taleya | Weeping Angel Pics in Progress

Welp, you all saw the naked paper mache head on the angel.... Been a bit busy since then!

WARNING: Image heavy dialup killer behind the cuts

Ok, even if you don't have a pantograph, the thing to remember is: GRAPHS ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND.

As is The Age 'cos it has freaking huge pages. As you can see, I took a smaller image, crossed it over with a 1cm graph, then expanded the design accordingly.

Once I was happy with the design, I cut it out

Once cut out, it's time to transfer it to the board!

I used foamcore board - 800x400 sheets. Cost me $14 a sheet at Riot, but I have plenty left over for other ideas and detailing. This was cut out with an artists scalpel by the age-old method of plonking the paper down and cutting around it :P This stuff is nice and thick (5mm) and the foam interior means it can flex without breaking, but won't warp in the slightest.

Once the main wings were cut, I then moved on to doing the detailing along the backs of the wings - I took the paper template and modified it to the back arches. By creating this as separate foam, it adds a nice three-dimensionality to the wings. Unfortunately I didn't cut the foam enough for a single part each, but the two halves will fit together nicely.

Once we're all cut, some feather details were sketched in, and then etched into the foam with..a. broken metal nail file :D It works perfectly for getting the grooves engraved without slicing the board to shreds. The pics didn't come out too well, but you get the idea (Once painted, I'll run a thick grease pencil through them to bring out the detail) The base of the feathers are quite literally traced around various tape rolls (electrical, the inside of a masking tape roll, and in one case, a small salt shaker) and then curved by hand to a feather-ish look.

The Front....

And the back details...

The next thing to do is to put a honking great arch on them. The first stage was the template - this was done by creating a curve that stood out ~ 7cm from the edge of the existing newspaper template, and then cutting it out of corrugated cardboard. This was glued on with spray-on adhesive.

You can see here where I fucked up some of the lower feathers on this wing - it's no matter, I've rubbed white glue into the cracks to give a smooth surface, and they'll disappear once painted.

Once the cardboard was dried and adhered fast, I taped rolled up newspaper around the edge to produce the "arch" of the wing

And then papier-mache'd it

Isn't that a pretty arch?

At the moment, the glue is drying on the first one adhering the back portion to the wing. More pics to come when completed.

The Angel

Ok, I didn't take pics of the start, but the neck is an industrial toilet paper roll from my old workplace. (thank you Francis!) I blew up a balloon to the same dimensions as my own head (I'm using my own body as a template for the angel) and then masking taped it into the roll at the correct angle. I applied three layers of papier-mache, then got stuck into the mask - it's a plain white plastic mask you can generally get for a couple of dollars at any craft store - to fill the eyes, I used the curved plastic of a coke bottle, which was then taped in place with gaffa tape from behind. The mask was then gaffa taped onto the mache'd balloon - ALWAYS MACHE BEFORE TAPING. Otherwise popping noises make you shit your pants.

To give the head more stability, I also stuffed the void behind the mask full of foam packing peanuts and a LOT of PVA glue (mostly stuffed up its nostrils) Once that was dry, a few more layers of mache were added to smooth the transition.

From this point, it was time to get hairy. For the hair, I'm using Brown felt wool - got it off ebay cheaper than the price listed, was only 99c /metre :D I chose this because it's thick, matty and soaks up glue like crazy.

First thing to do - and I Cannot stress this enough - KNOW WHAT YOU WANT. I started sketching rough hair lines, then began winding the hair along a centre part. From one side, around the curve of the skull, then up to meet the other side. Then cut, and do it again. And again. And again.

It's ok to leave some gaps - remember, this is supposed to be a sculpted stone look. And you will use a LOT of glue. In my case I mixed about three parts 'teachers's choice' white school glue to one part hobby PVA. They're different consistencies and worked well together. It's ok if it you splash over onto the felt and it gets claggy and hard - this is supposed to be stone, remember?

And yes, I am aware of the irony of watching Angel while making one :P

To complete the look, I curved up the back of the hair. Yes, it looks like a hat at this point, but the central spiral will be covered by the "knot" of hair when it's applied, so I'm not overly fussed.