Layer by layer

“First of Spring” is coming to life-

After letting the paper clay dry and cure for a few days I applied a dark green under layer to the spikes and a middle gray to the “skin”. This sealed up the sculpture and would give a dark ground for the brighter top layers to really pop off of.After the under layers dried I top coated the skin with a semi-opaque light gray.Next I scumbled a bright, cool green over the spikes. And on top of that I layered on a warmer kelly green.

Next I coated the green portions with a transparent glaze of nickle-azo gold (which is a rich, transparent yellow).

Glazing a bright kelly green with a transparent yellow gives you a really intense spring green. And the glossy finish of the glaze really helps the spikes stand out even more. A few finishing touches and this piece will- finally- be done.