (left) and using expanding foam to stick two pieces together. This would later on get used for the 'roof' section of the structure, (below).

Stage weights were used to weigh down the piece being stuck down with expanding foam, as as the foam expands, it would begin moving and pushing the top piece off if not adequately weighted. This was left over night to go off.

Guildhall Reference Photos

Above are images from the leaflet that Andy gave us during the guildhall briefing. It was explained what it is we'll be constructing and the process of making we'll be following. The inspirational contextual images were of Kits Coty (pictured below), which provided us with references of rock shapes, colour palette and a source for scenic painting.

Learning Agreement.