Rocks.....
As I Hope you can Imagine, Dear Readers, with the Completion of the Chapel and the near approach of The Halloween Tale, the question of whether to rush into the painting of the rocks on The Castle Facade became a major decision. There it stood, suddenly (after nearly 16 years) ready for the facade to be painted with those faux rocks. Was there enough time to get it all done so it could be featured in the Halloween Tale? It would not do to have it only partly completed.... it was an all or nothing decision. And with my history of "wandering off the path...." there was a real concern that if it was not done Now... how long would it be before I got around to it....? Did it matter? Well, you have no idea how I have longed to see The Castle looking like the Dream I have.... the Temptation to just get going and see what happened was overwhelming. So I started right away drawing the lines.... can you see them there cris-crossing The Castle Facade? No....?
How about if we come a little closer.....
all those rows, the "courses" had to be measured and drawn
before I could start with the painted lines.
You will remember me mentioning the need to make sure
the courses on the Chapel Tower matched the ones
on the already painted side of The Lord's Tower.
This was so the courses would be even across the front
and line up correctly with the ones on both ends of The Castle.
This mattered a great deal to me.
My "rocks" might be "faux" but they need to appear
to go around the corner as if they were really a bulky rock!
Well, drawing the lines took me several hours,
and when I was finished I decided to get started right away
on the painted lines which define the rock pattern for the whole Castle.
It has gotten dark, so I have used the flash to show you
the lines progressing steadily up the facade.
I needed to get all the horizontal lines done
before beginning on the vertical ones,
because they would need to be measured and
spaced separately after the courses were laid out.
You can see them all laid out here,
except for the crenelations.
But this is as far as I got.
It is very exacting work to paint a "straight" horizontal line
(mine wobble a bit here and there)
and the body has to be contorted to reach the proper places....
The Castle was not going to move to make it easier for me!
The following morning I got started laying out
the correct spacing for the vertical lines,
again starting at the bottom and matching the
"rock" sizes that were originally established on the back wall.
In general the courses have a "one over two and two over one"
pattern.... the standard model.
I did not draw the verticals all the way up at the beginning
because it gets confusing around windows.
Much better to "build it organically"
and paint the verticals one course at a time,
being aware of the ideal spacing as you go.
I drew the lines for two or three courses then painted them.
This took a long time.
My body could only take so much
sitting or kneeling on the floor at a stretch...
it required breaks!
By the end of the day I had accomplished
this much and called it a day.
The next day I continued.
It is perhaps even more difficult to paint
a truly straight vertical line with no "guide"...
this is all freehand painting!
The angle of the brush to the
surface you are painting matters hugely.
It has to be held "in the line of direction"
and drawn steadily downward....
for a short little distance... no further!
And the surface is uneven and full of gaps
and openings that need to magically disappear
with the painting over them.
You simply must not rush....
breathe very slowly and make a line....
then another ..... then another.....
you get the idea.
It is a bit numbing.
But just keep going and you can see the progress!
Only the Great Hall crenelations are not yet painted here.
And here the rocks have all been laid out in their neat rows....
just waiting for the "texture" to be filled in.
But it was getting late again....
All I could manage to do that evening was to
"bring the corner rocks around to the front....
making sure that those rocks' patterning matched
what was already on the Tower sides previously painted.
You wouldn't want to see a corner rock
that was a dark shade on one side and a faint swirl on the other....
it is essential that they are the "same kind"
of rock on the other side of the corner.
Fortunately, texturing the rocks is a really slap-dash process.
As the amount of paint in the brush gets used up
and the bristles get drier, you can jump to
a different rock that wants a "lighter" texture.
When it gets really dry-ish you can
make a faint smudgy appearance...
it is just a matter of varying the overall tonality
and the surface appearance.
Lots of variety and try not to have it look too much
the same on any two consecutive rocks.
Here the Chapel Tower is all textured...!
It started to feel really exciting
to see the rocks taking shape before my eyes!
Until....
There stands the Castle!
But at this point, Dear Readers,
I was scrambling to get The Halloween Story all photographed....
there was no time now for the Grout....
I had to hang the background fabric......
(an old bed-sheet)....
And the "glitter mist"......
that heavily glitter dusted tulle mesh....
and I had to tell the Tale....
Which as you can Imagine, takes a while.
And then it sat like that for a week
while I recovered from the chaos....
of Telling Tall Tales....
Oh, how I Love this Castle!
But you might have noticed that there were
no grout lines painted on the facade.
Yes, it looks fabulous as it is.... in the pictures...
but up close it looks still incomplete....
and all the other sides of The Castle
have their grout lines painted.
Such a simple little detail.... in theory.
But it is challenging to do!
Another week went by...
I had to talk myself into doing it....
"Just get started" I told myself.....
"You'll feel so much better..." I said.....
"You know it has to be done..." said I....
So I did.
Can you see the beginning down there
at the bottom left hand corner....?
Can you see it now....?
You have to paint a thin white line
down the center of every single dark gray line...
don't even think about it...
just concentrate on that one tiny bit of line
along the very bottom where the Castle sits on the base.......!
Yeah, my knees get sore..... my hips get sore....
my legs fall asleep... my back aches.....
just keep painting .... shuffle over a few inches....
just keep painting.... don't spill the paint water....
and when you get to the end of the row...
get up and go back to the beginning and start the next row...
like those old type-writer plattens...
zinging back to the other side of the paper...
row after row after row.
Can you see here the bottom three rows have their grout lines done?
Just the horizontals, not the verticals yet.
The hand gets used to the sideways direction...
so it is best to not confuse it with too much switching of directions.
Once I had done the bottom "story" of The Castle horizontal rows
I did the vertical ones in between the rows.
This is as far as I got on that day.
You can see the grout shifts the "tone" of the rocks....
it diminished the darkness of the outlines.
But this is more noticeable in process
than at the end when it becomes seamless.
And yes, Dear Readers, on the next day I do it all again.....
same process, slightly different angles and aches
and discomforts as the rows climb slowly higher.
Here the horizontals have been completed to the halfway mark...
(not including the crenelations...) but the verticals have not.
And now the verticals are also done....
but my arm has had it for the day!
And the next day sees us reaching the top of the Great Hall....
about three quarters done now!
But, yes... I am done for the day too.
I have reached the part where it is above my shoulder level...
and I need to crick my neck to look up
and keep those lines in line.....!
We call it a day (Me Myself and I ).
I took a couple of days off from painting
to clean my garden up for winter...
they are threatening us with snow tonight....!
And then I continued with the lines this morning.
Now I have to get out my step ladder to paint the crenelations...
And then suddenly.....
we are done with the grout lines!
And Oh My Heavens!
There's a Castle in my House!
Let me Introduce you to "Greystone Keep"!
Ah, Dear Readers, I am nearly speechless....
But I think you can agree...
This Castle Rocks!
