GOLDEN CALF

I created this Golden Calf head mount during my time at the Santa Fe Opera. The base was sculpted entirely out of styrofoam and then covered with a layer of cheesecloth and thinned out flexbond.

The next step was several layers of joint compound, sanding down blemishes between each coat. Afterwards I used AquaResin as a hard topcoat, before applying sizing and gold leaf onto the entire piece. A final layer of clear shellac was applied with a paint sprayer, before mounting the head on a wooden plaque for display. You can see between the 7th and 8th photos that the shellac did give the piece a warmer color and dulled the shine a bit, but it was necessary to protect the leaf underneath.