DIY Canvas Primer

So, a while back - the very beginning, actually - I created my first blog post about new projects with a focus on up-cycled canvases and home-made primer. (see "BEGINNING PROJECTS: HOW TO MAKE PRIMER") Since it's been a while since I created my primer recipe - and therefore, have gone through much tweaking and editing to perfect my recipe - I thought I would do a follow-up post on how EXACTLY to make it, and what materials are best to use. 

The first thing you want to do is collect all your materials before beginning this process because, trust me, you do NOT want to get half-way through mixing before you realize you don't even have any canvases to prime. (This has, embarrassingly enough, happened to me in the past. Please don't judge me.)

Yes, that says Twilight. And Snapple.
No, I don't know why.

To the Right is a collection of canvases I confiscated from a local Goodwill. (This is a joke. I have always been a law-abiding citizen.) Their sizes range between traditional 14"x11" to 24"x20". Buying these from an actual art supply store would have sucked a solid $50 or more out of my wallet. Instead, I chugged out to a thrift store ten minutes down the road from me and snagged these beauties for a grand total of $12.97. Yard sales are also a good place to find used canvases. Stay thrifty.

[For the record, I plan to do a follow-up post on how to shop for thrift-store canvases, what's worth the price, and how to up-cycle them properly without damaging the frame or material.]

The next thing to do is assemble the Avengers of art project supplies: Elmer's Glue, Plaster of Paris, Flat White Paint, and Water. Also, you will need a disposable bucket, an old paint brush you're prepared to sacrifice for the greater good, and a few plastic forks and spoons. Since my goal is to be as cheap as possible, I prefer to use products I already own, or things I can get my hands on for pennies. In this case, I'm using Spackle Paste instead of Plaster of Paris. (Although dry spackle is the best option, spackle paste is an easy substitute.)

I also found a bucket of expired white paint in my garage. In any other situation, expired materials are a no-go, but since we aren't using any of them on their own, this is fine.  

And, since my family was home-schooled, at no point in time has there ever NOT been a container of Elmer's glue lying around. 

After that, water is a relatively easy substance to come across. If you need help finding water, you probably shouldn't be engaging in DIY projects.

It may be oily. Mix well.

Use plastic fork to mash lumps.

The first thing you want to do is mash up your spackling paste until it's smooth enough to work with, and then spoon (or spatula) it into your mixing bucket, adding water (equal parts)and mixing to break down the paste until it looks like milk. When the paste is broken down and no longer lumpy, stir your paint (it will probably be separated, whether it's expired or not) and pour it into your watered down paste. 

Stir paint to prevent
separation.

At this point, your mix should be:

-1 part paste 

-1 part water

-2 parts paint

[For clarification, the orange blob in the corner of the pictures is my toe.]

Now you want to stir the mix carefully, and keep adding respective ratios of paint, spackling, and water until the mix is thin and smooth. It should be runnier than regular paint, but thicker than water. 

I strongly advise you make MORE primer than you think you'll need. The most miserable thing you can do is create the perfect primer and begin your project, and then run out  of the stuff half-way through and have to MAKE MORE and hope it's the same consistency as your first batch. (Wet primers do not mix well if they are of differing consistencies.)

It's time for glue. I wait until the end for this because, firstly, you want to make sure your paste is thoroughly broken down early on in the mixing process, and second because glue begins to coagulate rather quickly and it will spoil your batch if you add it too early. Mix the glue thoroughly into your other ingredients until the consistency is smooth and thin and glossy. It should spread thin and even when you brush it onto your canvas.

Mix as you pour in the glue so that it doesn't clump. Use a fork to break up any coagulation.

When you have finished mixing your primer and have just the right amount - and please, PLEASE be sure you do - it's time to take a coffee break. I suggest something strong. Preferably with a stupid amount of caffeine. Never underestimate the need for refueling. You will want to keep chugging on, but unless you take a break and step back for a breath and a sip, you'll burn out. Relax. Replenish. Breathe. Wash your hands, clear your space, and remind yourself that you are a magnificent and innovative artisan. 

Back to priming.

Every artist has a preference for the consistency of their primer. I like to keep mine thing and strong. I want it to brush on watery and dry solid. 

First Coat

The white paint is meant to behave as a base ingredient to build on. The plaster of Paris (or, in this case, spackle paste) will insure that the primer dries with a chalky finish which will allow for enough texture for your paint to cling to when you begin your project. The water keeps it thin so that the primer isn't thick and clumpy (otherwise, you might as well just coat your entire canvas in plain white paint), and the glue is to bind all the ingredients together so that, even though it's thin, it isn't transparent. You can alter the ratio of these ingredients to achieve a consistency that best suits you.

Second Coat

Above and to the right are the first and second coats of primer. Most used canvases require at least two coats, possibly more if the original painting utilized neon colors, or any lead-based paint - lead based paint will bleed through primer rather viciously, so you'll want to keep an eye on how each individual painting dries. 

As you can see, the canvas on the far right has a patch of blue that is stubbornly bleeding through the second coat of primer. It maintained it's stubbornness, despite the THIRD and FOURTH coat of primer I slathered onto it, so I guess I'm just going to have to wait and hope that whatever project I dedicate that canvas to, the paint will cover it up. If this happens to you, you can either give up and not care too much - paint will probably cover it - or you can separate a small portion of your primer, add some extra spackle paste, and really go over the bleeding patch with determination. I prefer not to stress too much over it. It's up to you.

Now, if you're like me (...then I'm so sorry...) you are most likely covered in primer. This is okay. If you have to run errands while your first coat dries and don't feel like taking a shower in-between coats of primer, there is a good chance that people who see you will think that you have an extremely contagious skin disease. This is also okay. Van Gogh taught us that public approval is not necessary to create great works of art. Learn from the masters. 

Before you begin any painting projects on your newly primed canvas, make sure your primer is COMPLETELY dry. Store any leftovers in a tightly sealed container with a label so that you don't mistake it for regular white paint. Or milk. (It's happened.)

From here, you're ready to paint! Good luck!

-Chimmy

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - SET DESIGN PART 3 (SPONGES, MURDER, AND CURSED RIGHT ANGLES)

PART 3!!! I made it and I'm so proud to have FINALLY finished blogging this project. It's taken my a RIDICULOUS mount of time to collect all my photos and get up the creativity and put in the effort to finish a project, but I AM DETERMINED!

So, I finally finished the Queen of Hearts' Rose Garden, and I'm not gonna lie, it's my pride and joy. (And if you look closely, you'll notice that the Queen's castle in the background looks vaguely like little heads with pointy hats...a little bit of weird I threw in for my own amusement.)

Also, I did an orange-pink sky since, according to the book, it is always 6 o' clock, and therefore, the world is in a perpetual state of evening. I pictured that time just around sunset, so I decided not to do a blue sky. It gave the garden a very surreal look, and made it less cartoony, and more mysterious. I doubt anyone will catch the 6 o' clock reference, but it made me happy, so...

It really turned out so fantastic and far better than I could have imagined. It wasn't without heartache and tears and, as seen on the right, a little bit of bloodshed (painting roses is murder), but it really was a truly magnificent experience and challenge, and I will always be very proud of it. (I may even ask the director afterward if I can keep the canvases after the production...we'll see.)

Anyhow, with the Rose Garden finished, it was time to get cracking on the Duchess' Doors. I knew those would pose their own challenges and their own set of delights. 

With the doors, I had to go ahead and lay down the base color, which was the gray stone background. At this point, I had already decided to redesign the windows, and rather than doing the four diamonds with the large stained-glass "D", I went with the idea to have three circular stained-glass windows set above the doors. I decided to go with the Space card suit as a design to fix into the stained glass windows. 

I started with the bushes, since I figured those would be the most difficult.(I was wrong, by the way. The most difficult part of this scene ended up being the doors themselves. CURSE GEOMETRIC SHAPES AND RIGHT ANGLES!)

For the bushes I layered four or fie different shades of green using a sea sponge to get that grainy texture, which I would never have been able to duplicate using a regular paint brush. Assume, by this point, I am covered entirely in green paint, from head to toe. It was not an attractive look.

From there, I moved on to the stained glass. After the bushes - which ended up being far easier than I expected - I was sure the stained glass would prove to be the most difficult aspect of this scene, since I'd never attempted to paint anything resembling glass. (Again, I was wrong. Because CURSE GEOMETRIC SHAPES AND RIGHT ANGLES!) 

Anyhow, while the stained-glass circles were made up ENTIRELY of shapes, it was a breeze to paint due to their size. Small shapes are forgiving. What was not going to be forgiving were two enormous yellow rectangles which ANYONE with ANY sense of visual judgement would, within MOMENTS of viewing the scene, would, with GREAT EASE, be able to spot ANY AND ALL MISTAKES I WOULD MAKE. Large yellow rectangles are not kind. CURSE. ALL. RIGHT. ANGLE. SHAPES. 

(amen)

 As it turned out, it wasn't quite the nightmare I expected it to be - though it was quite a challenge. The swans were quite difficult to paint since they had to be exact mirrors of each other, and I'm not very good at replicated my own work. However, the scene turned out to be a huge success, and i was very happy with it. 

Oddly enough, the bush pots ended up being rather difficult as well, since they needed to be simultaneously cartoon-ish, and three-dimensional. 

Overall, I was very happy with the scenes, and I hope I get another chance to work set-design in the near future. And maybe that time will not require painting large, unforgiving, geometric shapes...I can always hope...*fingers crossed*

-Chimmy

ALICE IN WONDERLAND - SET DESIGN PART 2 (TAPING, LADDERS, COFFEE, AND LIPSTICK)

Part 2! (FINALLY) 

I finished the mock up for the second set of panels and I'm pretty proud of the way they turned out. This is meant to be the front doors to the Duchess' house. I wanted hints of Harts to be visible - since the Duchess is such a suck-up to the Queen - but also have it's own unique sense of absurdity. I have spiraling bushes on either side of "bronze" doors with relief-sculpture-style swans facing each other. It'll all be set against gray stone with windows as a border, and a large stained glass window set above the double doors with a large script "D" for Duchess. Unsure about the windows, but I'll probably worry about that later. Approval came in, and I'm going to sketch it out on the canvases and then get back to my Rose Garden.

Taping, painting, peeling, and stepping back.
Rinse. Wash. Repeat until you die.

BACK TO THE GARDEN: I've begun outlining what will be a wrought-iron gate with blue masking tape. I was hoping this would help me paint straight-as-die lines without too much effort, but, as it turned out, masking tape on textured canvas isn't the most secure of seals. The black paint ended up bleeding beneath the glue of the tape just a little. It DID curtail the painting process, but I was forced to go over the lines again freehand and shore up with blurry edges so they're very straight and dramatic. 

While I wait for the gate to dry, I'm sketching out concepts for the Queen's castle. I want it to be very weird and a little bit unnerving, but with very OBVIOUS heart details. I'm pretty happy with it so far. 

Meanwhile, I keep working on the garden itself. The greens are turning out to be absolutely GORGEOUS and I'm really happy with the way the roses turned out. I normally am REALLY BAD at painting flowers (especially with no model to copy), but I found a technique using a large, broad brush, and with just a few deft strokes I managed to make very dramatic roses. 

[I had to keep reminding myself to paint the roses BIG because, being that close to the canvas, my instinct was to paint them life-size. Unfortunately, from the audience's perspective, life-sized roses would have been ridiculously lame.]

The days were long, and the nights were longer. I pulled several all-nighters during the painting of the Rose Garden scene. As is evident from the images below, however, inspiration of multiple forms was necessary to maintain my creativity. (see "LIQUID CREATIVITY") I became the Queen of Hearts and made sure to holler cruelly at myself when I did not paint my roses properly. (Not really. I am relatively sane. I think.)

That is my coffee. Mine. It bears my seal. 

I'm excited to keep working, and I'll post the next part of this AMAZING painting process real soon!

-Chimmy