Flockmen are finally available in Australia. Seeing so many of you ask for advice in our Facebook Group The Wooden Ark Family on how to get creative with Flockmen, we thought we would ask Cina from @growingtogetherfdc who has produced some amazing transformations, to put together a few tips and tricks for everyone wanting to do something similar in a blog post.
What is Flockmen?
Flockmen are designed to be open ended with endless possibilities. One of the reasons why they are so special is that you can personalise the Flockmen by painting them. The whole range of different Flockmen Sets is available on our website.
Please welcome Cina to Oskar's Wooden Ark's blog with her steps below on how to achieve the same transformations.
You will need somewhere to jot down your ideas and do draft sketches of your designs so grab some blank paper or a spare journal and some colour pencils. Come up with a list of characters you want to create then trace around individual Flockmen to create templates. I came up with different ideas and managed to paint multicultural figures, superheroes, matching our Flockmen with our Grimm's Rainbow colours, astronauts as well as aliens and a few more!
The one thing I love the most about Flockmen: You're only limited by your imagination. Follow @flockmenaustralia to get more inspiration and ideas!
From there, we googled our character list to guide us with the design. I found using the word “cute (insert character name here)” helped bring up less complex character versions. This made it easier for us to redesign the characters for ourselves.
We used 2 different types of non-toxic acrylic paints – Semco: Craft & Art Matte Acrylic Paint and KaiserColour (which you can purchase at stores like Spotlight). I found these paints to be very opaque when applying, needing only 2 coats. The cheaper paints needed a high quality white base mixed into the colour itself to make it thicker otherwise it would show up as transparent and see through on Flockmen’s natural wood grain. Some people might prefer that though.
You will also need a few very skinny line brushes (which you can purchase at stores like Spotlight) as they are better for control and detail on such small surfaces (unless you are painting Rainbow Flockmen).
To paint the characters, you will need to paint in layers which can be time consuming but effective. Pencil in your areas of the first layer so you don’t lose your design. Build up their clothing and leave the fine details to the very end. For very small or straight line details, I used a Sharpie once the paint had completely dried.
Something that made a lot of fun was matching my Flockmen with my first purchase I've ever made at Oskar's Wooden Ark: The world famous Grimm's Large Rainbow. You definitely need to have a reference on hand of the colours required. I used the Grimm’s Rainbow Building Boards. TIP: Mixing colours are the best way to be able to colour match. Think back to your art classes and the colour wheel. For example light green in Grimm’s, I would use a green base but would add yellow and white until I achieved the desired shade. These would often need 2-3 coats to really get that solid look.
Once you’re happy with your painted Flockmen, seal them. We used Jo Sonja’s Gloss Varnish (which again you can purchase at stores like Spotlight). This is a nontoxic water based clear coat for indoor and outdoor. I found this great for giving my Flockmen that bright and clean look. I found that the painted Flockmen would show how much they are loved, especially in those little hands, if a top coat wasn’t applied.
This is not a race. It's fun! Take your time between layers to ensure the colours are vibrant. When painting the whole Flockmen back and front, apply all coats to back before starting the detailing layers of the front. Keep paper towel handy, to dry out the brush after washing. This can help ensure you don’t mix colours by accident.
I can’t wait to see what you create with your Flockmen! Please share them with me either in the Facebook group “The Wooden Ark Family” or tag @growingtogetherfdc on Instagram.
Happy Painting!
Cina from @growingtogetherfdc
Building Challenge Cards - Pattern Puzzle Sheets - Personalisation Outline - Matching Numbers - Matching Colors
