From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Mon, 11 May 2009 02:08:18 -0400
Subject: [Puptcrit] TECH: Line work with seringe and pasta


Tonight I painted a mask with raised line details.

SERINGE:
I didn't have a cake decorator, and didn't want to waste small plastic bags 
to imitate the effect, so I tried with a seringe I already had. It worked 
well, and my line is very even. More efficient than any relief paint tube I 
ever tried.

The seringe is a regular 10cc, made of plastic, with a rubber head on the 
shaft.
I got it years ago in a drugstore, but I had to ask the pharmacist about it, 
seringes were not sold on the shelves. I don't remember if it came with a 
needle or not. I just wanted it, back then, to squeeze glue into tiny areas.

I use the seringe without the needle. I just squeezed a small amount of 
paint from a tube of acrylic paint straight into the seringe, and pushed the 
shaft over it.
An even pressure must be applied to the seringe, and the seringe must be 
moved at a regular speed, for regularity of line. The seringe tip should be 
wiped clean every time a new line is started, to avoid a lumpy and imprecise 
beginning.

I found that sometimes the line is floating a bit too loosely over the 
surface, leaving gaps between.
In this case, I lifted the mask from the base and tapped it back on again, 
repeatedly to force the paint line's base to lie flat. Blowing on the line 
also helps, but you introduce an element of randomness, because it's ahrd to 
control the angle our lips can blow. Perhaps blowing with a clean airbrush 
would help.

The work must be left to dry fully, somewhere safe, before manipulating.
Some paints will be more brittle than others when dry. Either choose a more 
flexible paint, or add more flexibility by adding acrylic medium. I painted 
with Stevenson paint tonight, and the result was only brittle when a loop 
was raised, not touching the surface everywhere.
Next time I'll add a liquid acrylic medium to any color I make.

The seringe should be cleaned immediately after use, and both parts left to 
dry separately.
I wonder if putting two colors in the serginge without mixing at all would 
produce a multi-color swil effect... I'll try to remember for next time.

SUMMER FUN:
By cleaning the seringe, I found out it is also a mighty powerful water 
blaster (again, without the needle).  Even if it is a bit limited in 
quantity for each shot, the recipient will be instantly soaked in a selected 
area.  If you think of giving this to your kids to play, maybe decorating it 
with colorful duct tape would prevent some people from reacting, seeing kids 
play with a symbol associated with drug abuse. Strangely, these same people 
would likely let their kids play with realistic replicas of real guns and 
knives.


PASTA:
 Another way to make raised line details is with pasta that's been cooked 
just enough to be flexible.
It is so easy to control! The two problems with it are :
. shrinks when drying, and can lift from a curved surface, leaving gaps 
between.
. brittleness when dry, so not appropriate on flexible materials.

To solve these problems, I add a layer of paper mache strips to make a 
protective skin.
the paper and glue chosen should both be flexible and thin.  Rice paper or 
paper towels work well for this, without killing the line's details. This 
should be done prior to painting the object. The line will appear better 
when the whole object is painted and highlights of a contrasting color are 
rubbed onto the summit of the line, and an antiquing method is applied.


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