STOLLOWEEN

This skull was an experiment in creating a prop by applying strip mache over an existing form. The skull also provided a chance to play around with different painting techniques by going beyond my typical dry brushing technique. The result is a fairly realistic skull that looks as if it has been removed from an ancient crypt. This is a great project for someone looking to try papier mache because it basically bypasses the artistic process and concentrates on the technical aspects of papier mache… Continue

Just finished a couple of new pieces for 2009, they were motivated by The Mad Lab which is a monthly Halloween prop building contest requiring contestants to create a prop using a specified object.

This months’ contest required the use of a plastic bucket, the kind used for household chores such as mopping. My concept was to use the bucket as the base for a pair of large skeletal “Angels of Death” type of statues that will be displayed at the entrance to my cemetery.

The Sentinels were created… Continue

The Character Tombstones were created using Dow Supertuff-R Polyisocynanurate Insulation Foam, recycled cardboard and homemade papier mache clay.

The results are something like my pumpkins, tree faces mixed and mashed with some Jim Henson and HR Puffnstuff.

The largest tombstone stands 3 ½ feet tall while the two smaller tombstones stand about 2 ½ feet tall.

The resulting pieces were fairly easy to create and will add a fun and unique element to our Halloween cemetery.

This was a freebie pro… Continue

The last traces of Halloween 2008 have been packed away, overall we had a fun and successful yard haunt this year. Our ToT was about average, maybe a little low, but the number of spectators increased tremendously. It has been a fun year of building props and after a much needed break I will start thinking about next year.

Thank you to all the GoE members for the support and encouragement over the last couple of months, it really pushed me to keep motivated and get everything done, I hope all o… Continue

Rob's blog calling for creative help with tombstone names reminded me of this simple and effective method I use for coming up with names (words) to put on tombstones.

Use Latin words such as indomitus for fierce, formidinis for terror, mortis for death and so forth. They look great on tombstones and sound very ancient and evil. Don't know Latin..no problem, use this English to Latin online translator to get whatever you want.

Granted you will probably be the only one that knows what the words… Continue