Wednesday, August 22, 2007

What I love about copper




I love the color. I love that it's metal. I love that I can do most anything I want with it.



I started out with a 3x4" piece of 24 gauge copper sheet that I cut with tin snips. I used my Dremel and then some fine grit sanding paper to smooth down the edges. I did not color the copper before I added the collage images. You might want to do it first if you want a more uniform and less "sloppy" look. I groove on sloppy.



For the background, I used a piece of foreign text, tissue paper, and colored lace paper. If you buy those sheets of lace paper, then you can color it with leftover acrylics. How many times you you pour out too much - even a drop can sometimes be too much. The text was first colored with transparent yellow oxide fluid acrylic - quin gold would work as well. The copper was colored with transparent oxide red, interference green oxide, some anthraquinone blue, and quin crimson. Just dab on color and wipe with clean finger in spots until you get the color layering you want.



Looking at the scan, I can tell you that the body is much more red than it appears. The stamp is from Alpha Stamps. Yes, it is stamp that I used with black StazOn. I used jelly markers and colored pencils. I used a Bazzill square for the head and upper torso. How's that for layering? The square on top of the stamped image is not as evident on the top but you can see it more on the bottom. Got the idea at the Quilt Show from the CPS booth. Gives it dimension without too much bulk.


Need to sleep now so I can work on my classroom tomorrow a.m. I think I am slowed down by my 3 day migraine. It has been so rainy and humid lately, it just makes my migraines worse.
Okay, I did not like the torso being a similar color to the background. So, I took a detail brush and painted over the color with a watermelon color. I think it looks better now. The top pict is the revised one.
BTW, the copper sheet is from Basic Copper. You can get sampler packs from them. The link is in the right column of my blog.
So much for sleep. Comments welcome.

2 comments:

Laura said...

Off topic here Belinda, But I would like to purchase one of those necklaces with all the great junk on it. (mean that in the most creative way) do you have any more to sell?

~v~Laura

Anonymous said...

I constantly visit your blog and love the copper art!
On your mention of playing Chainz 2 I just bought it and it's so addictive! Please tell me do the black chains ever move? Is there a secret to getting more stars on the grid? What is the purpose of the locks? ANY hints will be appreciated.
Sandi in Illinois