Oh Look, Natalya Made a Mosaic (Updated October 2018)

[Zupponn]

You could probably sell that one for quite a bit seeing as it's Zelda related and how good it looks.

Also, TARS for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

[Sir Sporktimus]

You could probably sell that one for quite a bit seeing as it's Zelda related and how good it looks.

Also, TARS for Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

Seconded.

[Natalya]

WIP

[Tzan]

What sorcery is this! The car perspective matches the ground!

Nice job on the paint color too.

[Natalya]

Okay I've gotten a lot further. But I'm still not done.

I actually need some help here. I'm having trouble figuring out the background. I might just go with some trees and shit like this one. I have some nice greens I can use and whatnot. Usually next to a road there is grass first before the trees.

But I kinda don't want to do the exact same thing again. An idea I had was to do more of a long distance background. Some grass right next to the road but then like fields extending off towards some low mountain range that goes across the horizon, as though the road is through a valley. I'm picturing the view if you're on I90 in western New York looking to the south, if anyone knows what I'm talking about. Maybe a barn or a tiny house far away. But I'm stuck when it comes to drawing it.

Any suggestions for what I should do? I feel like trees close to the road would be a cop-out. But I'll do them if I have to, it will still look good anyway.

[Tzan]

Before you cut any glass.
Trace the open area you have onto paper.
Draw out each option with pencil.
Anything you are thinking of changes once it gets drawn, so have thoughts in mind, but draw all of them.
You should have 5 to 10 pencil sketches of that area before you do anything else.

[Natalya]

This is the original picture.




This is a picture of a Tesla from nearly the same perspective.




Here are my drawings. (The are to scale but not at 100% size.) The first two are variations on the original picture. The third one is with the background that the Tesla had. I think I like #3. I wouldn't make the sky so boring as this one though. But it might be hard for me to get the perspective down, like objects in the distance need less detail than closer ones so I'll have to figure a way to detail the closest stuff if I go with it.

[Valiant]

You're doing a great job here mate. Wish I could draw like you can.

[Natalya]

Naw, I traced the car on the computer screen to do those drawings lol.


Okay look at this one:



I just finished this one. It's made up of scraps, most of which are from the Trans-Am. I normally don't have 2 going at once, but the volume of scraps I had floating around demanded that something be done with them. I sold it already, like before the grout was even dry. 10" x 6.625"

[Tzan]

If you wanted a building in the background, you should try and keep the top of the roof at least a half inch below the top of your board.
Like you mentioned, anything in the far background would be difficult because the pieces would be so small to get the detail.

Last time when you did bushes the glass was large.
It might be interesting to create texture by doing areas of large glass and areas of small.
So greenery small, ocean and sky larger, not super large, maybe no larger than the largest car piece, and the green areas smaller.

If you go with ocean, maybe put in one or two rocky chunks in the water, not at the horizon, fairly small, sketch it first.
You could find coastal rock images off the coast of Oregon.

[Valiant]

Where do you get the materials for your mosaics?

[Natalya]

I go to a small stained glass store. Everything you see for the above piece and the Trans Am is stained glass or mirror glass. All other supplies can be purchased at Home Depot. The Trans Am is on concrete backer board laminated to wood. (Plywood was glued to it then clamped over night.) You can read about how to use CBB here:

www.mosaicartsupply.com/mosaic-tile-backers.aspx

You can also just use straight plywood especially for smaller pieces. The abstraction above is on straight wood. Cut a piece, glue it down, then when done grout the whole thing.

[Zupponn]

I am Grout.

[Tzan]

Nice

[Natalya]

Okay, check it out. I finished it. Super happy with it. Note: The wheels and headlights are actually mirror glass so they are really shiny, the camera angle just made them dark in this picture.

Click on the picture for a bigger version if you want.