Haunted House - created with Gallery Glass - 24"x36" Poster Frame

Last year I created this display for the Plaid Lobby. You still have some time to make it, if you are quick! I got the idea from a clipart.com illustration but did some serious altering to make it suitable for leading and paint. Look closely at the original drawing. I enlarged the design many times on the copier to fit the poster frame and then altered the lines of the design as I leaded with a Tape Tip. Even before I painted it, I made some corrections to the "neighboring houses" that appeared in the lower corners. I leaded a bush to fill in the space. I also cleaned up some of the confusion in the sky among the branches--pulling some of them up and adding new lines that made more sense.

The problems I encountered during the painting phase were new challenges for me-- because I don't ever remember painting something that needed to look OLD! I'm not smart enough to "age" the project as I painted it, so I cheated. I painted it with normal colors, then I "distressed" it with Copper Metallic. Here is a picture of it before the distressing. As a co-worker pointed out--"it's too pretty, it makes you want to live there!" That's not a particularly desirable comment to have made about a Haunted House. So I began working to make it more ominous. I first took Copper Metallic and topically applied it to the porch railings in a random "woodgrain" pattern. Then, I decided that the concrete porch looked too clean, so I applied the CM in lines to look like boards. Then the door looked much too clean, so I streaked it on the door. Then I realized that the Copper Sparkle on the turret and the fishscale shingles was much too bright, so they were next. That only left the sides of the house and --you guessed it, CM, why not? Then the co-worker said that we needed at least one bat--so I added it to the less cluttered sky area.

I think that it looks appropriately scary. But don't let it SCARE you away from the project. You can do it. Let me know if you figure out how to do the distressing--as you go. I want to share your ideas with our readers, even though I'm sure that I don't want to attempt this subject again. It frightens me to think about it!

Now, don't you dare write in and tell me you liked it better BEFORE I distressed it!

FolkArt Extreme Glitter Supplies: 2797 Extreme Glitter Black, 2791 Extreme Glitter Purple, 2792 Extreme Glitter Red, 2794 Extreme Glitter Emerald, (red and green were mixed equally together to make a brown Extreme Glitter for the tree.
Gallery Glass Supplies: 16004 Sunny Yellow, 16005 Orange Poppy, 16003 Cameo Ivory, 16096 Celedon Green, 16459 Italian Sage, 17054 Copper Metallic (discontinued), 16422 Copper Sparkle, 16421 Silver Sparkle (discontinued), 16094 Champagne, 16024 Ivy Green, 16076 Black Liquid Leading.
Sorry, I didn't color key the pattern, but this is basically what I did. The tree is all Extreme Glitter. I mixed the Red and Emerald together to get a brown because EG doesn't come in brown. Then alternated between the Black and "Brown" on the trunk. The grooves were done with Purple.
The railings are Cameo Ivory. The walls are Celedon Green and the door is Italian Sage. The porch floor is Silver Sparkle. The fishscale shingles and turret are Copper Sparkle and the roof is Copper Metallic. Windows are Sunny Yellow and Orange Poppy. Distressing is Copper Metallic and the background is Champagne. (Charcoal might have been a better choice for sky.)
In case you're wondering about the "green" pattern. The styrene still had the green plastic on the back.