This is a continuation on my last post of the same title, but no, I'm writing this not because there're new "members" joining my room, just that 2 of my "room mates" had gone for a bit of a makeover. They are: Miss "Qing Yi" and "Lao Da"!
For Miss "Qing Yi", I've repainted her face, so now she no longer look dirty and shabby. Sad to say, I wasn't able to cover the crack on her face no matter how much white primer I use. Actually painting Teochew wire puppets are very difficult, because of the painting techniques used. As in typical traditional face paintings used in Teochew dolls and puppets, a very firm hand and a very fine brush is needed in order to draw some really ultra-thin and smooth lines. As you can see, my skills weren't there, and there's visible signs that my strokes were a bit too strong. Luckily, it wasn't too serious to be really considered a damage. Other than painting her face, I've changed the attached on hair behind her back too. Originally, there was only a piece of black cloth (already in bad condition) behind her back, simulating the long tassled silk thread hair-piece that hua dans wore when they dress up in "da tou". I thought the black cloth looked real ugly, so I snipped it off, and replaced it with a tassle of black embroidery threads I've made myself, and I think she looked better now. The next thing which I think need to be done on her, is to gibe her a new set of costumes, which could be a problem as I don't know embroidery, and removing her current costume off her body could be a problem as it has been glued and nailed firmly over her wooden body.
As for "Lao Da", I've given his face a new coat of paint too, as the original paintwork was simply too ugly, and slightly chipped too. I think I did a better paint job on "Lao Da", because of the bigger surface area of the head. After redoing his paint, I've also re-threaded the strings, as I found the colour of the original white threads an eyesore, and also the positions on the marionette whereby the various threads were attached too were a bit not ideal. Now I think "Lao Da" looked more visually pleasing with this new set of paint and strings!
For Miss "Qing Yi", I've repainted her face, so now she no longer look dirty and shabby. Sad to say, I wasn't able to cover the crack on her face no matter how much white primer I use. Actually painting Teochew wire puppets are very difficult, because of the painting techniques used. As in typical traditional face paintings used in Teochew dolls and puppets, a very firm hand and a very fine brush is needed in order to draw some really ultra-thin and smooth lines. As you can see, my skills weren't there, and there's visible signs that my strokes were a bit too strong. Luckily, it wasn't too serious to be really considered a damage. Other than painting her face, I've changed the attached on hair behind her back too. Originally, there was only a piece of black cloth (already in bad condition) behind her back, simulating the long tassled silk thread hair-piece that hua dans wore when they dress up in "da tou". I thought the black cloth looked real ugly, so I snipped it off, and replaced it with a tassle of black embroidery threads I've made myself, and I think she looked better now. The next thing which I think need to be done on her, is to gibe her a new set of costumes, which could be a problem as I don't know embroidery, and removing her current costume off her body could be a problem as it has been glued and nailed firmly over her wooden body.
As for "Lao Da", I've given his face a new coat of paint too, as the original paintwork was simply too ugly, and slightly chipped too. I think I did a better paint job on "Lao Da", because of the bigger surface area of the head. After redoing his paint, I've also re-threaded the strings, as I found the colour of the original white threads an eyesore, and also the positions on the marionette whereby the various threads were attached too were a bit not ideal. Now I think "Lao Da" looked more visually pleasing with this new set of paint and strings!
