Shrink Plastic Triptych

Materials:

shrink plastic: white, black and translucent
Asian themed rubber stamps
fine grade sandpaper or sanding block
black and metallic gold heat-settable permanent inkpad
pastel chalks
2 wooden skewers
black hemp twine
gold rub-on highlighter
assorted black and brown-colored beads
strong adhesive or glue
small hand drill tool
heat sheet
black acrylic paint
paper cutter
craft knife
toaster oven or conventional oven

1. Lightly sand both sides of two full pieces of translucent shrink plastic.

2. Cut both pieces into the shape of a house using a paper cutter.

3. Cut one of the houses in half. This will produce the two outside panels (figure A).

4. Run a craft knife over several shades of yellow, orange, and rust colored chalks, flaking off bits of color onto both sides of the translucent shrink plastic (figure B). Rub the color onto the plastic with your fingers (figure C).

5. Stamp Asian rubber stamp images onto one side of the translucent plastic center triptych panel using the black heat-settable permanent ink (figure D). Stamp different Asian rubber stamp images on both of the side panels (figure E). Mask parts of the stamped images with scrap paper so that images do not overlap each other (figure F).

6. Shrink the translucent pieces in a toaster oven or conventional oven on top of a heat sheet.

7. Stamp an Asian lady rubber stamp in the middle of the white plastic oval and shrink the piece with a heat gun (figure G).

8. Cut out an oval piece of the black shrink plastic. Tip: Double the size you need before shrinking. Also cut out an oval piece of white shrink plastic that is approximately 3/4 inch smaller than the black piece.

9. Shrink the black oval plastic with a heat gun until it is soft and pliable.

11. Rub a little gold highlight on top of the impression in the black plastic and set aside to dry.

12. Lightly sand one side of the white oval plastic and apply a light coat of yellow ochre chalk.

13. Smooth out the edges of both ovals with the sandpaper.

14. Glue the white oval plastic on top of the black oval with a strong adhesive.

15. Drill small holes into the edges of the translucent plastic pieces so that they line up when placed side by side.

16. Paint the wooden skewers black with the acrylic paint and let dry.

18. Glue beads onto the top of the skewers (figure J), and hang beads from the loose black hemp twine.

19. Glue the layered oval plastic pieces to the middle of the center panel (figure K).

Website: www.chrisyoungart.com