Revised Japanese Yuzen hexagon oil painting with frame

DIY Project, Painting/Drawing, , , , , , , , , , ,

After the first experiment with Japanese Yuzen style hexagon painting, I don’t like the way it frames. It is flat as my planned but it is not easy to put hanger on the back. My original thought was to use mounting tape but I think I can do it more straightforward and make it ready to hang. So I revise the design. I pick the cradled hexagon shape wood panel from Kuzzly Design. And custom order of hexagon frame with the measurements from cradled wood panel. Chris, the owner of Minnesota Makerspace has done a fabulous job of making the size right. I was worried that the inside of the frame wouldn’t fit the cradled wood panel well. But he made the frame just right and I am so happy about it. 😀

Hexagon frame

Left side is the raw wood frame. I ask Chris to leave it raw so I can put my own finish. Right side is the finished frame with gold paint. The raw wood frame goes through–>

  • Layers of Shellac.
  • Layers of white primer (sanding as needed).
  • More layers of gold paint (sanding as needed).

Cradled hexagon wood panel

The cradled wood panel comes in two pieces. So it goes through–>

  • Glue two pieces together.
  • Layers of shellac.
  • Spray paint on the backside.
  • Glue on linen canvas on top.
  • Clean up the edges.

I paint this one in bamboo design with kagome pattern.

Assembling two parts

Once the painting is touch dry. I can’t wait to put these two parts together. Well, I SHOULD wait a little longer but I was really eager to see how it looks in the end. As you can see in the pictures, the surface of cradled wood panel and frame are meant to be flush. I want it to look like a tile so the frame will not go over the wood panel. On the backside, I use tiny L shape brace to secure it. This is the smallest L shape brace I can find online. At first I thought I only need 3 of them in the middle on every 2 sides. But in reality, I need one for each corner. Corner is more important than side in this case.

Once the wood panel is secured, I put on 2 fisheye screws by hand. The wood texture of the frame is soft, it is not that hard to install screws without tool. At last I put on a piece of wire so it is ready to hang.

Keep the shine

As I mentioned in my previous post, the varnish will dim the shine of the gold pigment. I had to paint all line works again to keep the shine. But I’m glad it looks as expected when it is on the wall. It goes flash on the back and doesn’t feel so bulky. Picture on the right is taken from lower left angle while the painting is on the wall.

Summary

This revised design is better than last one. The idea is to have multiple “tiles” like this for wall decoration. Currently I am working on next one with pumpkin design. I hope I can make a set, haha. It just takes a while.

PS: During the assembling process I accidentally made two shallow dent on the frame, I searched online “how to fix dent on wood” and got this iron trick. And I can’t believe it works! Well not for the coating part but the iron works~! √

I hope you enjoy this project.

©YueZeng2021

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My paintings are an outlet to express the imagination I have inside my head that I can not put into words. After trying many mediums, I always find myself coming back to paint and brushes. In my current artistic practice, I use oil paint and mainly create portraits of mythical creatures and animals transfixed in the shifting colours of seascapes and landscapes. There is a natural spirit and magic to these creatures and their energy draws me in. Choosing to paint these creatures as real living wildlife rather than abstractions, I use bold and vivid colours to express the imaginary intertwined with reality, finding magic between the seams. Using a saturated colour palette, I create bold and striking imagery, contrasted between foreground and background, subject and landscape, and light and darkness. Weaving their bodies and the surface of the landscape into each other through organic forms and flowing brush strokes, I find beauty, strength and innocence in these creatures that reflect my inner world.