Wednesday, February 28, 2018

Voyage of Discovery Becomes Skinner Box II: Lessons Unlearned

Voyage of Discovery has been the working title for this big ole' maze piece I've been building in my studio for several years now.  Now that I've laid out (and carved) most of the frame and already have the words 'Voyage of Discovery' prominently displayed at the top, it seems it's time to push the title a little bit further.

In addition to developing a proper title, there are a few tasks I need to accomplish before I can dive into painting this piece.  In addition to tackling all of the carving needed to complete the frame, I also have to fabricate the different figures/characters for the canvas itself.  One of those characters is The Queen Of Fire And Ice.  Here are her beginnings:






The basis for this incarnation of The Queen Of Fire And Ice comes from part of the frame for another piece I am working on called Bro Kin.


On to the other figure I need for this piece: The Discount Protagonist.  This is a mask I made several years ago which was originally used for a piece called 'Divided By...' that I showed in Merican-Tastic! at The Bucktown Center For The Arts.  About a year later I replaced this mask (and its companion mask) with a carved wooden panels.  Ever since that time, they have sat in a cupboard waiting for a time to be repurposed.  That time is now.


A two-pronged handsaw/utility knife assault results in a (surprisingly!?) bloodless separation of mask from armature.


Test driving the mask on the rest of its 'head'.


Love the texture on this weathered piece of plywood.


Now with the addition of a body.


While I was working on the face and body, I stuffed the old head armature off to the side.  I couldn't help but notice how interesting/compelling it is.


This may turn up as a future piece or I might just draw it and the drawing finds its way into a future piece.  No promises.


An under-illuminated shot of the finished business attached to the canvas.


Gotta have an X here and an X there to mark 'the spot'.


Now for some detail images of the canvas becoming primed/unified and ready to receive some color.



The Queen of Fire and Ice.



An X dutifully marking 'the spot'.



Our 'Discount Protagonist'.



A bunch of Xs marking a bunch of spots.



Primed and ready to be painted.


Next time we look at Voyage of Discovery, it will have some color, and it will be called Skinner Box II: Lessons Unlearned.

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