making the mushroom.- surface texture experiments

After deciding on the type of mushroom I was going to make I decided to experiment with different materials to discover how suitable the material would be for my intended outcomes and to find out what techniques and processes could be used to achieve different outcomes.

materials used

wire
wire mesh
paper mache
plaster
model magic
tissue paper

I made a rough design of how I was going to make the mushroom.

I did this because the mushroom was so large the only way to see if it would work would be to make it, so I had to plan how i would arrange the wire to get the shape i wanted.
I then covered the wire with wire mesh and stuffed the mushrrom with scrap paper old plastic bags to fill it out. then i paper mached over it so it would have a hard surface.

After I had made it I experimented with different techniques of making the different textures for the mushroom to see which material would be the most approprite.

Mushroom surface experiments

painted paper mache

I used different shades of red paint over paper mache to add a textured surface to the mushrrom so that it looked real. I added spots using white paint.

Quality and suitability of material

I have chosen paint and paper mache to experiment with because I think it will be good for making a realistic looking mushroom, due to the texture that paper mache has and the potential of paint to make any shade of colour i like. I think that paper mache is good to use because it can be manipulated to make rough texture depending on how it is layed on the surface and it drys hard and combined with paint it can aoppear to have a shiny finish like the mushrooms in the moodboards.

Potential and limitations of material

Paper mache is perfect for making thin layers of texture on an object however if areas of the object need to be built up with paper mache it may not be suitable because thick areas of paper mache take longer to dry and are not as rigid as the thin layers.

Visual communication and appropriateness

I think that the use of paint in this experiment visually communicates that the mushroom is real because of the shiny surface, however i do not think that the paper mache would communicate this to the audience as it looks a little rough because there is too much texture and i wanted the mushroom to be smooth. I do not think that this material is appropriate for my design because of this.


Foam

I experimented with sticking black foam spots to make the spotted texture.

I then painted them to add colour to see the potential and suitable of the experiment.

Quality and suitability of material

I have chosen foam to experiment with because It can be easily cut out and stuck down is easy to paint and is not totally rigid so it can look realistic and help to achieve the effect that i want.

Potential and limitations of material

Foam is perfect for making detail that needs to be flat because of how the material naturally stays in shape, however it is quite thick and may not be suitable for making realistic detail that needs to be bent into shape because it springs back to its original shape.

Visual communication and appropriatness

I think this texture experiment looks a little to simple and unamaginitive because of the perfect circular shape of the foam. This will not help to visually communicate the realism i want with the design of the mushroom. If i used this texture it would not be appropriate for my target audience because of the perfect round shape, i think an older audience would not appreciate this shape as it does not communicate how a real mushroom texture looks because a real texture is not perfect.

Model magic- surface

For this experiment I have covered the surface of the mushroom with model magic and then wet the model magic so that it cracked.

I then painted it after it had dried using red acryllic paint.

I experimented with using small peices of model magic to stick onto the surface to create the mushroom texture. when making the small parts of texture i looked at my mushroom moodboard to make sure that the texture was like the real mushroom and that it was layed out on the surface the same.

Quality and suitability of material

I have chosen model magic to experiment with because It can be manipulated into any shape and is easy to work with.I think that model magic is a good material to use because it is so versatile and can be using for covereing surfaces or adding detail.It also sticks to things well espeicially itself.

Potential and limitations of material

Model magic is perfect for making things that need to be a particular shape because it molds well into anything . It does however dry out quickly making it useless after that so it has to be worked with quickly.Model magic may not be good for making things that need to be moved becaus eit cracks but it is perfect for making props that stay still.

visual communication and approppriatemess

I think that the model magic in both cases really helps to communicate the message that it is a real mushroom because of the way I have paid attention to the arrangement of the detail on the real mushroom and the exact shape of the detail. I think that this method is the most appropriate methos of making the mushroom texture.

Finishing the mushroom cap

Now i had deided which method was most appropriate for my model and particularly for my target audience I decide to finish off the top of the mushroom using the method i felt worked the best.

I looked at my mushroom moodboard while i did this to make sure it looked real enough for my target audience.

here are some images of the progress Of the top of the mushroom as it developed.

This is my final mushrrom top it shows the comparison to the real mushrooms from the moodboards.