Uaithne, the Green Man

As I mentioned in my previous post, I'm experimenting with plaster cloth.  You can purchase a roll of cloth from a variety of craft stores - I got mine at Hobby Lobby (brand name E-Z Form) but you can also buy it at Michael's, and online via Amazon, Dick Blick and Woodland Scenics (their own brand).  The roll I purchased was 8" x 180".

The roll is wrapped in waxed paper, inside a plastic bag.  I don't know that I need to store it in both, but that's how I'm doing it, just to be on the safe side.  Plus the dry plaster falls off easily, and this way there's less of a mess.  This is essentially loosely woven fibers that are coated in dry plaster - you cut off the length & size strip you want to use, quickly dip it in warm water, slide your fingers down the strip to distribute the plaster evenly & get the excess water off, and apply it to your project.  Model railroaders use it for building mountains and valleys, model horse people use it for building dioramas.  You can use just about anything for an armature, from cardboard to wire mesh, but if you want your project to be sturdy use something strong.

My first project is turning out to be a lot of fun!  For years I've wanted my own Green Man.  No, not that silly green bodysuit that's "all the rage" these days.  The leafy face of Celtic (and other) mythology.  He takes several forms - there's no "right" or "wrong" way to portray him.  Sometimes his face is composed entirely of leaves, sometimes the human face is more prominent, with only leaves for hair and perhaps roots for a beard.  Sometimes he's entirely green, sometimes he appears to be made of wood.  Cernunnos, the Horned One, is closely associated with the Green Man; some say they are two aspects of the same being, the one representing death and darkness, the other rebirth and light.

Whatever you want to believe, however you want to call him, he's been popular for centuries, appearing in church architecture, folk tales, sculpture, even modern literature.  My guy's a bit more humble than all that, though - he's just going to be hanging out on my front porch once I finish him.

So on to the sculpting process.  I bought a plastic mask a while ago for another project, and decided to keep the two plastic forms that protected it in the packaging.  I figured I was getting three masks for the price of one!  I used one of these forms to start building Uaithne (Pronounced "OON-yeh," it's an Irish name meaning..."green."), laying my strips horizontally across the form.

Hey look - a face!

The plaster cloth dries incredibly fast, especially compared to paper mache - by the time I'd reached the upper lip the first strip I'd laid was already drying.  As I put each strip down I tried to smooth it out as much as possible, hoping to fill in all the little holes with plaster.  But there really isn't that much plaster in the cloth, so he's not perfectly smooth.  However, that's going to work to my advantage, actually.

I let him sit for a full day, even though in 20 minutes he was totally dry.  Then I very carefully flexed the plastic form and took it out (the plaster did not stick to it, which is great) and added a second layer, this time going vertically.  I also wanted my Green Man to have antlers, so I laid the two I had (loose, not a full rack) under his forehead, in the position I wanted them, and cut notches out.  I was surprised how easy the cloth was to cut - two layers, which were thoroughly dried, could be cut with standard scissors.  Something to keep in mind..

After I had the antlers positioned where I wanted them, I used a Sharpie to dry eyes on, just to see how they'd look if I were to paint directly onto the plaster, and laid some leaves on top of his head.  He's starting to get a personality now, I think.

Of course I had to secure the antlers in place.  I laid a strip of plaster cloth across the back of the head, and once that was dry I turned him upside down and squeezed a LOT of Elmer's glue around the ends of the antlers.  That would've been easier to do if I'd done it before I added that strip, but...I tend to do things the hard way.  Ah well.  I folded a paper towel in quarters and wrapped it over his chin, then used a magnetic jaw clamp to hang him from the edge of the desk until the glue dried, keeping the antlers at the right width from each other by using an empty drink mix container.

The ends of the antlers

After the glue was completely dried I traced the plastic form onto a thin piece of cardboard and glued that to the back, trimming it once it was totally dry.  I had a small metal shelf hanger (the rectangular type with the teeth) that I attached to the middle of the back by lining it up with the bridge of the nose and pushing it into the cardboard, then applying glue to the legs before pushing them through all the way, and gluing all around it.  Then I covered the back with more plaster strips.  I also built him a bit of a top of head by rolling a newspaper flyer into a loose tube, tearing it to fit between the antlers & taping it in place, then going over it with plaster strips.

So now he has a face, antlers, and a hanger.  Now all he needs is eyes, and then I can paint him and glue on the leaves.  Eyes...eyes...oh, dear.

Well, as I said, I'm always doing things the hard way.  I got out some Sculpey (oven bake clay), cut off a small section, softened it, rolled it into a ball, cut the ball in half, rolled those halves into smaller balls, and then squished down the sides to get the eyeball shape.  I then carefully folded the sides back up, and voila!  Eyeballs!

That's...an eyeball??

I got out my little toaster oven, turned it on to 275, and then put the eyeballs on a piece of waxed paper on the tray and baked them for 15 minutes.  Then I cut holes in the face (Remember how easy I said that was?) just big enough, eased the baked eyes in, and glued all around them.  I'll let the glue dry overnight, then I want to go across the forehead with one more strip, and up around the antlers just to make sure there's no gaps, and then I can prime him and start painting. 

Here's looking at you

Now he's looking like something!

Oh, and remember how I said the texture was going to work to my advantage?  Well at first I was fretting, trying to figure out how to smooth him.  I'd planned on painting his face a green/gold, which I thought would go nicely with the leaves I have.  But you can't really sand this stuff, or you risk ripping the fibers loose.  I could mix up some patching compound and go over the entire face, but, man, that's a lot of work!  Everything I was thinking of would just be more complicated than really necessary.  And then it dawned on me: bark.  Why not just paint his face to look like the bark of a tree?  So that's what I'll do...when I get to that stage.  So far, not bad for my first attempt at using plaster cloth, hey?