Steampunk Art Canvas

This week I have been working on this Steampunk canvas.

The canvas measures 11x14”. It was painted with a blue background first just to give it some character to work from. 

Then different paints were splattered and laid on as washes to give it more interest. At first I had no real plan as to what the painting would become.

 

Then the idea of a Steampunk piece crept in. So more metallic paints were added and some pen and ink markings inspired by my coloring book pages.

After that it was just a matter of adding the metal pieces to form an interesting piece of art.

This has taken about four days to get it to the point I am finally happy. Some of the metal parts on this are not from watches or clocks, but just seemed to add personality. The copper wire mesh is from Michael’s and is meant for sculpting and other craft uses.

So the concept is that the sun’s energy runs down through the chains and watch parts to fuel the clock on the right side.

The sun piece was probably a lapel pin. Hammered copper spray paint was used to change the color from a gold tone. The spray paint was also used on some washers and other parts to give them all the right color for this piece.

The ring under the clock hand was filled with very tiny watch parts and then with diluted ModPodge. The ModPodge dries clear and it will dry leaving the pieces sticking up but stuck together. If I had used it without diluting it would have dried flat across the top and not look how I wanted.

After everything I wanted was glued on, black and copper acrylic paints were put on in washes to give it a more antique appearance.

 

Washers and other parts were glued to the corners of the copper mesh to keep them from coming up and to make it look as if they are screwed or bolted down. Small screws were glued into the center holes of all washers and watch parts, because they would be screwed down in real life.

Even though this is an art piece and meant to be whimsical, I personally have to keep it realistic enough for the brain to accept and understand what it is looking at. Missing parts or things that go the wrong way will drive me crazy until I fix them.

The final step will be to spray the whole thing with a varnish to seal the paint washes so they won’t peel off if touched or bumped. This will be done after the last photo is taken. The varnish would reflect the light so that the photo wouldn’t look right. As it is the metallic paint and many of the metal parts reflect the light and make the photo look different from it looks in person.

Every week, and every day, I look for new and interesting things to try. E-newsletters from Cloth Paper Scissors, or Quilting Daily, or Liquitex Acrylic Paints, and other fun sites, are all good resources. Searching through Google Images is a wonderful way to get ideas, as well as Etsy. YouTube videos provide good how-to information to help learn different techniques.

Wandering through local art shows are a fantastic way to see what is new and get ideas and inspiration.

Everywhere I go I am looking for new ideas, new techniques and new ways to use what I have at home.

Be inspired this week.

Terri

1KrazyRtist

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