House of Shadows

A Whimsical Trio

One of my favorite things about decorating for Halloween is that possibilities are endless.  DIY project ideas can be found to suit individual tastes ranging from grim to giggles. If you enjoy painting and have a taste for the whimsical the Winfield company offers patterns worth looking at.  I love this company! Now that we have a grandson I’m sure some of my time will be dedicated to painting something fun for him to enjoy next Halloween.

See the Winfield Collection …. so many cute options!

http://thewinfieldcollection.com/catalog.aspx?catid=32&pg=1

Here is an example of how you can create Halloween decorations by repurposing everday items.  This project was done by Frankie’s Girl and posted on HalloweenForum.com.  Frankie went shopping for Angels to finish the tops of a pair of small columns she made.  She found a pair of Angels at Michael’s, one had a broken tip on the wing.  Frankie bought the pair for $8.00 and repaired the broken wing tip with air dry clay.  Then she painted the Angels with a basecoat of gray, covering the recessed areas with with a dark charcoal gray.  When the gray paint was thoroughly dry Frankie used a dry-brush painting technique to appy white paint.  A combination of strokes, including stippling was used to create a stone texture.  I must say, the finished product looks much better than the original.  Congratulations Frankie’s Girl for a job well done.  You’ve got a good eye for great deals.

The weather here is miserably cold so Christmas shopping will be delayed until the severe weather warning for our area is lifted.  I’m beginning to feel like I’m living in Victorian times.  We have been keeping one room in the house warm and turning the heat down in the rest of the house to conserve.  Our old house still has an oil furnace, not a good option since the war  started. But in the long-term, learning to do a better job of conserving is a good idea anyway.

This is an excellent time to focus my time on continuing work on The Immortal Pumpkin and preparing some skulls for molding. Like everything I do, I decided I wanted to explore options for painting the skulls once they are cast with foam.  It seems everyone has their own preference of materials and techniques. Some people use a combination of different colors of Minwax, others use acrylic paint.  The painting techniques below are adapted from  information posted on Grimvisions. As I discover other techniques that appeal to me, I will post them for your information.  I think it’s always good to study more than one technique before beginning a project.  You may end up using a process that is uniquely yours, but it’s good to know why you make certain decisions along the way.  The best way for me to learn is to dissect the work of others.  So here is one way to finish a foam skull:

Supply List:

• White Glue
• Brushes
• Black spray paint
• A foam skull
• Acrylic paint of various colors
• Matte sealer

Painting Process

1. Start with a 2 part urethane foam skull that you have cast, or purchase a quality foam skull
2. Coat the skull with white glue, thinned with a small amount of  water so it brushes easily onto the skull.
3. Make sure to apply a good; even coating and let it dry.  This helps seal the foam and gives it a better texture.
4. When the glue coat is thoroughly dry, spay paint with a layer of flat black paint
5. When the black paint is dry use a bone colored acrylic paint to paint the high areas of the skull randomly, you don’t want total coverage ( tip: one way to do this is use a sponge and if the coverage is too much quickly blot it off with a paper towel)
6. Be sure to leave some black showing in the deep recesses.  An airbrush can be used to apply this coat if you have one available.
7. After the bone colored layer dries, go back and highlight the lines and cracks with a watered down black. Then using a watered down burnt umber blot on some dirt-like spots here and there to add some antiquing near the eyes, jawline and mouth.
8. Let the paint dry thoroughly; at least one hour, then lightly dry brush the entire skull with original bone color paint.
9. Paint the teeth. Using watered down acrylics, or inks.
10. After the teeth are done, go back and very lightly dry brush the highest points of the skill with the base bone color mixed with a bit of titanium white (the brush should so dry that you can hardly detect any paint in it)
11. The final step is to spray the whole thing with a matte sealer to reduce the shine.

Thank you viewers and subscribers.  Your interest means a lot to me.

The picture of the aging tombstone above is one of my favorite examples of what an old stone would look like in a heavily shaded, abandoned cemetery. After years of exposure to the weather the stone erodes and gives a foothold for the moss to take over.  Admittedly, I am addicted to color and texture so I’m drawn to this picture.  I’m not sure if I want to go that extreme with my finishing details but it is a possibility.

There are so many ways to build tombstone props from Styrofoam and a  wide variety of finishing techniques offer you many choices.  Think about the overall look you want in your cemetery before beginning the building process.  Give it a history and the vision begins to drive your decisions.  I have posted some links that provide excellent examples of the possibilities.

Keeba’s Tombstones provides a comprehensive tutorial for  both building and painting tombstones.  Merlin’s Celtic Cross is excellent, but the Reaper is truly phenomenal.  The Rat Popin’ tombstone is an incredible, but advanced project.  I listed this link because it shows the potential for what can be accomplished with Styrofoam and a lot of talent.  The builder of this project carved some of his ornaments, but there are many ways to find objects that are ready made.  My husband laughs at me because I’m always looking at things  with an eye for the potential to cast it for a project.  I recommend Thurston James book “The Prop Builders Molding and Casting Handbook” as a reference if you are not experienced molding and casting.  The book is listed in my store; you can find a complete review by clicking the link in the listing.  The picture of the stone in the Mourning Cemetery is an exceptional example of how to add a lot of texture to your project.  These are only a few examples, but they can give you an overall reference that will get you started if you are a new builder, or perhaps show you some different  methods if you are more experienced in building Halloween props.

Keeba’s Tombstones

http://www.hedstorm.net/HAUNT/instructions/tombstones/index.html

Merlin’s Celtic Cross

http://www.hauntershangout.com/home/MyCelticCross.asp

Merlin’s Reaper
http://www.hauntershangout.com/home/reaperstone.asp

Rat Popin’ Tombstone

http://usersites.horrorfind.com/home/halloween/chrisscrypt/graves_01.html

Mourning Cemetery

http://www.mourningcemetery.com/Projects/crane/index.htm

I hope you will enjoy viewing the work of these home haunt builders.  Until next time …

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows.  We hope to see you again soon!

This is the seventh post in the series exploring cemetery art as a method for planning my “Beloved” prop to display in a Halloween cemetery. If this is your first visit to the House of Shadows Blog, or you want to read this series from the beginning, go back to “Stories In Stone” posted on November 27.

This is a picture of the dress I bought on eBay to use for my Beloved Project

With a bit of apprehension, I will allow you to look inside my musty brain to see how it puts all of the information I’ve been gathering together to make some early decisions about my Beloved project. Not everyone needs this kind of a planning process, some people are comfortable jumping in with both feet and getting started. That process doesn’t work for me. As you read through my thoughts, I think it will become clear why a detailed planning process is important to me.

The questions below are examples of how you might check your thinking, if you want, or need to make the best use of your time and investment in your Halloween hobby.

• Is your display area large or small?

My Halloween cemetery display may be started in the back yard and moved to the front yard over time. Either way, both yards have about the same dimensions 60″ x 120″ feet. I have plenty of room for large props. In fact, large props will be more effective than small props.

• Will visitors view your props close up, or from a distance?

If the graveyard is displayed in the backyard, props will be viewed close-up; less viewing distance means the scale of the lettering is less of an issue but I also think it takes away some of the “creepy factor”. Displaying the graveyard in the front yard means props will be viewed from a distance so details need to be larger so they can be seen. The difference between setting up in the front or the back is security. We live on a heavily traveled six lane street with a lot of walking traffic in front of the house at all hours of the night.

• What is the overall theme of your display?

My taste is very traditional. Our home and the homes around us were built in the early 1900’s in a historic area of our city; that is the time period I would like our displays to reflect. Our displays will never depict blood and gore for two reasons: 1) I think illusions are more powerful, like a noise heard faintly in the background, something you feel or believe you see lurking in the shadows, etc.; and 2) I have two year old grandson and I want him to enjoy the display… not be traumatized by the experience.

• Will the prop be heavy or awkward to move?

I gained useful insight from my friend Terra’s experience about designing grip space into a prop with a larger base. I also think if I position the mourning lady’s figure in a more upright position I can build a smaller, more vertical prop that requires less wood framing to keep the prop as light as possible.

• What are your time and budgetary issues?

Early retirement means I have more time than money. I have medical issues that limit my ability to do physical activities for extended periods of time, so planning early allows me to fit the project into the budget and work at a pace that fits my lifestyle. My next steps will be to make a supply list, check off what I have and gather supplies I still need. I can begin by checking off the dress. √

• Will the prop be weather proof in rainy conditions?

Rain is a big concern for me because I live in the Pacific Northwest. This prop will be well-sealed with the process Terra used. She applied an undercoat of monster mud, then three coats of Drylock  were used as the top coat to waterproof her Beloved prop. The prop was exposed to rainy Fall weather for a month and showed no signs of weather damage, but using this process to seal the project means you have to plan in advance for the loss of detail that will occur.

• How and where will you store large props?

Right now I am lucky to have enough space in the tack room in my barn. But this space is limited so a plan for the future is necessary. We have room to build more outbuildings on our property, or we can rent storage and transport the props in the truck. I would prefer to keep them at home.

Other things I need to consider are modifications to the design I’m using as an inspiration to eliminate the weak points, remembering that my prop will not be made of concrete. Overall I feel the design I have chosen is a good candidate for the project. Now I have to wait for dry weather because the prop will be too hard to get out of the basement if I started now.

In my next post I will be providing links to painting and distressing tutorials that I think are helpful. Until then …

Thank you for being our guest at the House of Shadows!

I have always been known as a detail person, both my in career life and in my home life. If you have been following this blog you may have already guessed that planning is one of the details I enjoy about designing my display.

Today I’m going to discuss some factors to consider in planning for a Halloween graveyard display. This might not be as important for you as it is for me because I have an overactive mind …and I want to do it all. So working through a planning process helps me narrow possibilities down to a list that is practical. A quote from a respected friend helps focus my energy. He said, “If you don’t break your projects into small steps you will work too hard and get less than desired results. It’s like using a five gallon bucket of water to fill a tea cup. All the water splashes out and you end up with very little water in the cup for all your efforts.” That philosophy guides this series so if you can use help with that type of focus stay with me as I continue to develop my personal “bucket list” for designing a “Beloved” tombstone.

This monument appeals to me as a concept for my Beloved project!

The Pros:

• I’m naturally drawn to objects and styles that are classic designs
• I love the curve of the small pedestal the angel is resting her head on
  
• The masonic symbol is easy to recreate, but could be replaced with other designs
  
• The wreath details are easy to duplicate using silk greenery coated with monster mud
• The shape and details of the monument would cast nice shadows when lights are on at night
• The higher base could be useful in building a more compact prop than traditional designs

The Cons:

• The position of the extended arm and hand are a vulnerable breaking point
• Shell ornaments on the corners of the pedestal are also vulnerable to breakage
  
• Size of lettering is limited by the pedestal shape and hard to see from a distance
• Without the Angel’s wings, rescaling of the pedestal will be required for better balance

In my next post I will break these pros and cons down to explore how they fit into my overall plans for the future of my Halloween display, skills and resources, and space as it relates to both display and storage. The questions I pose should easily translate into your own planning process. Until then …

Thank you for being my guest at the House of Shadows. I hope to see you again soon!

This is the third article in the cemetery art series; which is a study of the expression of sorrow through body language used in grave markers and monuments. If this is your first visit to the House of Shadows or you want to begin reading this series from the beginning go back to the post of November 27, “Stories In Stone”.

I had a epiphany of sorts as I searched through pictures of graveyard art to study statuary representing grieving. My search began as a way to plan for the design of my “Beloved” prop based on a typical scene of a grieving widow draped over what is assumed to be her lover’s tomb. I have seen “Beloved” props inscribed in two different ways. One is a simple inscription on the tomb that reads “Beloved” and the other has the additional inscription “Beneath this simple stone, my beloved sleeps alone.”

As I continued to look at pictures, it occurred to me that often times a monument represents grief over the loss of an infant or child. So my first assumption of a prop depicting a wife mourning the loss of a husband was a limited perspective. A “Beloved” prop could be designed to express the grief of a mother who mourns the loss of a child. You might say, “If a woman is mourning the loss of a loved one, what difference does it make if it is a husband, child, or infant?” While it is true that you may not see a difference in body language, you might see a difference in the ornamentation used on the tomb. This would open more possibilities for how you want to design your prop to make it uniquely yours.

There is another detail that also offers flexibility. I’m designing my prop based on a dress I bought on eBay. However, many mourning figures are portrayed by simply using fabric to drape around a body. This effect could be recreated in a prop by loosely sculpting a body shape from wire, using a wig head, and draping the shape with burlap before applying monster mud. Sometimes the hands show and other times they don’t, so you can choose to attempt sculpting hands or just give an illusion of hands under the cloth. So don’t let the lack of the right dress or garment stop you from trying something different than what you have already seen.

Here are a few more pictures to study before I move on to ornamentation tomorrow. My mind is becoming over stimulated with possibilities now …

Thank you for visiting the House of Shadows Blog. Come back often!