Ep. 133 THE MOSAIC FACE OF ST. MATTHEW & FINISHING A TROPICAL FISH MOSAIC!

Ep. 133 THE MOSAIC FACE OF ST. MATTHEW & FINISHING A TROPICAL FISH MOSAIC!

Hey Everyone! Welcome to my studio!

0:18 I show some key areas to consider on the lower face - the filtrum and the mentolabial crease (I had to look that one up and probably mispronounced it.)
0:45 I get after it! Starting with the filtrum area, I give the nose some shadow and lay in a darker glass for the upper lip. Eventually I decide to add the defining line between the lips and have to cut back some of the upper lip to make room.
1:50 Now I'm working on the cheekbones, adding pinkish tones to indicate youth and definition. The face is outlined with dark brown to give it definition from a distance. A few areas at the hairline are finished up also.
2:37 I finish the lower lip and add a shadow line, then tackle that crazy mentolabial crease. The right side of the lower jaw is finished off with some nice mid-skin tones. (#2 on my scale) Then the left cheek is wrapped up.
4:27 It's the next day, and I finish up the lower left side of the face.
5:00 Yay! Time to work on this gorgeous tropical fish mosaic. I have pre-cut several blue textured strips of glass to ensure that the texture is running in the right direction. I often spread out the piped thinset so it is not such a thick layer. I am loving the bright colors on this little guy!
6:16 I add some green bits as I start the tail. These pieces are splayed out and longer to give it a frilly fin look. Back to the body, I fill in from the mid-section up to the top with the textured blue glass.
7:36 Now I work on the orange coloring at the top of the body. It moves from a yellowy orange to an orange orange. Next, I tackle the top fin, which has the same textured glass. Then finally, the lower fin with more of the same blue glass. It is not quite the same as the tropical blue of the inspiration image, so I ran it past my client to make sure she approved! DONE! Now I point out the bits of irridized glass around the eye and the edges of the fins.
9:15 I share my set up with tools and materials, reference photo, a paper towel under my thinset bag. TIP: Place a finger bowl and towel to keep everything tidy as you are working with thinset!
10:10 I start in on St. Matthew's neck, adding shadow under the chin and moving to more skin tones as I move down. I add an adam's apple with the lightest skin tone, and pop some pinks in there to give him a healthy look.
11:09 I make a judgement call and decide to deviate from my reference photo to make the ears more symetrical. The change takes place on the right ear, rounding it out and bringing it down to match the other side more.
12:01 I draw in hair lines with my sharpie to follow when laying in glass. The hair is an auburn color, so I add different shades of brown and orangey brown. Then one last look at St. Matthew and the tropical fish!
That's Putting It Together, Ep. 133! Thanks for watching. See you next time.

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