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Adding Sculpt Nouveau Iron Coating to the Raven Sculpture

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The raven got its iron coat yesterday, and now it really does look like it was made out of cast iron. I think it turned out rather nice. Let me know what you think.

If you’re interested in Jessie’s art class that I mentioned in the video and you’d like to see if there’s any places left, click here.

The post that shows how the raven was made, using my new Silky-Smooth Air-Dry Clay recipe, is here:

And if you’d like to play around with the new air dry clay recipe, you can find it here:

This is a pretty low-key video – I woke up at 3 am this morning, and couldn’t get back to sleep. I think I may go take a nap now…

Closeup of "iron" raven wing.
Closeup of “iron” raven wing.

26 thoughts on “Adding Sculpt Nouveau Iron Coating to the Raven Sculpture”

  1. Hello, Jonni,

    I just wanted to let you know that your post on metal painting your raven was definitely a huge inspiration to me when I painted the horns on my Bull. Thank you for all that you do to inspire so many artists and makers! Lots of thanks! Jesse Fiest

    Reply
  2. Hi Jonni!
    I really need your help!
    I am making a sculpture for first time for my art class. My teacher gave us the direction and I already made it just have to do ‘paper mache’ which I don’t know how to do and how long I have to keep!
    Is there any other way, I can contact with you? like emailing?

    Reply
    • Tamin, there’s a contact link at the very top of every page on the site. There are also more than a hundred tutorials here, so you may find a fast answer by using the search bar. For recipes, click here.

      Reply
  3. Thanks Jonni!

    That does wonders for my confidence coming from a lady as talented as you!

    I have just started work on a small Africa Buffalo pedestal sculpture-I will post some pics as soon as the thing starts to look a bit like a Buff!

    Reply
    • Bwana, I can’t wait to see your buffalo. What beautiful beasts! And your work is always lovely. I can’t remember asking before, but I probably have – do you sell your sculptures?

      Reply
  4. Just shared your last two posts with my hubby (aka “H”). I really wanted him to see all that wonderful detail you got in the wings and tail. He was suitably impressed. He loved the photo-bombing kitty too, of course! 😉

    The finish came out very nice. Love those serendipitous effects, between the primer, iron and patina coats.

    Reply
  5. Jonni, in the new formula you say any brand PVC glue. So does it still hold on the old formula that it needs Elmer glue. I think that’s whatcyouvhave in the book, I am not home so I cannot recheck that. Does that mean you could use the Elmer school glue? I can always find it locally, but have to drive to ” town” to get the regular Elmer.

    Reply
    • Monica, Elmer’s Glue-All is a PVA glue. The Elmer’s brand isn’t available is some countries, so I always say that any other PVA glue will work. However, I’m not sure if Elmer’s School Glue is also a PVA glue, and I have never tried it to see if it will work with the recipe. Has anyone else out there ever experimented with it?

      Reply
      • Thanks Jonni, you are so kind to give of your time to help fellow artist. I had to laugh at my self over my “PVC” , that’s a drug , lol I think. I will start to google brands to try to find which are considered pva. I eagerly await the next product.

        Reply
        • Ok , let me say I hate spell correct, on my last post it was to read looking forward to the next “project”. I did some google research, elmers school glue is a pva glue, but not water proof and not as strong as glue all. I admire those willing to experiment but I am a chicken, so I would rather not my love and creations to the unknown. My issue was cost and availability. I told my husband about my post and he said why don’t you research bulk price. Wellll duhhhh, Lowes has 128 onces for $12 ish. This cuts my cost in half. This may be a no brainer for most people but I had never seem it bottled in that quantity .

          Reply
  6. Oops – I put in Jessie’s web address with .com.com at the end – I told you I was sleepy when I put that video together! Does anyone know how to edit a video without having to remove it entirely from YouTube and get a new page? I have a ton of YouTube subscribers, and I wouldn’t want them to get a brand new email with the same old video in it. ???

    Reply
  7. Hi Jonni,

    I love the Raven-you have done a great job on it-and the iron finish looks very convincing!

    Once again you have stirred my inspriration-I think I should get sculpting again and try out your latest recipe!

    Keep up the great work!

    Reply
  8. This raven is beautiful! I love the “iron” finish. Have you posted information on how you did the finish? You may have and I missed it. I really love it

    Reply
  9. Jonni this turned out wonderful. I really want to try this. I love the way the rust showed up too. Thanks so much. I have also told a few friends about your very interesting site and about your new recipe of paper mache.
    Thanks so much.
    Artis

    Reply

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