Mr. Wonderful in The Third Dimension

I have several reoccurring characters in my sketch books.  One that shows up from time-to-time is Mr. Wonderful.  Below is the The Three Faces of Mr. Wonderful in Cha-Cha Mode which was part of a larger triptych called Exodus.

I decided to make a physical version of Mr. Wonderful.

First I built an under-structure (armature) out of plywood, and a little chicken wire.

I filled the empty cavities with spray foam and covered the outside with corrugated cardboard.  I built some sunglasses out of cardboard which I wrapped with fabric and then I adhered them to the corrugated head.

I constructed the base out of several layers of Plywood -which I laminated together with glue and screws.  I then covered the outside with Bondo.  Since I knew I wanted to make a rough-looking base, I applied the Bondo so it would be more textured.

I 'primed' the whole sculpture with several layers of paint to seal in all of the nooks and crannies.

Then I painted the whole thing black.....

After applying a thorough coat of flat black paint, I add three coats of Iron Metallic Surfacer (one coat per day).  I use black paint as a base so tht if I miss an area with the Iron Metallic Surfacer a dark color peeks through instead of white, or hot spice pumpkin, or whatever other weird color I might have used to initially prime the wood/cardboard/fabric/surface.

Iron Metallic Surfacer is a paint with iron filings in it. When you apply it properly (3 coats, one per day) and apply the rusting compound (3 coats, one per day), you get rust on your piece.  Not rust colored paint, actual rust.

You can order Sophisticated Finishes Iron Metallic Surfacer at Dick Blick Art Materials.  Visit Dick Blick by clicking on this link: http://www.dickblick.com/.

So here is what it looks like after 3 coats of Iron Metallic Surfacer and three applications of the rusting compound.

It even works on high-fired stoneware.

Let's close with a recap in of Mr. Wonderful in two dimensions -starting with the initial canvas all the way through to the carved frame.

Fin.