Repousse

ROOSTER DOOR PANEL

by Vonda Jessup

Materials:
Rooster/chicken prints (Available for immediate download purchase from Vonda’s website at www.vondajessup.com)
Artist spray fixative
#320 sandpaper
Cotton cloths
Water based Kilz
1 ½" China bristle brushes
1 ½" sponge brush
Small round artist brush
Antique white acrylic paint
Elmer’s glue or any PVA glue
Containers for water and mixing the mache
Acrylic craft paint-light green">

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Repousse

ROOSTER DOOR PANEL

by Vonda Jessup

Materials:
Rooster/chicken prints (Available for immediate download purchase from Vonda’s website at www.vondajessup.com)
Artist spray fixative
#320 sandpaper
Cotton cloths
Water based Kilz
1 ½" China bristle brushes
1 ½" sponge brush
Small round artist brush
Antique white acrylic paint
Elmer’s glue or any PVA glue
Containers for water and mixing the mache
Acrylic craft paint-light green, dark green, light brown, dark brown and medium blue
Paper plates for mixing paint
Black Sharpie felt tip pen
Wax paper

Cuticle scissors
Pencil
Celluclay Paper Mache-available at all art and craft stores
Orange stick or sculptors tool
Chicken or aviary wire
Water based satin varnish
Brown paper grocery bag

Preparation: Spray prints on both sides with artist spray fixative two or three times. Cut out. Remove doors-it is easier to work on the door panels if the are laying flat. Sand the panels with #320 sandpaper. Wipe off any dust particles. Undercoat with Kitz. Apply two or three coats of antique white paint.

Designing the front panel: Place the cutout chicken prints on the door panel. Using a pencil, draw where the ground level will be. Remove print. Mix a small amount of blue paint with some of the antique white thinned with water. Dip the bristle brush into water and then into the thinned sky blue color. Paint in the sky, starting at the top of the panel working down towards the ground. Add more white to your brush to make clouds. Work your brush in semi-circles and blend the edges of the clouds into the sky. To make the ground for the barnyard, use two shades of brown paint. Starting at the bottom of the panel brush on the lighter shade of brown. While the paint is still wet, add darker brown areas along with the darker green. Do this with the side of your bristle brush or the round artist brush. Add grassy details using the greens intermixed with the browns. Let dry. To give the illusion the chickens are in a pen, hold the chicken/aviary wire on the panel and trace just one side of the wire using a pencil instead of a pen. Do this before adding the chickens. Use a black Sharpie felt pen to draw the black and white plaid as shown around the edge of the panel. Set the plaid with artist spray fixative before varnishing the panels.

Repousse instructions: Place one rooster print against a windowpane, front side down. Using a pencil, trace the outline of its feathers, wings, head, comb, etc, -all the areas where you will be placing the paper mache. Then using a scale of 1-5, (five being the thickest area), assign a number to each outlined area. Example: comb-1, waddle-2, neck-3, breast-4, underneath wing-3, wing-4, feathers over wing-5. Repeat with other print. Place prints on wax paper; brush thinned white glue over the entire backs. Mix together instant paper mache, white glue, and a small amount of water. (It should be the consistency of biscuit dough.)

Starting in the center, build-up parts that would naturally be thicker on the bird in real life. Using your thickness scale, use a maximum of one inch for the #5 feathers over wing and go down from there. Be sure to leave 1/8" to 1/4" around the cut edge of each print. (This is done to achieve a flat adherence to the panel.) Do not add mache to the rooster’s legs or feet. Carefully turn the prints over and adhere to the panel surface. Use a slightly damp cloth to press down all edges. Wipe away any excess glue or mache. As the mache starts to set up, use an orange stick or sculpture tool to contour the chicken. If the print tears or splits, let dry. Colored pencils or acrylic paint can be used to fill in the opened areas. Let dry completely. Apply three to four coats of water- based varnish. Lightly sand with a brown paper bag. (This is a trick taken from the fine furniture industry. Try it! It’s the greatest thing for your final coat.)