I always mean to make blog posts about the videos I post, and then just kind of forget. But this one is happening, even if it’s a week late. First, check out the video of me painting a steampunk bubble gun, and then read on for a bit more behind-the-scenes info.
I got the bubble gun from my friend Robyn after the Times Square bubble battle, since she didn’t want it anymore. While it was cute as is, I thought it would be even more awesome if it was painted to be steampunk. As you can see from the video, I first sanded the plastic a bit so the paint would stick better and then put on a white base coat. It would probably have looked neater if I had used spray paint instead of acrylic, but I didn’t have spray paint and acrylic is a lot easier to do quickly. Then I just kind of went crazy on it with the brown and blue paint, which I then went over with gold to look a bit more aged. I thought the whole thing was looking a bit grimy overall, so then I decided to make the little doodads that I glued on bright white to add a bit of contrast. It was tough getting the cartoon head to not look so cutesy, and I probably should have done what one commenter suggested and used modeling clay to alter the shape of the head to begin with. But I did the best I could for my first time trying this style, especially in the only about five hours it took.
When it came to making the video, I knew even before I started that I wanted it to be set to Joseph Birdsong’s song Hologram, mostly because I’ve been obsessed with it since I first heard it a few weeks ago. The outfit I wore at the end of the video is one I just kind of put together in about fifteen minutes before I left to film it. The shirt I got from a vintage clothing store in Brooklyn a few weeks ago, and the skirt is actually a dress that I picked up from a free stuff pile at the end of my sophomore year of college. I got the bow headband at Forever 21 and the tights for $2 from Urban Outfitters. I had brought black heels with me to put on, but I thought the grass was long enough that you couldn’t tell I was still wearing my Converses, but I was wrong and that ended up being the main thing I wish I could have changed about the video. But I think it came out really nicely overall, and let me know if you agree!
