Since the begining of this projects, the Mockups were created in Photoshop way ahead of the actual Paintings, and that gave me time to let them mature, modify them, add or substract elements, incorporate new ideas, and refine them in various ways. I still have one of my original designs in reserve, working title Khabahla:
But I suddenly became intrieged with the idea of using an old fashion Chalk Board as a background, with still visible erased figures and equations melting in the background, a clear circular Astrological Chart drawn in white chalk, and a trompe l'oeil arrangement of Pulleys with a Red String, and a buzzer with button and wires. I also liked the idea of a small drawer built within the thickness of the panel, containing some yet undefine "Talisman".
I chose the working title "Magic Chalk Board", and started to build it with a wood frame, adding the circular Esoteric Chart and an optical sketch, the buzzer, the pulleys. I can't explain how the green frogs came about, but they have been favorites of mine, and made appearances numerous times in my light shows. They bring whimsical touch, a srong color, and a very realistic trompe l'oeil effect.
This is where I am at this stage, and I am pretty happy with the design. It will no doubt evolve, but I feel strongly enough about it to get started with a 32" x 48" x 4" thick panel I already have.
I cut out the drawer front with a thin saw, built a box in the back to receive it, and built a shallow drawer out of Aromatic Cedar:
The next question at hand is: what is the best way to achieve the look of a real chalkboard? There are 2 choices: use a technique similar to the one I used on the lower dark gray part of "Sepultado"(pigments and gum arabic in water, dry pigments, pastels), or actually make the panel into a chalkboard using chalkboard paint and use chalks and eraser to age and texture it, leaving remnants of drawings and writings.
I tested the chalkboard paint idea on a small panel, covered it in wax(which made it darker, lowered the contrast, and obscured a lot of the subtle textures and colors I had worked in), scraped it smooth, and polished it. It looks pretty good:
And the good thing about the chalkboard paint is that it is a very tough stable surface to glue the images to BEFORE laying the wax down. I will need to be bolder with contrast and color to compensate for the dulling and darkening caused by the wax.
I am ready to paint the final panel with the chalkboard paint, as well as a second test panel to figure out the best glue to use to attach the images.
I chose the working title "Magic Chalk Board", and started to build it with a wood frame, adding the circular Esoteric Chart and an optical sketch, the buzzer, the pulleys. I can't explain how the green frogs came about, but they have been favorites of mine, and made appearances numerous times in my light shows. They bring whimsical touch, a srong color, and a very realistic trompe l'oeil effect.
This is where I am at this stage, and I am pretty happy with the design. It will no doubt evolve, but I feel strongly enough about it to get started with a 32" x 48" x 4" thick panel I already have.
I cut out the drawer front with a thin saw, built a box in the back to receive it, and built a shallow drawer out of Aromatic Cedar:
The next question at hand is: what is the best way to achieve the look of a real chalkboard? There are 2 choices: use a technique similar to the one I used on the lower dark gray part of "Sepultado"(pigments and gum arabic in water, dry pigments, pastels), or actually make the panel into a chalkboard using chalkboard paint and use chalks and eraser to age and texture it, leaving remnants of drawings and writings.
I tested the chalkboard paint idea on a small panel, covered it in wax(which made it darker, lowered the contrast, and obscured a lot of the subtle textures and colors I had worked in), scraped it smooth, and polished it. It looks pretty good:
And the good thing about the chalkboard paint is that it is a very tough stable surface to glue the images to BEFORE laying the wax down. I will need to be bolder with contrast and color to compensate for the dulling and darkening caused by the wax.
I am ready to paint the final panel with the chalkboard paint, as well as a second test panel to figure out the best glue to use to attach the images.
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