In my limited experience, artists are always trying new things. Maybe not opposite new things, but we are always drawn to try something and see if it will work. Last year, I was inspired by a local artist, Emily Furr, and her use of insulation board as a painting substrate. So this year, I wanted to see if I could do it with my own little twist.

I started in January 2024 with this image -

I’ve always loved her and after seeing Emily’s work, I wanted to try and make her a bit 3D.

So I went to Home Depot and bought a 1’x1’ sheet of insulation board and began my little journey. To start, I sketched out the image with pencil and then Sharpie so I knew where to cut. I also wanted to make sure everything was proportional.

Once she was all cut out, I sanded her down. There are no images of that because I was so focused on not knocking off those little end pieces off. This was probably the hardest step for me (thus far) because I had to try and get into all the little crevices.

Finally, I gessoed her. On the last image, you can see where my pencil marks dug into the insulation board. Could I have sanded them out? Maybe… I thought paint would cover it BUT I always forget how thin of a painter I am. Next time, I will either sand it down or gesso it more.