Warrior Nun Mug Painting Interview with @errorengine
OCS: Name/Twitter Handle/ a little about yourself?
@errorengine on Twitter and Instagram! The name comes from me also being an engineering student, and the inevitable errors in code, calculations etc. Warrior Nun has been a huge source of personal and artistic inspiration, so this is my first time making fan art or being part of a fandom. It's been amazing and I'm really grateful for the show and the community around it.
OCS: How did you decide to create this design?
A friend of mine wanted to go paint pottery way back in February and I had made the design back then, but we had to cancel a few times because of the weather and bad planning, so I've been "patiently" waiting to make this. I think the basic idea of having the halo behind or around the cruciform sword was something I saw from a tattoo design by @greeebbo (iirc?) but I wanted a much much simpler version that I would be able to paint. I may have been drawing my initial ideas in the margins of my notes for class. At first, I was going to have the sword wrap around the mug horizontally (as in the last picture), but my friends and I took a look at the pots the shop offers on their site, and the stein just seemed perfect! I think the idea to add the rays was from medieval vertical flags?
OCS: What happens if you mess up some of the paint? How would you fix that?
I think the shop I was at said that while you're painting all you have to do is wet a sponge and wipe the paint to clean it up! I think a wet brush might also work for more precision? But be careful because darker colours may stain more and it might also depend on the paint you use? I'm not sure but definitely ask the shop you visit if you want to try.
OCS: What was the hardest part?
The hardest part was definitely time! The paint I used needed three layers to be opaque (not for the black lines on top, but the yellow, blue, and black background) so that took some time, and especially the smaller details like the halo bumps and sword guard. Also holding it while painting it. I did the black last cause you can cover up mistakes with black, but also, I needed to hold on to the handle to paint the rest of it. When I painted the black I had to hold it by just sticking my hand on the inside and painting it held kind of upside-down.
OCS: What did you think about the reaction from the fandom?
The reaction is so cool to see! I had a great time making it and I had just put out the halo craft sheet (Link) and it was so cool to see other people get to make and have something, so I wanted to make the painting process as available as possible!
OCS: Any future projects planned?
A .png here and there, but if you scroll back on my Instagram I'm working on an embroidery project of the halo/OCS cross that is on the back of Ava's outfit! I'm planning on putting it on the back of a jean jacket, perhaps with a surprise if things turn out well ...
INSTRUCTIONS
Tankard / Mug Painting!
Ideally provided by a pottery studio:
something to paint on (pottery piece)
paint/glaze (ask the studio how many layers of this it takes to be opaque, as it might depend on what they have)
various brushes
lining glaze (for me it was a small squeeze bottle of paint with a very thin tip)
Bring:
graphite transfer paper (find in craft stores)
pencil
stencil
1. Print off the stencil on a standard 8.5 x 11 inch sheet of paper.
2. I found a pottery place that makes various things and allows you to paint on them, with paints and brushes, etc. supplied. I chose a tankard as this allowed the Cruciform sword to be placed vertically, but I think horizontally would probably look cool too! (You would use the same stencil but perhaps cut the stencil's length in half, and use the side with the sword?) What makes the process easier however is choosing a cup that is flat on the vertical axis, straight up and down, since this allows you to easily tape the stencil and transfer sheet to the surface.
3. Graphite transfer sheets are essentially thin paper that is entirely covered by graphite on one side, so hold it gently and try not to fold or crumple it on itself. Generally, these are larger than the size of the cup or stencil, so you can cut it to the size of the stencil (I didn't include the lines going all the way around because I did not have a big sheet). Tape (painter’s tape) the transfer sheet to the vessel you chose, placing its graphite side in contact with it, approximately where you want the design to be centred. (I don't have another pot... so this demo is on a hunk of wood approximately the size of a cup) If you don't want to reuse the paper, you can probably just cut it to the size of the pottery piece you have.
4. Tape the stencil over the graphite sheet (make sure it doesn't move around too much).
Try to have the halo centred over the transfer paper since it's the most detailed part of the design.
When I painted mine I didn't trace out the straight lines and did them by hand, but that might depend on your confidence in your hands idk, but you can also use tape to create a straight line from one end to the other if you need help!
Now you can simply trace over the lines of the stencil! (Not too gently or they may not show!) (also don't take a picture while you do it lol) This will press the graphite against the pottery piece and transfer the design. You may want to go over the lines twice to assure the lines are visible. The studio I visited said the graphite should burn off in the kiln, but feel free to check with the place you may go in case the paint makes a difference, but either way, you'll likely paint over them anyways!
5. Remove all papers and tape from the piece, and make sure the lines are visible. I don't have paint to demo with, but you can take off the paper and go back over the lines if you can't see them all well. The other thing in the picture is a paper demo of the same design with the sword wrapping around horizontally!
6. Paint! I did the yellow of the halo and lines first, then the sword, and left the black to be the last in case I went over the lines, since the black could cover things up then (save it for last). Keep in mind you may need to do multiple layers of paint to make the colour opaque.If you have something to do lines, I did mine in black, but I think yellow or gold could be cool too! But probably do the lines before the black (or another colour if you choose) background, since it's easier to do the lines when you can rest your hand on the piece.