One thing I have always enjoyed about decorative painting is the variety of surfaces. I love all the different shapes. Many times for me, just looking at a shape gives me an idea of what to put on it. This happened to me when I was looking into the recycle bin at these two different shaped bottles. I immediately saw bunny bodies.
I envisioned using Styrofoam balls for their heads and QuikWood (QW) to create the details. I applied pieces of newspaper with DecouPage to the bottles. Once it dried, I covered the bottles with a coat of Gesso.
Then began the process of adding the head and sculpting the details. I chose a Styrofoam ball that is in proportion to the size of the bottle. For the rectangular bottle I used a 2 1/2″ ball and for the larger bottle I used a 3″ ball. Since this was my first attempt, I used the bottles the way they were made. If I did it again, I might cut off a part of the top of the large bottle with a hack saw to make the neck shorter.
The first thing I did was sculpt the ears and let them cure. Again, I made the ears in proportion to the size of the bunny. Of course, bunnies can have all different size ears so don’t over-think it. To make it easier you can download the pattern below. Lay a piece of parchment paper over the pattern and follow the instructions on the video. For the larger ears I used 1/2″ of QW and divided it in two. For the medium ears I used 3/8″ of QW and divided it in two.
Video for making ears:
If you want to make the bunnies a little heavier, you could add some sand or stones to the bottles before adding the heads. I did not add anything to mine.
Once the ears are cured, I pushed the Styrofoam ball down on top of the neck of the bottle. I then covered the head with clay and inserted the ears.
For the large head I used 3″ (2″ to start and then 1″ rolled into a 6″ coil to finish) of QW to cover it and for the medium head I used 2 1/4″ (1 1/2″ to start and then 3/4″ rolled into a 5″ coil to finish) of QW.
I then added the feet and the tail. For the larger bunny I used 1″ of QW for the tail and 1″ divided it in two for the feet. For the medium bunny I used 3/4″ of QW for the tail and 3/4″ divided it in two for the feet.
I them added a muzzle using 1/2″ of QW for the large bunny and 1/4″ of QW for the medium bunny.
Once you have your sculpting done you will want to cover the QW with a coat of DecoArt Adhesion Medium mixed 1:1 with DecoArt paint. I usually use Oyster Beige because it is a little lighter than the QW and I can see where I painted. If you haven’t already done so, you will want to paint the paper with gesso.
I then sketched out how I was going to dress my bunnies.
At this point you could decide if you want any more sculpted details. I begin painting my bunnies and then decided to add a few more details. I used DecoArt paint for my bunnies. I recommend using your favorite colors.
I then decided to add a flower and carrots to the square bunnies and arms and a heart to the larger bunny.
Once they were painted, I gave them a light coat of DecoArt matte varnish. I then added a few embellishments.
Once I finished these bunnies, I started seeing other containers that could be bunnies as well.
I hope you will have fun creating more up-cycled bunnies. If you create some, please send me pictures at alandjanie@msn.com and I will add them to the bottom of this post.
Happy Spring, Happy Easter!
Hugs,
Jane
