THE TEPEE - Part 2

Articles In This Section:

· RANGER OR GYPSY TENTS AND TRAPPERS' BIVOUACS - Part 1

· RANGER OR GYPSY TENTS AND TRAPPERS' BIVOUACS - Part 2

· REED HUTS

· THE TRAPPER'S ROOF - Part 1

· THE TRAPPER'S ROOF - Part 2

You might like to make Indian shields, too, and paint them with the same motifs as your tepee. Be sure to adapt the design to the shape of the shield.

The Painting Process. Use ordinary oil paints, choosing pure tones and avoiding the mixed colors such as gray, purple, brown, light blue, and so forth. Use black, Prussian blue, red, and perhaps even green and chrome yellow. The paints should not be too thick or they will not penetrate well into the fabric. Thin the paint with turpentine, but not so much that the paint is watery or runs down a vertical surface while you are painting. Add a drying compound, such as varnish, to the paint to speed up the setting. You can wash out any unwanted strokes or drops with turpentine as long as the paint is still wet. Have one brush to use for each color—long-handled brushes with short bristles, f of an inch to 1 inch wide.

Fasten the piece of tenting to be painted against a wall, first putting up a heavy underlayer of newspaper to protect the wall from the paint that penetrates through the material. Outline the figure with charcoal before painting. The composition and thickness of the paint determine how long the tent has to dry. It will probably take at least three days to a week. Be especially careful about putting on too thick a layer of paint—apply it just heavily enough so that the paint sticks together. Otherwise the layer of paint will break and crack when you fold the tepee.

You can even add a bit of humor to your stylized drawings. For example, look at the squirrel. The eye, the pointed nose, and the ear give the whole picture an amusing touch. This is also true of the rooster, with its half-angry, half-proud expression. On the other hand, it's the arrangement of the wings and tail which gives the albatross its dash of caricature.