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Theresa Brandon: Illustrator, Photographer

Milky White

12/16/2012

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One of my favorite props was this version of Milky White which was built for Huntley High School's production of Into the Woods.

We had inherited a pathetic, vaguely cow shaped prop from another high school. It featured spindly legs, a rectangular body, peeling masking tape, and a broken knee that was held together loosely with tape, glue, and 13 different kinds of fasteners.

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I spent several weeks renovating it into a proper cow. I built up her form using layers of Great Stuff expanding foam, covered with layers of muslin. I went through 14 cans of Great Stuff, a gallon of Elmer's Glue, and a bolt of muslin. Each layer of foam was shaped with planes, saws, and rasps.

(The black goo in this photo is a version of Great Stuff that is used to mend ponds, I was using whatever I could find on sale)
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Her new hooves were made of plungers and helped to cover the new casters on her feet.  I worked on giving her the appearance of a once sturdy cow, now fading into elderly emaciation.

I did not know that different cans of Great Stuff would have varying expansion rates (perhaps related to the age of the can?). I was surprised to come in one day to find that all of the foam I had used the evening before had expanded twice as much leaving Milky's head to look more like a chipmunk with huge cheeks and tiny slits for eyes. I had to peel off the muslin and carve quite a bit of foam to reshape her head into a more bovine shape.
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 Her udder involved several hysterical attempts at filling latex gloves with Great Stuff foam....
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Several coats of white paint later and she was starting to look better. (This is one of our high school crew looking a bit aghast at painting the rear end of cow.)
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I found a pair of horns on a "Viking" helmet so those were transplanted. Her eyes were large teddy bear eyes with added long fake eyelashes. Her ears were made from thin craft foam.
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Milky has gone on to appear in several other theatrical productions and is a proud mascot for our tech crew and set shop.
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    Theresa Brandon, Illustrator, Photographer, Theatrical Designer

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