Another Altered Dress Form

My first altered dress form was such an enlightening project for me that allowed me to go in another direction with my creativity. I have worked with so many substrates but never anything like this. Beginning with no plan, or concept as to what I would end up with, I found it to be a very liberating process. I was immediately eager to do another. I gathered my materials and quickly dove in. I purchase mostly everything from Amazon so I have provided the links to some below!)

I had that dreadful silk spider web stuff left over from Halloween that I thought would give great texture so...first things first...create my base.

STEP ONE consisted of me unraveling that irritating material and prepping it for the application to the dress form.

Of course you don't need much of this stuff to cover any surface but I wanted a very textured look so I used a good chunk of it. Applied with Modge Podge.

  

Yea, I paint on the carpet lol

Photo cred goes to my son London!

STEP TWO: Once I covered the form to my liking and allowed it to dry, it was time for the gesso. You gotta prep! I don't buy my black gesso because it is so easy to make. See below for the recipe :)  

STEP THREE: Halloween Creepy Cloth was another left over material that I had. After applying the silk web, I thought it could use just a little more texture. I wanted it to look like it's modeling a dress. It's a dress form after all! I carelessly draped the cloth around it and secured it in place with glue.

STEP FOUR: Cover the new layer of texture with more gesso and let dry! This took a while because of the many layers and thick coats of black gesso.

STEP FIVE: This is the tough part for me; not having a plan. Not having a design to follow. This is also the liberating part. Just go with it!

My package of Prima Marketing 'Stationers Desk' flowers had just arrived and I was so excited to use them. (Prima is the BEST!) I unpackaged them, snapped a quick pic for this post and started gluing.

STEP SIX: once I got all the floral embellishments in the places I wanted them, I used black spray paint to cover them. I LOVE the natural colors of them all and seriously contemplated keeping them as is but it wasn't looking right. It wouldn't have been my style.

**Ok, so here is where I changed it up a bit. I had everything in place but I just wasn't digging the dark, ominous appeal that the black was portraying.

STEP SEVEN: I grabbed my Primer spray paint and began to cover the black. I didn't cover it completely. I love the contrast that it showed with the black peeping through the deeper parts of the texture. It was perfect.

STEP EIGHT: So, after the primer dried, I gathered my earthy, neutral sprays and went at it. I don't know why, but I am drawn to earthbound, "natural" color schemes here lately. It's my mood I suppose..

 STEP NINE: add color as your heart desires! I layered and layered, darker inks in the cracks and crevices, with the lighter inks on top.

I used Golden Fluid Acrylics in Azo Gold to accentuate the texture of the cloth wrap. Very Rustic!

I applied this with my fingers...no brushes.

 Adding the details is my favorite part. Keep adding until you've reached the effect you want. Add colors for contrast. Add embellishments and textures, anything! I added dried flowers and baby's breath for a rustic look.

It took me an extra day messing around with different looks to finally get it to where I was happy.



My black Gesso Recipe-black acrylic paint and Plaster of Paris. Mix until you are happy with the consistency. Boom.