Artomat WIP #5 - Fishes and Flowers

OK, nobody sneeze! One brisk breeze, and it's all over.

I've been cutting tiny little fishes and flowers out of paper all day, and the studio is full of them. I'm placing them on the blocks and rearranging them to see which combinations look best. Another dozen or so cutouts and then I'll start gluing them in place.

I'm using my favorite origami paper, a Miyabi Chiyogami floral. Now I think it's time to go for a walk or get some exercise

Artomat WIP #4 - Tweaking The Color

After the last layer of color dried, I brought the blocks together and considered each one of them. They all needed a little fine tuning. Some needed more pools of color, others needed details.

The painting steps are now finished. I'm happy with how the blocks look and am ready to move on. The next step is to get out the origami paper and cut out all kinds of little flowers, fishes, and other shapes. It could take a while to get all those little pieces cut, arranged, glued, and sealed.

In case you missed the earlier steps, here they are:

• Step 3 - Middle Color
  
• Step 2 - Background Color
• Step 1 - Base Coat
• Prototypes

Artomat WIP #3 - Middle Colors

Now we're getting to the fun stuff! This is where the colors get interesting.

I brushed plain water onto a block, then dropped in diluted paint in different colors. The paint swirled and blended on its own, depending on how much water was on the block and how much water was in the paint. Each color behaved differently. Each block has a different pattern of colors.

It's fun to see how the blocks progress because the color change so much as they dry. They start out looking outrageously dark or bright, but blend nicely and become subtle.


In case you missed the earlier steps, here they are:

• Step 2 - Background Color
• Step 1 - Base Coat
• Prototypes

Now I'd better get back there and wash out those brushes before they harden up.

Stay tuned for Step 4....