Friday, January 18, 2013

Dragon Mascot Project pt 1: frames

Back in 1998 I'd planned to make a dragon mascot for my booth, complete with wings and glowing eyes.  One thing derailed another and I never finished it, though I saved the half made head, semi forgotten and only unearthed recently during the Great Storage Move of 2012.  

After Christmas, I set about finishing the frame.  I decided against wings for right now, but added ears, horns, and the rest of the neck.  My original plan had been to cover the frame is black ducktape and maybe plaster or acrylic.  Then paint.  But then I heard of the glories of buckram.

Buckram is a canvas type of material impregnated with starch, traditionally used by hatters.  Wet it, and it can be formed over molds, drying in whatever form.   This sounded perfect, in theory making a 3d canvas I could gesso and paint with acrylic.   In fact, it was learning of this material that made returning to finish the dragon  mascot sound likely to produce and elegant result, with excellent work flow.  Thus inspired the frames almost finished themselves:







Next: Buckram