Saturday, July 14, 2012

Clock Uppidy-Do

I had originally bought this clock for my mom's room in assisted living, because it was large and had big numbers, which would be easy for her to read.  Now, it's back at my house, and not really my style.  I think it would be a terrific clock in my new studio, after it gets an uppidy-do.

I took the clock apart, and painted the face with gesso.  Since I didn't want to screw up the hands, by turning them on the top manually, I moved the hands from the back, when I needed them in another place.

I placed post-it-notes on the frame of the clock, with the matching numbers, since those numbers on the face would not be visible after I couple of layers of paint.

My goal is to make the clock face look vintage.  So I began with a layer of bright yellow acrylic paint and let it dry.  Then I painted a layer of red acrylic paint, and while it was still wet, I ran a rubber comb through it.  You can see through to the original color of the face, mixed in with yellow. 

Then I painted the donut portion with ultramarine blue paint, and ran the rubber comb (pictured) over this area, and trying to be pretty messy, having the paint run into the red.  Then I waited for it to dry.

I painted the overall surface with a teal colored paint, and then combed the entire face, going in many different directions.
Okay,  this is cool, and perfect for my project, since I am going for a vintage look. I used lime green acrylic paint, because it is a complimentary color to the background.  The rubber comb ran over some of the circles.  'Retro Comets' 9x12 stencil by Stencil Girl Products

This is a laser copy of some of my 'heavy metal' artwork, zippers and all.  I cut this up and applied it to the face of the clock with matte medium.  This helps create the look that I am going for, and I can paint some of the numbers on this paper base.

I painted the numbers with white acrylic paint.  I also painted some circles in white, just for fun.  Then added more laser color copies of lettering to spell out the word A R  T, applied with matte medium.  The added touch of black paint lightly smudged with a paper towel and a paint brush.  Click on it to see it larger.

I removed the post-it-notes, but a battery in the back of the clock and set the correct time.

And it looked better without the glass, so I put the frame on, and here it is!  I am thrilled with how it looks, but I think I  not pack it, but will hand carry it to my new studio!  Counting down the days!   Hop on over to The Sketchbook Challenge blog for the theme circles, where my clock and other projects will be.

13 comments:

  1. Love it, 200% better. Thanks for showing up your steps.

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  2. Brilliant Jamie! Love it!

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  3. love it. you have inspired me, i have many of these clocks as i have a "thing" about knowing what time it is and refuse to wear a watch.

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  4. Love it, so much better and so much fun to have in your studio.

    Debbie

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  5. Love it, you do my stencil proud :) And that laser copy of your heavy metal artwork totally rocks!!

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  6. That is such an awesome clock! Now I want to resurrect my old wall clock! Thanks for the inspiration!

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  7. I am a new follower - love how your mind works:-)

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  8. Wow- lovely to see the process

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  9. The alterations make the clock so totally you...and a million thanks for sharing the details of the process.
    Kristin

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  10. Love the clock! What a transformation.

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  11. An ace uppidy do.......and a great word for it too lol

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  12. I thoroughly enjoyed watching the transformation. What fun!

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  13. This is awesome...
    LOVE it!!

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