Post 30: Designing and Transfering the Wheel Chart Design

It took a while to find a font I really liked, and to do the arwork for the Chart in Photoshop. I considered 3 fonts that had a proper "old look", and ended up picking the first one, called "Charlemagne":

   I then printed the chart full size on 6 sheets of legal size paper, taped them together, cut around the circle of numbers, and started slicing 2 rows at a time and transfering then to the chalkboard, using a light table to outline the letters on the back side with a General's Charcoal White Pencil, and rubbing them with the tip of an aluminum knitting needle to transfer them.

   In  order to figure out the best pencil to use for the Red Letters, I tested a few on the tape at the edge of the board, an covered them with wax. It clearly showed that using the Red Pastel pencil turned very dark, and that the best way to achieve a bright red was to use a layer of White Charcoal, a layer of Red Pastel, and finally a layer of Prismacolor Carmine Red :

Post 29: Moving along with "Magic Chalkboard"

    I printed all the images on scale and cut them out. After sanding the chalkboard finish smooth with 220 sandpaper, I rubbed a white pastel stick on, drew some lines and erased most of it with a chalkboard eraser and a paper towel.
  The next step was to draw the circular chart, divide it in 7 segments, then each of those in seven more to get the 49 slices. I transfered the Eye and circles drawing, added the letters, Wrote the "We the People" from the Declaration of Independance above the drawer. I laid on the panel all the images to get an idea of the look, and am pleased with the "Trompe l'Oeil" effect, even whithout the shadows drawn in :

       When I picked the circular chart, I actually had no idea what it was about, it just looked interesting to me and fit the composition.

    I set out to research what it meant, and discovered all the stange names starting with a B were connected to "Enochian Angels", and a "language" seamingly made up by John Dee, a 16th Century English "pseudo scholar" with the help of a Medium. The idea was picked up in 2002 by a weird web site peddling all kinds of paraphernalia, incenses and talismans very loosely connected to the original concept. In other words, this chart was plain bullshit!

     The painting so far had no subject, and was still, as often happens with my ideas, just a graphic and interesting composition. I had been concerned lately with the challenges to the First Amendment coming from our #notmyPOTUS, and decided to write it around the circles of the chart. It happened to more or less fit the chart, so I fiddled with the chart and the number of letters and spaces to make it fit within the 49 segments:

   I then set out to make it look good, tried various fonts and symbols, and ended up with this:

Post 28: Test Panel looks Good!

 Well, I sanded the primed panels smooth with 180 grit sandpaper, and put on 2 coats of Chalkboard Paint, letting them dry overnight, and sanding them smooth. In this particular case, I want to avoid the fine grainy foam roller texture I usually like, and have a smoother surface similar to a real chalkboard.

    I first rubbed orange, green, black, and white Rembrandt soft pastels, as well as harder white chalks on the Test Panel and erased with a pad, wrote things and drew lines and circles and erased again, to create the illusion of a well used chalkboard. I then used a General's White Charcoal pencil and Conté white pencil to draw circles, lines, letters, triangles, etc... These do not erase much, but I erased some areas. I wiped the panel lightly with paper towels to remove loose powder, and glued some images I had laying around using thick Acid Free Yes Paste. I used a brayer with fairly light pressure to press them down without squeezing out the glue, and after a while pressed the edges down with a small wooden convex wallpaper seam roller.
   The next day, I rolled the edges some more with a lot of pressure, and rubbed them with a burnisher to press them down. I worked on the background some more with pastels, chalk and pencils to add more visual texture. I then brushed 2 coats of clear wax medium over the whole panel, and fused it.
   The next day, I polished it, and it looked good, but the wax was much thicker in some areas than others, and I decided to scrape the excess off as I usually do. I am well pleased with the result, and ready to use the same procedure for the larger Chalkboard: