I just finished a commission that I wanted to share with you all. I was was able to create a really fun Donald Duck themed display/book case for a very reasonable final cost. In order to keep the costs as low as possible (required by the client) I started searching Craigslist for a inexpensive bookcase. Within a week I found a gal that had a nicer flat pack bookcase she had tried refinishing that was for free. Here is what I brought back to the shop.
Unfortunately, there had been little prep done before it piece was spray painted purple and it was coming off everywhere. Thankfully, the piece was solid and should be easily lend itself to a bit of fun. Time to start sanding off the purple and get a good starting point for the piece.
Finally after getting off all the purple and getting a good surface for the primer to grab onto I gave it a few coats of a basic white primer.
Now that In had a nice clean canvas to work with, it was apparent that the decorative feet needed a dressier top to go along with it. With a quick trip down to the local hardware store I was able to pick up some rosettes and trim that I was hoping would do the trick.
With some slight modifications I was able to get everything dressed up and looking a bit more "respectable". one more coat of primer to get everything on the same page and we should be ready to get to introducing the "Donald Duck Design" to the piece.
I had seen many pieces in the past that had been reproduced with a cartoon/comic theme but I wanted to do something a bit different. In my mind I pictured the cases itself as Donald with a fun backing to the interior of the piece. When you think of Donald Duck (at least when I do) you think of the sailor suit and hat. I wanted to create an actual hat for the bookcase/Duck to wear.
I began with a small wood base with cardboard support that I could apply spray foam to which would be light enough to not be a tipping issue for the final bookcase and also easy to "sculpt" into a realistic shape. I choose to have "Donald" wear the hat cocked to one side so the hat was easier to see and I thought it would give the final piece a bit of Donald's attitude.
At this point I got a bit remiss in my picture taking...please forgive me. I applied bondo (yes, automotive body filler) to the hat to create a sand-able final layer that would easily take paint. I tossed out the original cardboard like backing to the bookcase and replaced it with a much stronger paneling. To the paneling I created a collage of reproduced comic and story book pages for the interior back. This turned out extremely well but needed a bit of lighting to be seen as well as I wanted. I decided on a rope light for cost savings and ease of future care. Finally I painted the piece with the appropriate colors and attached the hat.
Here is the final piece. Hope you like it, client was amazed at what I was able to do and I hope to have a picture in the future of the case filled with her collection of Donald Duck memorabilia. Again, sorry for dropping the ball on the second half of the builds pictures but I kinda got to rolling and was having a bit of fun creating.
Stay tuned for more
