Thrifty Alternatives ..Building Foam Campers

[Wolffarmer]

Regarding Foamie decorating ... We Foamlings' , are faced with literally a "blank Canvas” at the end of the build ... and the decoration is like the icing on the cup cake ... Makes it “pretty” ... and yes , the more “complicated” designs/ murals/etc. do HIDE a lot of little sins’ ... the decoration becoming the main focus of the viewer, not the construction ... An “artistic distraction"... Just a few well placed stripes can make a plain Foamie Very attractive ... as seen above ^ on Mel’s Foamie ...

My blank canvas is in my head.

[GPW]

Transfer your blank canvas to a piece of paper ... that’s a Start eh !!! I just scribble away till I find something acceptable , erase the rest ...

[atahoekid]

OK, so to those who were wondering, yes I am 56 and as far as I know this is the only planet I've ever been on. Although I have been accused of being out in the ozone...

Here's what I really wanted on the side of the Road Foamie.



But my artistic skills are somewhat lacking. But maybe I could practice on paper and see if I can get close. In the meantime, I can be happy that the stripes which are really raised caps, hide the ugly seams in the fiberglass and at the corner of the panels

[Jack B.]

Okay. I shouldn't probably be telling you this little secret but getting that graphic onto the side of your trailer is way easy. How's that you might ask?

Getting it up to any size you want it is as easy as going to a Kinkos type shop and having it copied onto a piece of graph paper. Or scanning it into your computer and just print it out on graph paper. Then proceed to transfer the graphic to the side of your trailer one little square at a time using a pencil. Once you've got the squares all drawn you'll have a very close realization of what you started with. Smooth out the lines, chose the colors to use and proceed to "paint by numbers" until finished. Then sit back and accept the praise raining down on you ever so modestly.

This is as close to all thumbs foolproof as one can get. And if the proportions aren't to your liking you can stretch or squeeze the picture in any simple graphic program before printing to get the aspect ratio that pleases. If you have a fear of failing you could first try the technique on a piece of poster paper to get the hang of it before moving up to "the bigs".

Now that I've solved your little problem I had best get back to solving world hunger and getting rid of wars. Oh yeah, and finding another good rib joint.

Jack

[Jack B.]

After rereading my post I noticed that I left out a key element of the process. It's obvious I'm sure, but since I've tripped over my own shadow a few times, I never take anything for granted.

If your printed grid is say forty squares long, then what you would do is measure your trailer (or whatever) and then divide that number into forty squares long. Then you would also ditto that idea for the vertical. That's where the stretch and/or squeeze thing might come into play since tears can be longer looking than tall looking. Get my drift.

Okay, now I really must go get fitted for my new job. How does a pope keep from stepping on all that fabric anyhow?

Jack

[GPW]

Actually "The Wave” is pretty easy to do ... start with the Big shapes , then once you’ve got that right add the little bits ... You can grid it up , but an easier “commercial art” method is to take your picture and project it on the side of the trailer , then sketch it in , paint it ... All we old folks have a slide projector hanging around from that era...

Or you can tow it here and I’ll sketch it in for you (gratis ) .... Then it’s just like paint by numbers after that ...

[eaglesdare]

'IF' you had a projector, I agree with GPW that this 'could' be easy. Sketch in the shape, then use the Donna Dewberry method. My only problem I see with this, is keeping it 'wet' long enough to blend in your colors (since this is a whole lot bigger than something you would do for a house picture. I suppose you could do it in sections then?

[GPW]

Fortunately , “the Wave” is a graphic image ( I believe it was originally a wood block print ) .... so No blending necessary ... just a few colors ..

Old Artist saying ... The bigger the painting , the bigger the brush ... Gotta’ paint fast for those “blended" effects ...
You can see the images I showed above ^ are Flat areas , no blending ... Trying to keep it simple ...

[Wobbly Wheels]

Sacrilege maybe, but......I've got a buddy who's a signmaker and he can do that kind of stuff as a vinyl decal built up from strips up to 36" wide. I don't know what it would cost if you had to pay for it (I'm doing some work on his boat in exchange), but it's another way to skin that cat...
I'll probably just go to go with something simple like a blue band ending in a 'splash' motif, but I've seen some pretty intricate multi color designs come out of his shop....and the art is done digitally so you can play around with the image quite a bit to get it just right before committing it to the printer (plotter?).

Great for me since my artistic talent is maxed out at getting a vinyl decal to go on straight

[GPW]

Thing is we don’t know how Vinyl would stick to canvas ... But paint and canvas are made for each other ... Thing is to not get wrapped up in “details” , just a Nice Simple graphic design that looks Great from 20 feet away ... So tell Grandma her portrait in miniature on the side of the trailer just Ain’t gonna’ happen ... viz. It’s the “BIG” overall design that counts ... details are lost after 5 feet away ... Keep it Simple and anybody could paint it .... Even Grandma...
Just remember , help is always available here at Foamwarts' for those that ask !!!

[Wolffarmer]

GPW, do you know about this stuff?

Let's make a statue trailer

I sounds kind of interesting stuff. Probably not to great for us but thought I would ask someone that might know about it. I sure do now know anything other than what I read on that sight. Which omits price.

Randy

[GPW]

Not surprisingly , most Everything with “Art” on it is pretty pricy ... This looks like good stuff , I’ve never seen it before , which doesn’t mean much ... I’m Old school ... like everything else , somebody here needs to test it independently , and for durability , really over several years ... I don’t know any coverings that are really good for the Long Haul ... without re-coating ... but I got 13 years out of my Exterior Latex house paint (on the house ) ... that’s Plenty good enough for me ... likely i’d paint the Foamie something else before that time ... just a big ole’ foam box to decorate , whenever and whatever you choose , as often as is your whim/motivation /ennui ...

Note: Once you learn a little about this painting/decorating business , it gets pretty Easy , especially if you follow a “method “ ... how many of you have watched Bob Ross and his happy little trees ? That’s a “Method” .... a number of individual “steps” that when followed sequentially , produces the desired results ... You gotta’ trust me on this , I’ve been an Art teacher >40 years now and taught many folks how to paint ... Think about this ... "it’s so Easy , even a caveman can do it “ True !!! If you know how !!!!

[Wolffarmer]

That is one thing that has amazed me about the cave paintings in Europe. How did they do such great work? Where are the stick figures of a 4 year old?

Randy

[GPW]

Four year olds are taught how to do stick figures , by their peers . It’s a Kindergarten thing’ , an easy way for a teacher to show the kiddies how to draw by someone that also never actually learned to draw .. and it sticks ... with EVERYBODY !!! ... if you think about it , it’s a total Abstraction ...There are No lines in Nature ! Cavemen unknowingly painted the “shapes“ that they actually saw!!!

[Jack B.]

My problem with projectors is I'm always between the light and the target, or if you prefer - the rock and the hard place. I do stained glass and between me blocking the image and it being dim enough to need to work in the dark, the break it up into little pieces to transfer works pretty well for me if it's to be a bigger piece of work.

If there's an image you want to draw and you, like me, weren't born with the draw gene in place, you can try what my mom told me when I was a wee lad and had to draw a non-traced map of Norway for school. Look at the original, don't look at your hand and then move your hand according to what your eyes tell you. It worked pretty well for me on that and future projects. Got an A for the map by the way. I can't do it from realistic photos but I can go look at drawings and transfer them that way to paper. You do of course have to look at your hand whenever you pick up the pencil to start a new line.

Not a drawer but still can do the covered bridge from the Jon Nagy episode where he showed us how, step by step. Learn the steps and you can follow the method. In fact if you go to YouTube you can find several of his old episodes for viewing.

Jack