Merry Christmas from C.Andrews studio

Merry Christmas from C.Andrews studio on the beautiful California coast!

May your day be filled with family, friends and good cheer

 

 

And as Tiny Tim reminds us " God Bless us all, everyone"

Altered Books Club swap offering

Greetings Everyone,

Well its that time again-yes of course Christmas but also Altered Books Club !
This is the first completed art of our much delayed 3rd swap. The first book that I've had the privilege of creating art for was Cindy's.  Cindy picked the theme of The Hunger Games . This is a wonderful series that takes place in a typically teen readers Dystopian America. Now for those of you who think this book is all about Children killing Children so you won't read it-please reconsider. Yes the backdrop for these books takes place in a post war America that has instituted Roman type games
where children are drawn by lottery to fight to the death.  But that's not what these books are all about.  Like Lord of the Rings or Harry Potter the Hunger Games Series is about Love, sacrifice and finding the courage to do what is right rather than what is easy. I once thought that I was not interested in this series and would never read it but I changed my mind and was rewarded with a trilogy that I am very sure will become a new classic.

So I bet you are asking yourself what does the image above have to do with all of this? And what exactly is it?  Pictured above is a scene right out of the book.  One of the main characters:Peeta Mellark is a bakers son.  He is kind and artistic  He also decorates the cakes at his fathers bakery. During the course of the books he is compelled for his own survival to disguise himself as part of the woodland landscape around him.  Above you can see Peeta disguised like the rocks near a river.
So I am really hoping that I was successful enough with this spread that you are now curious enough
to wonder how is was made.
This is a textural collage in 3-D relief.  I started with the only image I could find of Peeta disguised during the games.  I knew that I wanted his face to be 3-D and be slightly raised off the page. On top of the collaged image I sculpted Peeta's face using Creative Paperclay. Although I used to sculpt dolls this is the first time I have sculpted in relief. It is also my first time using Paperclay. It isn't as fine a material as my usual polymer clay but I think its a little stronger.  You also have the advantage of not having to bake it. The wet paperclay sticks to almost any surface but air dries in 24 hours.   Over the paperclay Peeta and the rest of the page I used a mixture of Golden's molding paste and Coarse Pumice Gel to simulate the rock texture. Then the page was painted using Golden's fluid acrylics and sealed with Krylon matte spray.  I also added real dried moss, bits of bark, silk leaves and sticks.
Over all I was pleased with the rock look but the image didn't quite resemble the actor from the film as closely as I intended. But it was a fun inspiring project and I urge you to try paper clay as well.
Well that's it and as they say in the book:

Happy Hunger Games and may the odds be ever in your favor...