Quite A Lot...!
It took a couple of tries, Dear Readers, to get the Rocks for the Crenelations lined up in a good pattern. They needed to be smaller than the rest of the rocks on the Castle, in order to fall right around the gaps. I need my Rocks to look like they would in RL, that is to say they obey the laws of physics... even though this is just a Miniature castle. Here you can see I have only the chimney rocks still to outline.
And I can't resist showing every step....
I hope it does not bore you!
You might notice that I am not covering over the wiring
that is "buried" in those channels.
This is to be sure I can find the wires if they ever need repairing.
This is the back side and will hardly ever be seen!
And Finally, it is time to start adding the "texture" to these "rocks"!
This is the "slap-dash" part....
I really do not spend time on the texture.
I am interested in the darkness of the "rock" more than anything else.
There needs to be some darker and some lighter rocks
spread throughout the whole structure.
There needs to be some contrast, but not too much...
just enough to differentiate the rocks from each other.
And the more "rocks" I painted....
The more I loved the look!
Oh my...! What a difference it makes!
Just the crenelations still to "rock"...!
And a closer view of the lower part....
(it is getting late and the light is fading...)
But... Oh my!
I just Love this Castle!
But we are not done yet......
We still have to add the grout.
But that needed to wait for morning......
In the fresh light of morning, Dear Readers,
I almost talked myself out of adding the grout lines.
I just loved it so much as it was.
But I checked my references....
(lots and lots of Castle picture books...)
And they agreed that Grout was needed!
This is Not a "slap-dash" process.
The very opposite, in fact.
It got off to a rough start...
it is hard to reach carefully into this narrow space
and lay a single white line down the center
of all the gray outlines!
And not get the white paint anywhere else...
even though the surface is rough
and the paint line needs to be continuous, not full of gaps.
Slow but steady... with a lot of rests to stretch the legs...
Because it is hard to squeeze in where I have to work.
I thought you might want to see...!
Slowly but surely.... here you can see the comparison...
part with grout and part without!
Slowly... slowly transforming the walls...
I, myself can't believe the difference it makes!
But I know I say this every time!
Can you believe this is just plywood?
The electrical box has all but disappeared!
(See the cracks...?)
It has become Grand... and imposing.....!
I can't tell you how impressed I am!
And I cannot believe I will have to turn this to face the Wall!
But this is, after all, just the back side of the Great Hall!
And now that I know what it will look like when I finish the front....
Well, Dear Readers, I can Dream, can't I?
Because I still have an awful lot of Rocks to paint!
WOW Betsy it is just wonderful. You are absolutely right that those last, tricky and tedious white grout lines makes a difference. The photos are just fabulous (I love seeing squeezed in between the castle sections - the things we do...!) but I am quite certain it is even more impressive in real life.
ReplyDeleteAnna x
Wow! The grout makes such a difference. Really amazing.
ReplyDeleteThe rocks look amazing. Now it looks like a real castle.
ReplyDeleteOhh my gosh what a difference. It has become a real spooky old castle! Hard to believe. Incredible amount of work, but so worth it!
ReplyDeleteLove,
Mom
The back side of the castle is indeed grand and majestic, Betsy! It's hard to believe that a slap-dash process can produce such realistic results, and the grout outlining process, though tedious and meticulous, seems imperative once you see the completed effect! It is just a shame that the castle cannot be displayed in the center of the room as it deserves to be, but what a magical surprise viewers will get if ever they should chance to see the back side! I can't wait to see this divine treatment on the front of the castle, but imagine with the arched opening doors, it will be even more special. It is lovely to think that once the castle facade is completed, you will get to be caught by it's loveliness every day as you pass by, reveling in your incredible skill and vision!
ReplyDeleteWhat I find to be the MOST Extraordinary is that you are doing all this with the castle standing upright rather than laying it flat on its side, which increases the difficulty and takes even more time to complete- even so: NOTHING has hindered your acceptance of the challenge of making it happen and OH HOW LOVELY your castle wall has turned out!!!! The highlighting of the grout lines has distinguished each course of the carefully laid stone and made them POP!
ReplyDeleteso
where's my sword 🗡so I may KNIGHT ♘ you- DAME BETSY,the undisputed ♕ of her castle!
Wow! I didn't realize how large the castle is before I saw you working on it in the photo. The grout makes the stones look more realistic.
ReplyDeleteWhat an impressive piece of work!
Hugs, Drora
Looking at your fantastic pictures I had some kind of sensation... a vision... All of a sudden it was pretty clear to me that picture 14 must become the main motif of this year's you-know-what-card being sent to honor a holiday which shall not be named. And no doubt that the special letter for 2021 would be "D"... for devotion! And of course also for "Damn awesome!!!" ;O)
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing to see the difference your painting technique makes when following your pictures. At the first pictures it still looks like painted plywood... but with every new painting step with the grout lines as the final touch the plywood vanishes from our perception and changes into solid, 3-dimensional rocks. The difference the grout lines make is incredible - and although it was so much work it was worth all the effort. Because even if the back side will hardly be seen we all know that stunning look is there... and I bet it gave you valuable experience when starting with the other sides. Wonderful, stunning work! Rock on, Betsy!
Hugs
Birgit
Wowwww.
ReplyDeleteCuando veo las escenas del castillo no he podido percibir las dimensiones.
A tu lado es enorme.
El acabado de la fachada se ve genial.
Un slaudo
The back of the castle has become grand and imposing indeed. If you ever get the chance to show this castle free standing noone can deny that this is a grand affair.
ReplyDeleteBy the time you have finished the other sides and the roof this dollhouse will be in a class of its own!
Wonderful work betsy. You may certainly feal proud for this!
Huibrecht