The dragon is now firmly attached to the celing with three strands of fishing line. Once the wings are completed they will be attached using ladders, and the dragon will be complete! I’m already planning the next dragon I make. I’m thinking to base it off this:
We moved the dragon into Daniel’s room. I had to carry it up a ladder into his second floor balcony. It was too long to snake in through the hall door. Luckily it is impressively light; probably about 40 lbs. Now we just have to figure out how to hang it from the ceiling! Not an easy task as the bedroom has a very high ceiling (this picture is taken from the loft).
We brought the dragon outside to finish painting it. We went through all of our paint, so Mom had to get more blue. After painting it, we used a ladder to hoist it up onto the balcony.
At long last, the skin of the dragon has been completly placed, with the finishing of the neck. Tomorrow morning, we will take the dragon out to the driveway, and start spray-painting it blue. After it is done being painted on each side, I believe we will apply a coat of gloss to make it shiny before using a pulley to lift it into it’s new home. Once it is in there, the wings and other finishing touches like the tongue and ears will be created and applied.
The completed body
Apparently I lied when I stated that the tongue would be next, for we have decided instead to flesh out the head with the standard cloth mache. The other side and the top of the head are looking good as well, but are not as far along as this side. While placing the cloth down though, we got an idea and covered up part of the eye so that it would look like the dragon was angry.
Next we plan to work on the neck and finish off the head.
After a long wait, there comes another picture showcasing a draconic trait. Obviously the trait shown here is the dragon’s new glass teeth. They are actually mostly yellow, but when the picture was taken light must of reflected off them, tinting them a bloody hue.
A close up of the teeth, giving them a very Tyrannosaur like look; most impressive. Also note the curved teeth in the back, which are clay and make the dragon look adapted for eating fish and large prey.
The horns here have been finished for quite a while, but for some reason never photographed. The cloth mache method was used to give them texture, using dryer lint and they were given a brownish green ink wash. The finished dragon will have horns with a very bronze hue. We may of gone a little overboard with the number of horns though, with two sets of goat horns near the neck, the little side horns below the eyes, the big rhino horn on the nose, and some horn-like whiskers around the mouth. Also, note the addition of eyes.
A side shot of the eyes being worked on, we hope to be able to add eye-lids by the end of the week.
Next: Tongue of Dragon
I have been trying to figure out how to make eyes for the dragon; worrying about this has made it hard to keep working on the project. But last week I had a lucky find; blobs of glass that fall when glass blowers are making their vases and such and snip the ends off. I found two that more or less match and are the correct size.
This view shows the first coat of paint on the horns and a little of the texture that I am achieving with dryer lint. The old tie-dye T-shirt is poking through a bit. I found mixing a little pottery plaster into the watercolor paint made the paint completely opaque and is very hard when dry. Only problem is that it sets so quickly. Painting with wet plaster is one of the oldest art techniques around, so I am deriving some satisfaction from including this technique. Also cheap, and lying around the house. I am including as few purchased items as possible; so far only the jug of white glue (about $30.00)
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Today and yesterday I put on the outer shell of old T-shirts dipped in white glue. I also experimented with different paints; that is why we are seeing so many shades of blue. It is not so much the color but the hardness of the paint that I am after. House paint is too soft and flexible. White glue and powdered pigments work well so far.
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This is a close up of the T-shirt with the pins holding it on until it dries.
I have finished the last of the dryer sheets on the legs and claws. Tomorrow I will move on to the body.
I have covered the legs with the spent dryer sheets. It works best to dip the dryer sheets in the flour and water paste, but I added a little white glue for more durability. The dryer sheets need to be quite wet in order to form them into ridges and scales.
