Work In Progress- Fertile Form

Layer by layer this peculiar piece is coming to life-

After the initial sculpting of this soon to be masterwork of paper mache was complete I let it cure for about a month.

Next I applied a thick layer of Golden Polymer (acrylic) Gloss Medium to seal up the paper mache and give something for the overlying layers of paint to stick to (sometimes acrylic does not adhere well to dried PVA glue).

After that I applied a base coat of Chromium Oxide Green to the underside of the sculpture (it’s a dark earthy green and would provide a good contrast to the bright upper sides of this piece). On the front of this sculpture I applied a bright white ground of Titanium White.

These base-coats evened out the uneven colors of the different batches of paper clay I used to make this sculpture.

Next I applied Nickle Titanate and Cadmium Yellow Light (both bright cool yellows) to the front surface of the sculpture. This under layer of bright yellows will really make the glazes of green over them glow.

I coated the edges of the “leaves” and spikes with a Cadmium Yellow Deep (a rich golden yellow) to give an interesting contrast with the layers of green I would apply next.

Next a few thin glazes of Pthalo Green (yellow and blue shades) and a little Nickle Azo gold were scumbled over most of the top surface. The glazes reeaaally glow- and the texture imparted by scumbling the paint on is nice to- it looks very organic.

Next I will add a little more to the green areas, touch up the yellow portions and apply a glaze of crimson to the tips of the spikes – stay tuned! 🤗