Elephant No. 355: Chain-Face Puzzle

I was out for lunch with my best friend the other day when she asked if I'd tried to make a chain-face puzzle yet for this blog. I'd completely forgotten about these fun little toys, so I thought I'd try one for today's elephant.

A chain-face puzzle usually features a human face in profile. Half of the face—and sometimes just the nose—is not drawn, replaced instead with a short piece of chain attached to the drawing at both ends. The person handling the puzzle shakes it gently to form various profiles, or various shapes of nose.

German dexterity puzzle, ca. 1930s.
Source: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Unusual-GERMAN-
Womans-Face-Tin-Toy-Dexterity-Puzzle-Game-/140688110825

I couldn't find anything about the origins of these puzzles, but they probably arose around the same time as most other dexterity puzzles. Since I covered the history of dexterity puzzles in a previous post, I'll just describe today's process here.

I began with an aluminum watchmaker's case with a glass lid. These are perfect for toys like this, and come in a wide range of sizes. I got mine at Lee Valley Tools. This one is the 70 mm size (2.75 inches in diameter).

Next, I cut two pieces of 0.6 cm (0.25 inch) foamcore. I used black because it was what I had on hand, and also because I thought it would be less obvious if the edges of the elephant disc weren't quite perfect. I cut two layers because of the depth of the watchmaker's case. You could obviously use another colour of foamcore or even corrugated cardboard or corrugated plastic.

Now it was time to draw something. I sketched an elephant in pencil, including the trunk. Although I planned to substitute chain for the trunk, I found that I couldn't really draw a trunkless elephant.

Once I was happy with the general form of the sketch, I pulled out the finest chain I had and figured out where it would go. I did this so that I could decide where to stop the final sketch and painting, leaving the trunk area blank.

I went over the design, without trunk, using a pigment liner, then heat-set the outline with a hairdryer.

I painted everything with gouache, and added some gold dots in the purple with metallic acrylic paint. I'm not sure I should have painted the background at all, because the elephant will now have a purple trunk outlined in silver, but it was too late when I realized this. Oh well.

I poked holes in the drawing for the chain next. I deliberately made the holes small, figuring that the chain would enlarge them to the proper size when I pulled it through.

I fed the chain through the holes by threading the first link of the chain and then threading a needle. I did this for both ends of the chain, then tied them at the back. I could have taped them down, but I liked the idea of tying them instead.

This is what it looked like when it was assembled.

To finish up, I put on the glass lid. The lid fits onto the main body of the case with a nice, tight friction fit, so there's no need to glue anything together.

If I'd had time, I might have considered painting the case, but for now I'm very happy with this as it is. It only took about an hour from start to finish, and it's rather pretty in real life. It's also surprisingly easy to make a decent elephant trunk by giving it a little shake, so it even works the way it's supposed to.

I think I'd make it a bit smaller next time, but this was so easy that I may make a few for gifts at some point.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Elephants are surprisingly susceptible to infections in their tusks, which are as painful to them as a serious toothache is to us. In fact, it is believed that some elephants have "gone rogue" simply because they are in pain from infected teeth and tusks.

In November 2010, however, a team of three dentists in Kerala, India sought to remedy this with what is believed to be the world's first root canal on an elephant. A 27-year-old male elephant called Devidasan had been suffering with a chronic tusk ache for years, and there were signs that the infection was getting worse.

The dentists decided that it would be better for the elephant if the procedure was done without anaesthetic. Instead, they relied on the elephant's trusted mahout to keep the animal calm. In a two-and-a-half-hour operation, the dentists cleaned out a six-centimetre (2.4-inch) cavity which was badly infected. They then filled the gaps with nearly a kilogram of resin (2.2 pounds), which is about 40 times the amount needed for a human filling.

Because of the novelty of the procedure, the team of dentists filed a patent for the treatment, and are developing a range of proper elephant dentistry tools based on the oversized implements improvised for the operation.

Devidasan quickly recovered and was soon ready to return to his duties in religious processions and traditional Hindu weddings—a much happier and more comfortable elephant.

Dentists working on Devidasan's infected tusk, November 2010.
Photo: Jalees Andrabi
Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/india/8168274/
Worlds-first-root-canal-treatment-on-working-elephant.html

To Support Elephant Welfare

World Wildlife Fund

World Society for the Protection of Animals

Performing Animal Welfare Society

Zoocheck

Bring the Elephant Home

African Wildlife Foundation

Elephants Without Borders 

Save the Elephants

International Elephant Foundation Elephant's World (Thailand) 

David Sheldrick Wildlife Trust

Elephant Nature Park (Thailand)

Wildlife Trust of India

Boon Lott's Elephant Sanctuary (Thailand)
Wildlife SOS (India)  
The Elephant Sanctuary (Tennessee, U.S.A.)

Fauna & Flora International 
 

Elephant No. 91: Spatter Painting with Toothbrush

Today I thought I'd try something that I haven't done since I was a kid: toothbrush painting.

People have looked after their teeth in a variety of ways since prehistorical times. Chew sticks, twigs, feathers, bones and porcupine quills have all been found in various archaeological digs. The first known toothbrush dates from 3000 B.C., in the form of a twig with a frayed end.

For millennia in India, the twigs of the neem or banyan tree have been used. The end of the twig is chewed until soft and frayed, then is used to brush the teeth. In the Middle East, twigs from the arak tree are used in a similar fashion. Both neem and arak twigs have antiseptic properties. 

Pastes made with baking soda, chalk and other similar abrasives have also been used throughout history, simply rubbed across the teeth with a finger. In 1223 A.D., a Japanese Zen master reported that he had seen monks in China cleaning their teeth with brushes made of horsehair, attached to a handle made of ox bone. 

Since 1498 A.D., the Chinese have used a form of bristle toothbrush. It is believed that use of this early toothbrush spread to Europe along trade routes, and is the prototype for the toothbrushes we use today.

Toothbrushes were not mass-produced until 1780, when they were marketed by Englishman William Addis. In 1770, Addis had been jailed for causing a riot. During his imprisonment, he decided that he could improve on the usual method for cleaning teeth: rubbing a damp rag with soot and salt across the teeth and gums. He took a small animal bone, drilled holes in it, got some bristles from a guard, tied the bristles into tufts, and glued the tufts into the holes. Addis became very rich from his invention, and the company continues to this day under the Wisdom Toothbrushes brand. 

By 1840, toothbrushes were being mass-produced across Europe and in Japan, with pig bristle used for cheap toothbrushes and badger hair for a higher-quality version. The first toothbrush patent was applied for in the United States in 1857, although mass-production in the U.S. didn't begin until 1885. The first U.S. brushes had bone handles, with Siberian boar hair bristles. Unfortunately, animal bristles have never been an ideal material, since they don't dry well, and retain bacteria.

In 1938, the chemical company DuPont created nylon fibres for use in toothbrushes, and the first synthetic-bristle toothbrush went on sale in February of that year. Interestingly, cleaning teeth was not routine until the Second World War, when soldiers were required to brush their teeth every day.

I couldn't find any information on the genesis of toothbrush art, but it probably goes hand in hand with the invention of synthetic brushes. Today, toothbrushes are used in art primarily for spatter painting, although some artists also use them as actual brushes.

For today's elephant, I decided to try the spatter method. I unearthed a new kiddie-sized toothbrush that my sister had given me as a joke a few years ago, which seemed like the perfect size.

For paints, I opted to use a set of cake watercolours that I've had for at least 20 years. I like the pan size on these, which seemed perfect for the toothbrush I had.

I started with a slightly watery paint consistency. It's not completely liquid, but it's also not all that thick, either.

To spatter paint with a toothbrush, you simply use your thumb—I actually found that my index finger often gave me more control and directionality—running it against the bristles to flick paint onto the paper.

It's exceedingly hard to control, just like my paint-flicking spatter-painting experiment, so it's a good idea to use something as a sort of mask. I didn't want hard lines like you'd get with an actual masking fluid or tape, so I simply folded a bit of aluminum foil and held it near the paper while I flicked. It wasn't foolproof by any means, but it helped me concentrate some of the paint, some of the time, to a certain extent.

Once I could see the basic design taking shape, I got a bit more confident.

The droplets are quite fine, and depend primarily on the thickness of the paint loaded onto the toothbrush. If I used a slightly wet toothbrush and ran it over the cake of paint to make a fairly thick pigment, the droplets were heavier, more opaque, and less splattery. Obviously, at the opposite, more watery, end of the spectrum, the paint is fainter, finer and spreads over a wider area.

Your flicking technique also comes into play. The more gently you run your finger or thumb over the brush, the lighter the spray, and the more limited the area. The more violent you are, the more the paint flies.

After I'd layered and thickened most of the design, I added a bit of black to shape things a bit. My ability to do this was limited within the time I had today, but you get the idea.

I also added a bit of white to try and create some highlights—which didn't really work—and a tusk—which sort of worked.

I kind of like the dreamy quality of the final result, although I wish I'd had more time to shape things. I didn't really love this poor man's airbrush technique, however, because of the lack of control, but I might try it again with proper masking and a lot more time to play with it.

Elephant Lore of the Day
Elephants need dental checkups just like humans. At most zoos, elephants are trained to open wide for the dentist, who checks to see that there are no tooth fragments that need to be pulled.

Dental care also applies to an elephant's tusks, since these are simply very long teeth. In late 2010 in Kerala, India, a 27-year-old elephant named Devidasan developed a painful 48-centimetre (19-inch) crack in one of his tusks. Dr. C.V. Pradeep, a local dentist, decided to try filling the crack with the same resin used to repair human teeth.

The operation lasted two hours, took 47 tubes of resin, and required specially modified equipment. One of the challenges was that there were no mobile x-ray machines big enough. The elephant was tranquilized, however, and was cooperative throughout the procedure.

The repair not only got rid of the elephant's toothache, but also removed the possibility of a potentially deadly infection, should dirt have gotten into the crack and remained there.


To Support Elephant Welfare
World Wildlife Fund
World Society for the Protection of Animals
Elephant sanctuaries (this Wikipedia list allows you to click through to information on a number of sanctuaries around the world)
Performing Animal Welfare Society
Zoocheck
Bring the Elephant Home
African Wildlife Foundation