The doctor? Doctor who, exactly?
By Never teh BrideI tagged this post with “DIY” but I’ll have you know that I have absolutely no idea how to create a stencil or make wall panels. I can stretch a canvas, but I would need to consult an expert when it comes to printing something on one.
Too bad that the crafty gal who whipped up these wonderful Doctor Who wall panels didn’t post instructions! I’m crying tiny tears right now out of abject jealousy.
A certain taerowyn crafted these for a fellow crafter during some sort of Doctor Who/Torchwood maillove swapfest. In her own words:
Basically, it’s nine 6′x6′ canvases that can hang in any way. I envision this kind of 3×3 grid, but you could do it as a border near the ceiling, or hang in a pattern of less than nine and then swap them out depending on your mood etc.
I only wish I had intercepted the USPS package so these would be mine, all mine.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:06 am
No Tom Baker???? That’s just wrong!
June 6th, 2008 at 8:37 am
I’m having the worst time figuring out the identity of the first person in the second row. She didn’t do two of #10, did she?
Whoops, that’s Capt. Jack. Sillly me. Great project.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:01 am
raincoaster: Agreed — the project should have been ten panels, ten doctors! Or at least more Doctor Who and less Torchwood…
Emily: It took me a sec to figure out that there were Torchwood folks in the grid.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:20 am
I love the idea, but would definitely have chosen a lot of very different characters. Where’s William Hartnell? Patrick Troughton? John Pertwee? The sad lack of Tom Baker has already been discussed, but I must echo the refrain. Torchwood can get their own wallhanging.
OTOH, it’s a seriously awesome project.
Oooh, I want one of great companions! Jamie McCrimmon, Sarah Jane Smith, Jo Grant…yeah, they would be cool.
(is a huge Whovian geek)
Of course, it would also be cool for Star Trek, Battlestar Gallactica, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (Mmmm…Giles), Babylon 5, or any other seriously cool sci-fi franchise.
Damn. Must learn to do this.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:23 am
Torchwood can have its own grouping so long as it doesn’t feature Owen. That man resembles a lizard and creeps me out quite a bit.
Sadly, I only recently got into Dr Who during its modern incarnation. Will be playing catchup via Netflix.
June 6th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Really, Emily? A lizard? Hmm…I always thought Owen looked more like a dyspeptic toad.
June 6th, 2008 at 11:14 am
I didn’t like Owen until I read an interview with Burn Gorman, who was totally funny and adorable and geeky.
That said, the obvious arrangement would be nine panels with nine doctors. Who needs #8?
June 6th, 2008 at 11:58 am
I have to agree with Twistie and Emily regarding Owen…just about every time The Beard and I sit down to an episode of Torchwood, I find myself saying, “That guy is SO dang weird looking!”
And to Carrie: Good point
June 6th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
http://kittybuttons.com/wordpress/?page_id=9
There are some basic tutorials for stenciling like that there, also the site has a humongous stencil archive.
June 6th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Thanks, rikki!
June 6th, 2008 at 10:48 pm
Must. Have. My. Own. Love the concept. Rose is the best companion ever. Who knew Billie Piper could act?? Yeah, Tom Baker is the quintessential doctor, but he really pigeonholed himself, and I think that the best work of the show has been done in the last few seasons. Torchwood is rapidly growing into its own…and I like Owen, toad face and all. Though, I think Ianto is the one to watch.
Wow, I shouldn’t get started. I could geek out all night on the Whoniverse.
August 24th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Just stumbled across this post. The choice in characters was kind of dictated by the recipient…she was a new Who/Torchwood fan so had to stick with those characters.
As for the how to? Well the canvases were bought at Blick: http://www.dickblick.com/zz070/08/
For stenciling, I made the stencils in photoshop (the tutorial linked above is fairly accurate) and then I just used freezer paper. Basically, freezer paper is like one-sided waxpaper: one side is just paper, the other side is the plastic coating. So, once you have your stencil in photoshop, you print it out onto the paper side of freezer paper. Then, cut out the stencil with an exact-o knife.
Place the cut-out stencil plastic side down on the canvas and iron it with a hot, dry iron. The plastic melts just enough to create temporary seal to the surface (it’s not perfect with the canvas…you can see a bit of bleeding on the above images, especially Rose). Then, use a sponge brush to apply acrylic paint. Let dry for about 15-30 minutes, and then peel back the stencil (you don’t want it to dry too long or the stencil is hard to remove). Then let completely dry (about 24 hours). Voila!
The main skills are a) Photoshopping your image and then b) Exact-o knife skills (though how much skill you need depends on how intricate you make your stencil).
Hope that helps. I’ve already started Photoshopping other fandom images…I really want to make a whole wall of these for myself. They’re quite fun. Glad you liked!