This article will attempt to follow the process of creating a vignette that was a little intimidating to undertake. I have wanted to realize the scene from the time I first sculpted the Southern France Street. The intimidating part was that I would have to modify an existing figure or even try to sculpt a figure leaning out of the window. I am not a figure sculptor and not even a very good figure painter and I decided never to try, for fear that I might fail at the attempt.
I kept thinking about the idea however and when I created my latest set of water transfers themed to World War II Italy, I needed a subject to use them with. I finally decided to attempt this project with the anticipation of another fun wall to decorate.
The simple story being told in this scene is that of a couple of G.I.s' having received the order to "Pull Out" of the Italian town they have been comfortably holding for an extended time.
The graphics on the wall tell a little time table of the M.P.s' coming in and declaring the hotel "OFF LIMITS" and the painting out of the graphics as the tide of war shifts.
As time has passed since the liberation of the town, things have become a little more relaxed. The G.I. in the window has become quite comfortable in the upper floor room and perhaps has a companion inside with him. His buddy in the Jeep has gotten the word and it's time to say "good-bye" and get back in the game.
The whole scene starts with MPD-018 "Southern France Street" which will easily pass for a street in most any Italian town.
The base is large enough to accomodate a small vehicle and you only have to choose a color palette for the wall, roof tiles and cobblestones to give it a unique look.
The first step involves cutting out the recess for the upper window. The kit I used was one of our earlier castings, where the back was hollowed out a bit to conserve weight. Recent casts are created with a filler added to the resin so the weight is unchanged but the back is flat. The newer casts are just as easy to work with but you do need an electric drill to create a series of holes in the recess.
You may be able to break the piece out with a hit from a hammer or you can cut through the line of holes with a razor saw. Clean up the edges around the opening with a sanding stick (emory board) and don't worry too much about how clean it looks. It's supposed to be an old building.
I primed the pieces with the light gray I refer to in another article and the painting can start immediately. No particular reference was used here but I tried to get a little variation from light to medium as the paint ages on a large, flat surface.
Experiment and stop when the colors are looking "right" to you. You can dull the colors and add some age with washes after the graphics are added.
Speaking of graphics, I wanted the hotel sign to have a cleaner, white background, so I masked off an area and painted white as a background color on the wall. The graphic has a clear background so you can choose any number of colors to paint and make the sign unique. I tried to get the background shape as close as possible to the dimensions of the sign but it's really not necessary. You can paint a larger area white, add the sign and come back with the wall color very easily.
The wall has a wash of burnt umber already and the texture becomes more pronounced with the forced shadows the wash creates.
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