I recently got a request for a mosaic-style artwork on a new custom 5’11" I’m currently shaping.
First time doing that type of style of artwork and I’m wondering if any of you have done something like that in the past, and if so, what methods you’ve used for best results?
The one I’m currently leaning most towards, is essentially taping the entire board…drawing lightly on pencil on top, then razor out (carefully, with a lot of patience) the shapes that will have colour in them…the remaining tape will then be the white spaces in between each shape…obvious downside of this approach would be the cutting into the foam (even if it’s very shallow), which might lead to colour bleeding later whether I do spray or resin colour…
Do it on the hotcoat and then seal the finished work with one of the many finishes that have been recommended on this site over the years. No cutting foam and and easier medium to tape. Less bleed etc, you can also airbrush or Posca pen around the outed edge of each color.
You could also take your design to a “quick-sign” type shop, and they can cut it in vinyl (sticky one side) with a cnc, might be worth the cost to save you the tedium of hand cutting your stencil, depending on the complexity of the design. Also gives you the option of drawing it smaller and just have it cut full size.
Another option that might be very cool is to cut colored fabric into small pieces and actually create a mosaic with the pieces, you could lam them onto the foam before glassing. Might even try that myself, as I like creating mosaics, although tile is my usual medium.
