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Author: Al_Razza, Contributing Editor
| Squirt bottles, paint knives, brushes, combs are used to apply color. X-acto knives are used to cut through the skin and templates simultaneously, when working on a mosaic. A utility knife is used with a metal straight edge to cut through larger heavier skins. Scissors and even sheet metal cutters may be needed for cutting through heavy sheets that have been cured for a long time. |
| The paint is poured over the glass to form an aesthetic mass of color. I prefer squirt bottles to a brush, or knife, though knives can produce some beautiful skins when using a highly viscous paint. I tilt the glass and let the color run over itself to form layers of varied colors - a marbleized technique. Solid color skins may be created in this same fashion.
After the paint has covered the surface, I rotate the glass to the table position. Then let the color cure for a minimum of three days with a fan on continuously circulating the air. The fan helps promote clarity and faster curing of the paint. Once cured, I can begin to remove the skin from the glass. |
| I can remove the entire sheet if I wish by covering it with a sheet of brown Kraft paper, and roll it onto a 2” PVC pipe. I use a metal wallpaper knife about 8” wide to assist the skin off the glass as I turn the skin onto the pipe. The approximate thickness of the skin for best results is about .030”. Scoring the edges of the skin assures no paint has bonded to the edge of the easel, which might restrict the ease in which the skin will lift from the glass. Full removal of the sheet will allow me to view both sides to determine which I prefer. I must watch out not to let the skin come up against itself. This can cause sections to stick to one another and prevent a clean removal. The longer the skin remains curing, even over months, will help it resist, but not totally prevent it from sticking to itself. |
| Now, I can cut pieces to a specific size and shape, and apply them to a canvas, or use them over a template to create a mosaic. Sometimes, I drop the dry skin back into wet paint to create a corrugated relief effect or just lay them flatly back into the wet paint. I am always looking for some new way to create and use them. I am sure you will come up with your own variations. |
| If done correctly both sides of the skin are beautifully colored, and they can be used and stored like a seamstress would use cloth from a bolt of fabric. The skins are strong, yet flexible. They will not tear easily, and can be stretched slightly. Upon the first few days of removal from the glass easel the sheet will shrink a bit and one should allow for this shrinkage. When I apply a piece of paint skin, I am looking at the finished product. I do not have to wait or guess to see what the skin will reveal. Remember, the skin is made like a sheet of cloth, to be cut and made into an artwork. So when I am working, I am not so much guessing what will be revealed, but removing and applying pieces of skin directly on a canvas or temporarily transferring it to a glass table. Once there, I can watch the image emerge, just like any conventional artwork would if I were just painting it with a brush.
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