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Posts Tagged ‘Steampunk’

Steampunk deer ears

16 May

Adding the defining elements to the steampunk deer is where the fun begins! Since the deer will have a steampunk cyborg aesthetic, part of it will be “natural” and part will be mechanical. I’ll start with the natural ear. I looked at my reference material and sculpted the base shape with corrugated cardboard.

Cardboard ear cut out

Cardboard ear cut out

As you can see, I had to cut the cardboard so that when folded and taped, it has a curve and dimension to it, as you can see below.

Taped together

Taped together

I then covered the whole thing with tape to seal and waterproof it before applying papier-mâché.

Covered with tape to waterproof

Covered with tape to waterproof

And now, I close the bottom and fit it with a wooden knob, drilled to accept a screw. This will allow it to be attached to the side of the deer head sculpture.

Taped to shape

Taped to shape

Added wooden knob

Added wooden knob

And now…covered in mache…

Covered in mache

Covered in mache

And now, the attachment to the deer head sculpture…

Ear attached to deer head

Ear attached to deer head

Next, I’ll show how I pulled together random repurposed, recycled pieces and parts to assemble the cyborg ear for the steampunk deer head sculpture. It’s really fun to reuse those things that otherwise get thrown in the trash!

Thank you for your continued interest in my work and stay tuned for my next post!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Adding nostrils and mouth

29 Apr

As I add the papier-mâché to the outside of the steampunk deer head, I need to detail the nostrils and mouth on the steampunk deer head. As I said before, using masking tape to shape something in is fast and stable, then going over that with papier-mâché strengthens it. I use folded newspaper to get a shape, then tape it to the sculpture. I know newspapers are on the decline. I don’t know what I’m going to do for raw materials for amazing art when the newspapers go away. Recycling and repurposing them has been great for my art!

Forming mouth & nostrils

Forming mouth & nostrils

Now the taped mouth and nostrils.

Taped nostrils

Taped nostrils

Taped nostrils

Taped nostrils

Then we start to add the mâché over the top…

Mâché over the mouth and nostrils

Mâché over the mouth and nostrils

Mâché over nostrils

Mâché over nostrils

Next time, I’ll start building onto the deer head. Ears, steampunk accessories, etc.

 

 

 

 

More facial detail

18 Apr

Now that I’ve fleshed out the “real” antler, I need to add the rest of the flesh thickness to the deer head before I apply the papier-mâché.

Fleshing out the face

Fleshing out the face

The nose still hasn’t been defined yet, but that is a surface detail I’ll add later. I just wanted to get the thickness added and then I go over it with masking tape. I do this for a couple reasons. First, it secures everything in place instantly. Second, it sort of water/moisture proofs the paper below for when I add mâché over the top in the next step. I used to feel guilty about using masking tape. I guess I felt some sort of need to be a purist and masking tape seemed like cheating. Well, I got over that once I realized the benefits of using it and it also dawned on me that masking tape IS paper, only it already has adhesive on it…DUH!

As I added tape to cover the form, I continued to add detail to the antler…

Taping the antler

Taping the antler

As I add tape to the face and neck, it’s also time to put definition around the eye in the form of eyelids.

 

Masking tape eyelids

Masking tape eyelids

Eyelid close-up

Eyelid close-up

Now we begin to add the papier-mâché over the masking tape, including the antler.

Beginning the mâché process

Beginning the mâché process

As you can see, the left side of the steampunk deer head sculpture does not have an eye. This is because this will be the side that has the steampunk cyborg “appliance” for an eye. It will also have a cyborg ear and other hardware.

Another thing you will notice from the picture above is the white tub with the paint brush on top. This container has a 50-50 blend of water and white PVA glue. Again, I’m not a purist…or at least I try not to be. Art is about improvisation and innovation as much as anything else. I’ve always found the typical flour/water or wallpaper paste recipes for papier-mâché “glue” to be messy, lumpy, cumbersome and slow to dry. Instead, I use the glue mixture, brush it on, lay down a newspaper strip and brush on more glue to smooth things out. It’s fast, less messy and it dries a lot faster than flour paste. It costs a little more, but it’s way WORTH IT!!

Papier-mâché around the eye

Papier-mâché around the eye

Next time, I’ll show how I added the details of the nostrils and mouth. Hope you stay tuned for that…and while you’re at it, please share this blog with your friends, on Pinterest and like my Facebook page!

 

Facial detail on steampunk deer head

11 Apr

Starting to add facial details like building up the shape for eyes and nose is what I’ll talk about now. Before I added paper to “flesh out” the neck of the deer, I had put some recycled wood cross pieces in the head to widen the base. Part of the reason for this was to provide an anchor place for the eye(s). Now that I’m adding eyes, the base puts them in approximately the right place.

Cross piece for eye mounting

Cross piece for eye mounting

I had to cut a bit off the top to get the angle right, then I drilled a hole in the cross piece for a wooden dowel, glued that in, then did the same on a wooden half-sphere I had lying around. When I say “lying around”, I mean it. My wife kinda gets ticked off because I have so much “stuff” I collect for parts. The sphere piece was in a bag of random wooden shapes I bought quite awhile ago, on sale at a craft store for a couple bucks. You never know when stuff is going to come in handy! I base coated the sphere black and glued it in place.

Base coated "hemisphere" in place

Base coated “hemisphere” in place

Later, I can build the structure around the “eye” that will be the brow and cheek of the deer on this side. Right now, I want to add thickness and substance to the “real” antler. Once I do that, I’ll be able to finish smoothing out the “skin” on the rest of the head and neck.

Adding substance to the "real" antler

Adding substance to the “real” antler

More substance...

More substance…

And more substance...

And more substance…

Wrapping it up

Wrapping it up

Now, I just wrapped the antler with more masking tape to secure the paper and smooth it out a bit. I need to add shape and definition to the face and nose too, but I’ll save that for next time…

Keep your eyes peeled!

 

 

 

 

 

Adding “flesh” to the steampunk deer head

05 Apr

Now that provisions for the antlers are in place, I can start to “flesh out” the deer head. I began by filling the void areas in the wooden armature with wads of newspaper, then going over that with rolled newspaper, which I fl;attened out a bit and trimmed to fit. I taped those pieces in place with masking tape and kept building on that until the desired shape was reached, reffering often to several different photos I’d printed from the net.

Adding "flesh" to the deer head

Adding “flesh” to the deer head

More layering….

A more smoothed out look

A more smoothed out look

Once I had the basic shape I wanted, I decided to spray the “copper” antler so I didn’t have to be careful with where the paint went. I knew I’d be covering the newspaper later.

Copper sprayed antler

Copper sprayed antler

The “real” antler will wait until I start adding the actual mâché to the deer head. But for next time, I’ll add detail to the face and that will include providing a base for the eyes, both “real” and cyborg…

Don’t miss it!

 

 

 

Steampunk deer antlers

01 Apr

Now I’ll show how I constructed the antlers for the steampunk deer head. I originally wanted to make one antler look natural, while the other look like a steampunk cyborg replacement of copper pipe. The problem is, the price of copper is so high right now, that it would have cost $50 just in that small amount for the antler. I decided that I could do a good job of making PVC look like copper with only a fraction of the cost. With some research, I arrived at a design for my antlers and got to work.

The natural side would be made of papier-mâché, but would need an armature. Looking around my junk pile, I found an old rusty drill bit extender that I bent into the right shape and glued it into a drilled out hole in the deer head armature.

Bent drill bit extender as armature

Bent drill bit extender as armature

From here, I added another piece of metal rod I found, then bent into shape, and used the tightening nut on the drill bit extender to affix it.

More length added and bent into shape

More length added and bent into shape

Then, I found an old leaf rake head and removed a couple metal tines and bent them around the rods and Gorilla glued them in place as the armature for spikehorns on the antler. Great way to upcycle and repurpose some old junk!

Rake tines as spikehorns

Rake tines as spikehorns

For the pipe side, I began by drilling a hole in the wooden armature that was large enough to accomodate a threaded PVC coupler and glued and screwed in in place.

PVC coupler as anchor for pipe antler

Now the rest of the antler can be cut, shaped and glued into place.

The whole rack, ready for detailing

The whole rack, ready for detailing

Next time, I’ll show how I began adding the thickness of the flesh to the deer head and how I made provisions for the eyes. Stay tuned!

 

 

Steampunk Whitetail Deer Mount

22 Mar

If you’ve had any opportunity to attend a steampunk convention or gathering, you’ve undoubtedly seen at least a few ‘punks in their turn-of-the-century safari outfit, complete with modded weapon and pith helmet. Well, I live in Michigan, so the hunters here wear hunter orange and shoot slightly less exotic prey than lions and elephants. Here, they hunt wild turkeys, ducks, various other critters and… whitetail deer.

Some folks don’t like hunting, others don’t mind the idea but don’t have the time or experience. Whatever your position on wildlife conservation or protein food source, the image of a mounted animal head is iconic. But what if you like the look, but can’t get a mount or don’t hunt? And further, what if you’re a steampunk fan and the idea of applying that aesthetic to wildlife appeals to you?

Well, I have your answer. Steampunk Whitetail Deer!

I got the idea while talking to a lady who owns a store that sells products made in Michigan. I had showed her some things that I had done, but she thought I should do something that would appeal to someone from here. A deer came to mind as a piece of amazing paper mache art, then the idea of creating a steampunk cyborg deer popped into my head, and I was off and running…

I started by researching size and shape, since I had not actual mount to look at and measure. Based on my findings, I did a full sized sketch.

Original sketch to scale

Original sketch to scale

I knew I’d have to do a mount plaque and I’d also need a piece of sheeting for the “base” of the animal itself that would be a cross section shape of its neck. I also needed to create a way to temporarily mount that base to a stand to work from. Below is the shape and mechanism I came up with.

Base design

Base design

From here, I started cutting pieces of scrap pallet wood to rough out the shape of the neck and head of the deer. I love to use repurposed and recycled materials for my work as you know! I made sure to add a little action to the pose by putting a curve in the neck.

The assembly of the armature

The assembly of the armature

Next time, I’ll start to add dimension to the armature and figure out the antlers. Don’t go away!

 

 

 

Finishing the steampunk airship diarama

01 Mar

Putting together the box that houses the airship for the dirama was easy, because I didn’t put it together! True to form, I repurposed an old dresser drawer and painted it. If you do a project like this for yourself, take care to choose a drawer that is a good quality one with strong corners and made of solid wood instead of particle board or laminate.

I apologize that for this step, I don’t have a lot of photos, but I’ll describe the process. I painted the outside of the drawer with black latex paint (just to avoid the fumes of enamel), then I made a wash using a 50/50 blend of white glue and water tinted with some metallic copper acrylic paint. I brushed that wash onto the black and then used a rubber woodgrain rocker to create an exaggerated metallic woodgrain.

Detail of drawer

Detail of drawer

Different view

Different view

Inside, I lined the drawer with scrap light blue paper and added cut paper clouds in white and gray scrap paper, stilted to look dimensional.

Paper clouds in 3D

Paper clouds in 3D

I also made a “pole” that would stick out from the middle of the background so the airship attaches there and appears to “float”. Then I needed to make the ground under the airship, so I cut pieces of scrap paper again in colors that look like farmland from a height.

"Farmland" cut from scrap paper

“Farmland” cut from scrap paper

The scrap was then spraymounted to a piece of dark green matte board as a backer and also to provide enough strength to be mounted on an angle. This piece was then put into the diarama and looks as it should to simulate an aerial view.

Mounted "farmland"

Mounted “farmland”

With the pieces all in place, we have a nice steampunk airship diarama! This could have a hinged plexiglass cover attached to protect the piece, but still allow the airship to be removed for closer inspection (I designed it to come out of the display).

Finished piece

Finished piece

This piece is for sale here on the site in the Showcase Gallery. You know you want it!

Next, I’ll show a new project that will have all you steampunk hunters drooling…stay tuned!

 

 

 

 

The gondola

24 Feb

I’ve made quite a few gondolas that were the typical boat style, but I wanted to do something different for this steampunk diarama. I thought that making something that looked like a tube or bubble would be cool, so I started rummaging through my boxes of pieces and parts to find an object that would be suitable to repurpose. What I came up with was two plastic scoops that came out of a powdered drink mix or something, (I collect anything that’s interesting!). Shown here, I’ve already painted the handles and attached a plastic piece with a spiral as a “bowsprit”.

Plastic scoops as gondola

Plastic scoops as gondola

Here’s a close up of the bowsprit and the front of the gondola.

Bowsprit closeup

Bowsprit closeup

I glued the two scoops to a plastic disc for some visual interest, then added a flat plastic piece in between the handles, (not pictured), then I created a rudder fin to go on the stern of the gondola. I used the same technique as I did for the stabilizer fins.

Rudder fin

Rudder fin

The final gondola was then given an antiquing of patina color where appropriate (brass and copper areas), and attached to the airship body. This attachment required a careful snipping of the paper airship skin so the handles of the scoops could be inserted and glued.

Finished gondola

Finished gondola

Here’s a closeup of the attachment.

Closeup of gondola

Closeup of gondola

Next post, I’ll show how I prepared the “box” part of the diarama. That is certainly an example of recycle, reuse and repurpose! Thank you for your continued interest in my work…

How would you have built the gondola?

 

 

 

 

Adding the stabilizer fins

07 Feb

In building the stabilizer fins for the steampunk diarama airship, I first had to choose a shape. On other ships, I’ve made them rounded, but I like the feeling of a scalloped fin. I’ve also made different scalloped fins before, with some being a solid fin with ribs and others having a support structure, to which was attached actual cloth sailcloth. For this small zeppelin, I decided on the former for its ease at this relatively small scale. This decided shape I then cut out of an index card stock I had lying around. To give them age and interest, I sponged them with a light brown watercolor (not pictured, sorry!)

Index stock fins cut out

Index stock fins cut out

I then had to make the ribs, and to make it simple, yet appealing, I decided to cut these out of a similar stock, but in this case, since they would be painted anyway, I decided to use cereal box cardboard and then paint them to contrast and have interest. Remember, I throw nothing away that may have a raw materials use when reused, repurposed or recycled!

Fin ribs cut from cereal box cardboard

Fin ribs cut from cereal box cardboard

I painted them by spraying a basic green enamel. I did this because a water-based paint would have been repelled by the coating on the cereal box. I then antiqued a patina on with a lighter water-based green acrylic, then applied to the fins.

Finished fins

Finished fins

After finishing the fins, I glued them at top and lower angled positions to the airship body with standard white glue and let them dry. To add another element of interest, I used dimensional paint to “dot” copper rivets on the fin ribs. I forgot to mention that I had done this to the propeller scaffolding as well. (How many of you noticed that?) So here’s the finished attachment…

Attached fins

Attached fins

Next time, I’ll show the process of building the gondola. It’ll be fun too, because it isn’t your run-of-the-mill boat shape!

Stay tuned…in fact, tell all your ‘punk friends to subscribe!

 

The airship propeller

31 Jan

Last time I finished putting the propeller support scaffolding on the steampunk airship that is to be part of my diarama. Now I’ll start the propeller itself.

I can’t emphasize enough that you don’t need to buy much in order to create amazing art. Just look around you…I save plastic jar lids, pen barrels, scrap paper and fiberboard, plastic closures, fixtures, hangars, fasteners…everything. I’m a hoarder only in the sense that what I save looks like junk, but it all has artistic value when you realize it can be repurposed, reused, recycled and otherwise transformed into cool things of beauty!

To start the propeller, I found a piece of medical equipment my brother gave me. It’s an inline tube filter (new of course) that’s used in a suction device for surgery, but it looks very “hub-like”. I simple glued flat toothpicks at regular intervals around the perimeter of the “hub” and let them dry.

Propeller hub

Propeller hub

Flip side

Flip side

Once dry, I spray painted the piece an antiqued copper color and then gave it a patina of green “rust”. For the propeller blades, I cut triangles of a white scrap printing paper I had, gently curled one point for pitch and glued the edge to the toothpicks. I used some plastic pieces to stilt the blades while the glue dried.

Blades added

Blades added

Here’s the finished propeller…

Finished propeller

Finished propeller

And now we slide the propeller onto the end of the airship. I used a skinny plastic straw as the shaft and I split it and frayed the end so that by holding it together, I was able to slide the propeller onto it, and once the frayed end was inside the hub, it spread out enough to lightly hold the propeller on without glue. This way, I can manually spin it!

Propeller in place and spinnable!

Propeller in place and spinnable!

Next post, I’ll build the stabilizer fins, so stay tuned… :)

 

 

 

 

Airship nose and propeller shaft

24 Jan

I need to put a nose and tail cone on the diarama airship, so I used the same technique I use for my airship kits, which is to sart with a cut circle of card stock (I use old file folders). I then punch a hole in the center with a standard paper punch and with scissors, I cut about a quarter of the circle away. This then gets formed into a funnel shape, then glued with white glue. To make the nose spire, I used a painted wooden golf tee and pushed that through the nose cone, then attached it. The tail cone was made in the same way, but required a different structure beyond that because the tail also holds the scaffolding for the propeller.

Nose and tail cones in place

Nose and tail cones in place

Next, I constructed the scaffolding for the propeller by cutting strips of cereal box cardboard, then gluing them into the appropriate shape. (Can you tell that I never throw away anything that might have an artistic use?!). When dry, they were sprayed with copper paint and antiqued with green acrylic paint, (seen in next photo).

Propeller scaffolding

Propeller scaffolding

A piece of repurposed plastic tube that used to be the guts of a click-type ball point pen serves as the propeller shaft when painted and attached to the tail cone of the airship. The scaffolding is then attached to the shaft and the sides of the airship body. White glue works fine for most pieces.

Scaffolding attached to the airship

Scaffolding attached to the airship

Next time, I’ll show how to build a cool propeller for the zeppelin out of simple repurposed objects. Reusing and recycling can be easy and fun. Try some of these techniques to start a project with your kids. It’s a great way to find common ground with a teenager!

 

 

 

Steampunk Airship Diarama

10 Jan

I have done many airships and those of you familiar with my workmay have seen them at World Steam Expo, which is sadly, no more  :-( .  This project is one that I wanted to approach a little differently. I still wanted to do an airship, but one that was the same style as those in my Airship Kits, but a little larger, more detailed and in a whimsical format that could have a place on a tabletop or a wall. What better way to accomplish that than in a diarama. You remember these from school, but you probably built yours in a cardboard box or an old shoebox. This airship diarama is built in an old dresser drawer that I put a base on and painted just for the occasion!

I started by scaling up my Airship Kit pattern and creating the cone ends of the airship body.

Airship body end pieces

These ends were then put together to form the body or envelope of the airship.

Assembled airship body

With the body assembled, the trim and detailing can begin. I began by using a watercolor wash to add some depth and interest to the surface of the airship body, then trailing on some veining that makes the surface look a little marbly, but fun.

To cover the cone joints, I used strips of cloth tape that I had painted with metallic copper acrylic paint, then applied them carefully and burnished them down.

Then, over the center seam, I used a strip of the same index stock I used to construct the original cones…a great way to reuse, re-purpose and recycle, since this is really old manilla file folder! This strip was then also painted with metallic copper acrylic paint and glued around the center if the body. “Rivets” were added using paint dots and the copper was given a patina with green paint. It’s cool what amazing art you can come up with if you just give it a little thought!

Details added

Next post, I’ll add more details and start building some other structures for the zeppelin.

What projects have you started for the New Year?

 

 

Airship Anastasia on Recyclart.org!

20 Jun

Airship Anastasia

Once again, my work has made it on Recyclart.org and I’m as excited as I can be! This site features art that uses upcycled/recycled and repurposed materials as the medium for some really cool things.

Click here

I’d love to hear your comments on the site and my work!

 

At the expo!

26 May

The crowd is simply splendid at the World Steam Expo 2012. If you’re in the vicinity of Dearborn, Michigan, drop by and enjoy the sights, sounds and flavors of the Victoria future!

More updates to come!

20120526-145020.jpg

 

World Steam Expo 2012!

21 May

I haven’t posted in awhile because I’ve been diligently working on projects in preparation for World Steam Expo 2012 in Dearborn, MI this coming weekend. Look for the Artsmith Craftworks booth and look for the DIY Airship panels where you can build your own little airship from a kit that I have available.

I hope to see you all  there!

 
 

Recyclart!

14 Apr

One of my favorite sites is www.Recyclart.org because the postings there are juried posts by everyday people reusing things. The projects there range from simply painting one thing to look like another, to complete deconstructions using parts as raw materials to create something new. All materials are used; paper, plastic, metal, wood, glass, etc; and all matter of objects from old appliances to used consumables. There are some REALLY cool things that can be made from things that would have been trashed otherwise, which is why this site is so near and dear to my heart.

Well, about a month ago, I submitted two things to be posted…just as a trial run and I received an email stating that they items were approved and would be posted, so here they are!

http://www.recyclart.org/?s=steampunk+video+chair

http://www.recyclart.org/?s=steampunk+sunglasses

I encourage you to take some time and meander around the site. I’m sure you’ll find it both interesting and inspiring!

 

Airship Anastasia!

17 Nov

Usually I build a larger airship. At least larger in the sculpture sense…something in the neighborhood of 5 feet long, or so. In a room that is larger or when placed in a dedicated display area, they’re fantastic and formidable. In a small area though, they can be a bit tight.

This project, therefore, is much smaller. At about two and a half feet long, the Anastasia is about half the size of the Diabolus and the OTBP airship at Off the Beaten Path in Farmington, Michigan. Those of you who have seen one or both of those airships will be able to visualize the size better. At this size, Anastasia would be at home in even a very small house, apartment or office, (are you picturing a steampunk themed office? Very cool indeed!).

The Airship Anastasia

Anastasia from the starboard

The style is once again, more Victorian whimsey than copper and brass dreadnaught, but the Anastasia is not without her defenses. Small and nimble, the Anastasia would turn more quickly than most larger ships, allowing the bow-mounted plasma generator to take care of frontal and flanking assaults, while a crew member tail gunner moves to defend against attacks from the stern with an aether disruptor cannon.

Anastasia gondola close-up

Propulsion close-up

Next up is another larger airship; similar in style, but a bit heavier in the speed department and bit more armed to match. Watch for it!

I’d also love for you to subscribe to the blog if you haven’t already, and while you’re at it, please wander over to my Facebook Page here and give it a “like”. Thanks!

 

Faux safari trophy

28 Sep

I’ve had an idea for a long time that I wanted to do a “faux animal trophy”. I’m not necessarily a safari enthusiast, but there’s something odd and comical about mounting an animal’s head on a piece of wood, so I thought, why not make one that doesn’t harm any animals and looks even funnier than the real thing?

In keeping with my mantra of reusing things, I built an armature out of scrap wood and junk screws. The armature has a base that is the shape of the “cross section” of the animal’s neck. My plan is to build out the piece using paper and cloth mâché and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it realistic or funny, but the result should be a lot of fun.

Armature for the the giraffe

I’m also not sure if I’m going to steampunk it or not…we’ll see! Clearly, you can see that my “safari animal” is a giraffe and it’s about 5 feet long! Yup, that’s going to stick out into the room a bit! Fortunately, it’s not going to be too much of a head banger because it heads up towards the ceiling as it goes out into the room, but what an impression it’s going to make! I’ve turned to picture below so you can see what I mean about it heading up as it goes towards the ceiling.

Giraffe; "hanging view"

Let me know what you think. Would you make it serious or funny?

 

From scrap to steampunk sunglasses

14 Sep

Even though my mainline is steampunk zeppelin airships, one of my latest projects has been to fashion a pair of steampunk sunglasses. Now I know that goggles are a steampunk icon, but I’m a bit of a sunglasses collector, having accumulated about 125 pair over the years. I have new wave and punk rock styles, Buddy Hollys, Venetian blind shades, owls, John Lennons, grannies, hippies and all sorts of themed varieties. What I didn’t have were any that were of a steampunk nature, so I put on my thinking cap and designed a pair. Of course, I had to stay with my mantra of “recycle, re-use and re-purpose”, so I built my sunglasses using materials that would have been junk otherwise. With a little painted patina and antiquing, some suede scraps and a lot of plastic pieces and parts, I was able to fashion a pair of wearable, however somewhat impractical, wild and crazy steampunk fashion sunglasses.

Steampunk sunglasses

Lens detail

Right temple detail

Left temple detail

Lens detail

Most of the pieces are re-purposed plastic pen barrels, odds and ends of metal, brass screws, scraps of suede and toy parts. The lenses are actually welding goggle lenses that have been inserted into vitamin bottle lids.

I’d love to hear your comments! How would you have made these?