(With all due respect to scene painters everywhere,) I really hate seeing certain things painted on a flat surface when for the same amount of effort you can have such a better product by bringing it into the third dimension.

Books & Stone

Here is a quick method for bringing stone masonry to life, one that is also cost-effective.

First cut a sheet of Styrofoam to the desired size+shape, then layout your brickwork design with a marker. Your choice of foam thickness will depend on the application, for this sample given to a client I used only 3/4″. I can imagine situations where 2+ inches would be desirable.

The next step is the most unconventional. Let’s abuse a power tool:

I use a standard plunging palm router for quickly carving precise grooves into foam. This is definitely tool abuse, as the router’s air intake will most assuredly suck in tiny EPS bits. That is why I have a cheap router that I use only for this purpose.

In the photo above, you can see a large paint stirring stick. I used this as a straight edge to guide the router.  If this were a larger piece, a drywall square would have been more appropriate.

Foam is messy, when possible use a clean suit. Or, have your air compressor charged & ready to dust you off.

Next, use a plaster of your choice. I wanted this to be feather-light so I used pre-mixed Joint Compound (drywall mud) which, if purchased in large enough quantities, can be very inexpensive. For example, the contractor’s tub below (61.7 lbs) costs as much as 12 lbs of consumer-packaged DAP brand mud.

Simply brush the joint compound on with a brush. This is thick stuff, so you may find it easier going if you use scissors to trim the brush down to 1″ hairs or less. Click the image below to see additional detail in the almost-finished faux stonework:

Click for full-size.

Paint in whatever what suits you best, but I personally like lightly dusting with spray paints. Use an airbrush for larger pieces. Due to it’s plasticity the joint compound adds some strength to the foam, but is by no means safe from injury.

Cheers, FIG

If, like me, you find yourself frequently typing information from copyright pages of new books into a database you may find you have a steady friend near-at-hand.

This is my stapler, Excalibur. Excellent stapling action, wonderful “PLINK-ahh!” sound.

As you can see, it’s learned a new trick: holding a book open.

I missed every opportunity to document this prop mushroom’s build, so you’ll have to just do the whole “theatre of the mind” business as I describe the process.

The southwest or desert miracle mushroom enjoys dry but shaded spots. Look for them near other vegetation.

I produced the cap separately from the stalk.

For the mushroom cap I first cut a home trash bag into 3″ strips, then laid laid them inside large (18″ diameter) chip bowl as shown below:
By lining the bowl with strips of plastic rather than larger sheets, the plastic better matched the form of the bowl. I then mixed and poured some FlexFoam-iT!® V expanding foam from Smooth-On into the bowl. I used a GLOVED hand to evenly spread the foam.

I waited until the foam started expanding (which was my cue that the foam touching the plastic strips was tacky and becoming solid) then I picked up the bowl and tipped the bowl in a circular rolling motion to evenly distribute the foam.

A sweet-variety desert miraculo nearing maturity. Now outgrowing the surrounding plants from which it leeched moisture and nutrients.

While the polyurethane foam mush-cap cured I ran down to the wood shop and, using the jigsaw, cut the following “kit” for the stalk structure out of 1/4″ plywood.

As you can see, they assemble into a locking structure as shown below:

Note: Add mild asymmetry as pleases the eye.

I then stuffed the void-quadrants with tissue paper, then wrapped with clear tape. I painted to match the pale yellow complexion of the foam.

Now we're cookin' with gas! Although toxicologists agree the milagro poses neurological harm to infants and the elderly if ingested raw, when properly prepared anyone may enjoy the this fungal treat. Baking whole (as pictured above) allows harmful enzymes to metabolize into simple sugars.

Two recent doodles.

Sometimes my impromptu drawings are like self-administered Rorschach tests. I’m always finding new ways of looking at the finished product. I would really be interested to know what it is you find in this one, which could be anything from futuristic sails unfurling to robotic DNA:

Here’s a quick one. I’m calling it moonrise.

Howdy. I’ll just leave this here.

I made a funny.

Marker on cheap white paper.

Here is a sketch I made this evening. I’ve doodled this theme a few times but never bothered to save a copy for posterity. Problem solved:

Note: contrast adjusted to taste.

I hope you like the final state of this project. It was quite a bit of work, but now I have a fantastical home decoration or centerpiece. I may eventually list it for sale on Etsy.com, although for now we’re treating it as a quirky new house guest.

It is not notably functional; although I have had friends offer their suggestions. Sadly most good ideas ( “Make it a lamp!” ) would require a completely new build: utility would have to be part of it’s design from the beginning of the project. It does however make a nice candle holder / nightlight:

Nightlight mode: activated.