A Beginning Craft's Journey: Making a Coat of Arms Part II
This week I killed a Totem Poppet and lost a wrestling match with a rubber
stamp…
My attempt to make a coat of arms using the Totem Poppets continues! If you have
not seen the first post you can check it out
here. Wow…so many take-aways...
First off- Take away #1:
Practice using rubber stamps before using them. Let me express my undying
respect for those who work with rubber stamps. Never again will I assume that
stamps are an idiot-proof way of making pictures. No- I now recognize that there
is an actual skill going into it. One that is so far advanced that I do not even
know how rubber stamp artists make strait lines much less create portrait/artist
quality artwork with them. I humbly say that I have the stamping skills of a
kindergartener. No. Really. [caption id="attachment_5663" align="alignnone"
width="480"]
Background stamp texture for the crest.[/caption]
My work on the coat of arms continued.
The
Totem Peacock, now put aside, waited patiently whilst I fussed with more poppets- the
Totem Dragon, a
Totem Wolf, another dragon (I do love the dragons…) ** note** keep the poppet packaging
in front of you when assembling. it’s a wonderful reference while putting it
together!
Take away #2:
Mini Brads!!! I love Mini Brads!!! Copper brads, brass brads, those little unknown
metally-black brads- oh they’re so wonderful to use when assembling the totem
poppets! Don’t get me wrong: I like the way the
1/16" brass eyelets
look when you use them to assemble the poppets, but I’m a commit-a-phobe…I can’t
always decide how I want them to look. Hmmmm….Action pose? Regal? Symbolic? And
while I’m deciding, I admit, I’ve caught myself playing with them- which is one
of the reason I love doing these poppets with kids. The eyelets have a tendency
to limit mobility if you hit them too hard and smash them. When using the brads
one can make them losses or tighter on the joints for more or less movability.
Take away #3:
You don’t have to take out the pieces before painting them. My first poppet
creations took a good deal of patience as I would paint each- sometimes tiny-
piece individually, sometimes smearing them and making a mess in my attempts to
hold them still. And I did it- don’t get me wrong, These are wonderfully
forgiving and looked great when I put in the time.
Painting the Totem Poppet Dragon in the backing. I found, though, that I didn’t
need to do that. The chipboard pieces are really sturdy and are fantastic for
layering mediums. On the dragon on the right I used gesso first before applying
the metallic acrylic paint so it would go on brighter, but the dragon on the
left I simply used the plain metallic paint in two layers and it turned out just
as bright. Leaving them in their base frame allowed for an even layering and
smooth drying without the previous mess. Like a doofus, I decided to
brighten one of the dragons a bit and painted it after it was put together…Bad
idea. At least before I was willing to commit because now I had a frozen dragon
that I couldn’t move anymore- not even when I took an exacto-knife to it. (don’t
ask…) [caption id="attachment_5666" align="alignnone" width="270"]
The three Totem Poppets on the background with the crest.[/caption] My coat of
arms is really coming out great though. I have three of the poppets done and
have created a wonderful backdrop for them using a celtic-patterned stamp and
gold ink, producing an effect not unlike one you see in religious iconography.
If my own stamping skills were better, it would be magnificent!
Next time: Adding texture and detail to the Coat…and we’ll see
if I can turn a dragon into a phoenix!
