Those trout made out of betting tickets will shortly be making a comeback as well.

As I've insufficient quantities of Japanese betting tickets left I've had to resort using local ACTTAB betting tickets. Unfortunately these aren't quite as busy and don't have the subtle colouring of their Japanese counterparts (see below) and for the purpose I have in mind the best option is to use the "Mystery Bet" ticket.


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The local tickets are about the same weight of paper, which is good for making teeny trout, but I want to make larger versions of what I previously created. There are a number of reasons for this including: cutting down on the time consuming fiddly nature of construction; and needing to meet my conceptual idea(s).

Hence I've been experimenting with the local tickets to see how they need to be rendered and adapted to accommodate the larger size of paper trout. So I've tried a number of combinations of glue, gel medium, and different weights of base paper (this isn't necessary for the teeny trout but is a must for the larger version).

My first attempt involved sticking the betting tickets onto an A1 sheet of 300gsm paper with gel medium, and then applying another layer of gel medium over the top. I was happy with the feel of finish – clammy just like real fish, but unfortunately this made the paper and tickets too stiff for folding and assembly.

So as not to waste the vast sheet of A1 size paper I utilised I trimmed it up and cut into rectangular pieces to use as dinner place mats!

So back to the drawing board. This time a lesser weight of paper (120gsm) was tried, and again a double layering of gel medium and hooray, success! Well at least on the paper flexibility front. As I didn't bother to render the first (failed) experiment I subsequently found out that the second layer of gel medium made any rendering on the surface of the tickets difficult if I wanted to use pencil – there appears to be no problem with using a Staedtler Lumocolor permanent universal pen though (those suckers will just about write on anything). The Staedtler, however, stands out a bit too much, like the proverbial dog's balls, on the local tickets.

Having got the paper stiffness right, it was time to tackle the rendering issue so I drew with pencil and the Staedtler on an untreated betting ticket, and then painted on a layer of gel medium to see if this either smudged or smeared the drawing medium – thankfully success.

So I think the way that I'll be tackling this (fishing pun intended) is to produce a number of sheets of paper with (a single gel-mediumed layer of) betting tickets, cut out the pieces, render them, assemble and then add a coat of gel medium to seal.

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comments

Loved reading about your process for this project. I can’t wait till the Mystery is revealed and I’m sure it will be a Trifecta,har. Couldn’t help myself! sorry

Posted by valgalwalsh on 06.01.07 at 07.44am

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