Bushido Game board
Zen
This was a bit of a headscratcher. I want a little Japanese zen garden. This meant I needed something in which I could create some swirling repeating lines in relief. My plan was to mix some sand for in a birdcage with pva, but then considered it would just flow back to a flat surface while drying. I consider pva, then hot glue. this would then be covered by the sand…
But I wouldn’t be able to place the line close enough to one another or in a pattern that would be precise enough.
Eventually I settled on some cheap, air drying clay. I cut a piece of solid cardboard, removing a strip from the middle where a path will lead through the garden to the bridge over the pond.
Roughly covering this with clay, I then using lots of water, flattened it. First using my fingers, then a deodorant bottle, conveniently lying in arms reach.
I stuck some rocks in the middle of one piece and used a piece of a haircomb to draw in the pattern. Pretty good, a zen master would get a heart attack to be sure, but this’ll look good when painted up from a distance. Hope the drying doesn’t ruin it. I have plans to integrate this in the rest of the board.
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