Painting Silicone Sculpture Part 2

Here are the latest images of the Old Man bust. The painting has taken more time than I thought but that's been my experience with painting silicone sculptures.

The colour still needs to be toned down in spots. It's still a matter searching for the right balance in skin tone.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

After I complete the facial features,then the next step is to apply the age related blemishes. During the process, some time was spent just looking at the piece under different lighting conditions in order to evaluate the skin properly .  The whole project requires patience and time, so it's difficult to predict when 

it will be completed. I hope soon .                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

  

Painting Silicone Sculpture Part 1

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

I started on Wednesday painting the new silicone cast of the Old Man bust. I started applying washes to the sculpture's surface to further enhance the intrinsic colour of this cast.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  DiLella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The washes, which are in fact silicone mixed with solvent and pigment are applied one at a time and then allowed to cure before proceeding to the next colour. It's for me, a rather slow process which requires constant adjustment whether adding more paint in one spot or madly removing too much colour in another.
The main objective is you want the surface to look naturally pigmented not painted.
Once the skin tone has been achieved then the next step is to paint the details such as eyes,ears,lips etc.
Next time,I'm hoping to show pictures of the completion of the painting.

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Bust in Silicone has Arrived!

Finally, I've just managed to cast the Old Man bust, it took several hours and steps to complete this process
The images below is exactly how this new silicone sculpture appears as it was removed from the mould. Because of the translucency of the silicone, the skin texture which appeared to be quite pronounced in the clay model, now looks rather muted.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The colouring in this casting is a combination of pigment and coloured rayon flocking which was mixed into the liquid silicone in order to provide a base colour.  But as you can see there will be a need  for additional surface painting to complete the pigmentation of the skin, which will also bring out the skin texture more forcefully.

The next step is to clean the cast,repair any casting defects and then the painting begins!
I'm hoping to be posting pictures of the painting and hair insertion soon. Meanwhile, other projects are moving along and should have further news on them later this week.

                                               Image copyright  Art  Di Lella                                            

            

Mouldmaking and Casting Post#2

I've was very busy this week moulding and casting different sculptures. I haven't had much time to work on my own  pieces but that sometimes happens.  Anyways, here are a few images of a Beaver sculpture  I've been working on for the artist  Adrienne Alison.

 The image above,shows the mould(in the background) which I made off of Adrienne's original clay model  as well as the two wax casts that were produced from the mould.  These two wax casts will be sent to The Crucible foundry in Tweed Ontario for casting in bronze.

Photo copyright  Art Di Lella                      Sculpture copyright  Adrienne Alison

You can see Adrienne in action on a youtube video that was produced while she was working on a major sculpture commission in Toronto.  She can be contacted  through the Sculptors Society of Canada website.

Next post, I will definitely have some new images of the Old Man bust  and hopefully more news on my other models. Have a good weekend.

Peruvian Porcelain Post#2

Here are more photos of this new porcelain piece. I spent some time on the weekend to further it's progress.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art Di Lella

As shown the piece is a depiction of a Peruvian aboriginal which has under gone cranial head modeling. It's based on a cast of a skull that  I  purchased a few years ago. This model still has a ways to go and  I'm not certain which direction to go at this point. But I know the more time spent on it will hopefully start to suggest some ideas for it.
The other projects have been delayed a bit because a of a moulding and casting project for a local artist but I'm still hoping to cast the the Old Man in silicone later this week. We'll see.

Peruvian Porcelain

I just started a new porcelain piece today.  I wasn't sure what to do but like the Porcelain Child it started off very quickly. I find it's best not to think too much when beginning a new work otherwise things get bogged down and interest in the project disappears.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

 I really like working in water base clay, it's so responsive to touch that things can happen very quickly.
If you're wondering why it's called Peruvian Porcelain, the next batch of photos will explain the title.
Next week, I'm hoping to have more news on other projects as well.

Moulding Hyper Realistic Sculpture Post #3

Over the weekend, I completed the mould of the Old Man bust. Here are some images of the finished piece.

Image copyright Art Di Lella

Image copyright Art Di Lella

Image copyright Art Di Lella

 It's always satisfying when you complete a mould. The mould detail appears to have turned out well.

Now the next stage is to start working up some silicone skin samples.

Image copyright Art Di Lella

Image copyright Art Di Lella

In the first picture you will notice some small containers with coloured flocking.  Flocking is mixed with  pigment to properly colour the silicone to a human skin colour. The purpose of the flocking as far as I can ascertain is to provide some variation and depth to pigmented portion of the silicone cast.
The skin samples shown above are early test pieces.  Experimentation is important at this stage of the project because you want to be satisfied with your base colour. Otherwise you'll have to rely on a lot of highly skillful painting to compensate. Painting on silicone is not easy .
Anyways, I'm hoping to start casting this week,we'll see.

Moulding Hyper Realistic Sculpture Post#2

Here are the images of the completed silicone application.

Image  Copyright  Art  Di Lella

It looks like a very bizarre dessert.

Image Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image Copyright  Art  Di Lella

The purpose of the silicone application is to pick up the surface details of the sculpture but a rigid backing will be required to maintain the shape.  By the way, if you're wondering what the little pink projections are all about, they're for locking in the base part of the rubber to the rigid support mould which is currently under construction.  I will be completing the mould over the weekend and then next week the casting in silicone will begin.

Moulding Hyper Realistic Sculpture

It's time to move on to a new project. This time it's moulding the Old Man bust. I wanted to show images of the process.

Image Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image  Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image  Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image Copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image  Copyright  Art  Di Lella

As you can see I'm brushing the silicone moulding compound directly on the unsealed clay. The moulding process will take the rest of the week to complete. In the meantime, I'll be starting a new porcelain piece and posting more pictures of the above project later this week.