Sculpture Moulds: August 2012

Friday, 31 August 2012

Review of Clay Models and Skulls

Now that I'm working on #7 of the Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture series, I thought it was a good opportunity to show the original skulls beside their clay counterparts for a comparison. I'll later show the rest of the sculptures and their skulls in upcoming posts.

The very first one in this series is an old woman.
The story behind her and this series was actually an experiment. I had known since the late 1970's about forensic facial reconstruction.At that time, I came across a book by Wilton Krogman describing a process whereby clay faces were built on skulls in order to identify deceased persons. Fascinating but pretty dry stuff.
So fast forward to January 2010, I started to pursue this idea of reconstruction but instead of a dry scientific approach,the thinking was to experiment to see if I could come up with a distinctive face using a more sculptural method without the use of photos or any reference materials as a guide.
So far it appears to have worked. Now I'm not claiming that this is the actual appearance of the individuals shown but I just wanted to make the point that according to my observations the skull definitely has a strong influence on the human face.
By putting the skulls and faces side by side,I'm hoping you will notice the similarity or the relationship between the face and it's bony structure.

The above image is the third model attempted and it's of an elderly male. I have found this process so far very exciting in the sense that each new subject that I undertake always turns out to be a surprise and not an expected result. Predictability in this case would be a definite bore.
Anyway, I'm continuing to work in the studio on a number of different fronts and that will be the subject of my next post.
In the meantime, I want to wish my fellow Canadians,Happy Labour Day Weekend and to the rest I hope you have an enjoyable weekend as well. Take Care.

Monday, 27 August 2012

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #7 Clay Model Part 4

I hope everyone has had an excellent weekend.
Today's post is of course about the continuation of the roughing out stage of #7 Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture. He has certainly come a long way over the past week. My observations about this piece is he has a more robust face than any of the others in this series plus he may just have the biggest nose yet. His nasal aperture and the nasal spine according to my reference materials would indicate a large nose with a fleshy tip. I'm not sure at this point it works with this face but for the time being I'll leave it and come back to it later.

Other news, I'm beginning to work on another Crucified Christ by Greg Furmanczyk plus moulding a small female figure sculpture by a local artist and finally casting beads for a Toronto designer. More about those stories later.

Anyway,I'll be back towards the end of the week. I wish you all the best. Cheers.

Friday, 24 August 2012

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #7 Clay Model Part 3

These are the latest images of #7. As you can see from the previous post his face is filling out more and the basic facial forms are better defined.

I'm always surprised by the face when it first appears. That has been true for all them so far. But the reality is that this is only the beginning stage and there will be lots of revisions to go through.
I'm thinking of doing a large post next week showing a review of all the characters in this series.
We'll see. Anyway, I'm will be doing next week a new cast of the Crucified Christ plus moulding a robot and beads. The studio is getting very busy again. I'll post regular updates over next few weeks so in the meantime I wish all my visitors a great weekend.
I love the journey that modeling in clay can take you if you let it.

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #7 Part 2 -Clay Model

I'm back again with my latest updated images of my newest sculpture.

I wanted to give a 360 degree view of this clay model.
The initial construction has been quick so far . I find the beginning the most exciting part of the execution because as the piece advances you begin to see the emergence of a new persona.
Anyway, I hope to finish the roughing out of the all the masses soon,perhaps in a couple of weeks.
Later this week,I will return with more photos of this model's progression plus other studio news as well.

Friday, 17 August 2012

Introduction of Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #7 Part 1

Welcome to the the introduction of Hyper Realistic Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture#7. For those who are not familiar, this is a series of eight reconstructed sculpted busts using eight different skulls,four male and four female. After each clay model is completed,they are then moulded and afterwards cast in silicone. The entire series will be eventually part of a planned art installation.

In the meantime,today's post is the first for this project.
The individual shown appears to be an adult male. I'm not sure of his age. He's not likely to be young. The most impressive aspect of this particular skull is the extensive tooth loss especially the front teeth plus a noticeable reduction in his maxilla and mandible as well. .

The first order of business is to carefully reconstruct the missing teeth and lost bone. This will aid in establishing the anatomical structure of the mouth. After the teeth are restored, I'll begin the process of mapping out all the important anatomical landmarks on the facial mask. Following that procedure, the clay build up will be under way.

In my next post, I'll be showing the early build up of this sculpture with the facial features being established.
I'll report back soon on this sculpture and other studio news.
Have a great weekend. Cheers.

Tuesday, 14 August 2012

Positive Destruction and Renewal - Sequel

I'm back again after another extended break with a new post. This time it's a sequel to the one I did back in November 2011.
The title to this post is a bit contradictory. It really means the job is long done and it's time to pull down the old model and use the armature for next work in this series.
I thought the pictures showing the destruction of this model informative because it illustrates the rather thin layers of clay that cover the bone itself and of course this implies that the skull has more of an influence on the surface features than most would expect. Some of the images are a tad gruesome but as the title suggests this will lead to the creation a new sculpture.

The image immediately above is Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #4 OM (Old Man) and his skull.

My next post later this week will be an introduction to Hyper Realistic Sculpture#7.
Have great week.

Wednesday, 1 August 2012

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #6 "Little One" Final

Hello again, I've been taking some time off here and there over the past few weeks,so that is the main reason I haven't been posting as often. But during this time off, I have been working on #6 Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture and moved this project forward to finally putting the finishing touches on this model.

Today, I just wanted to show the final pictures of this clay model. I decided to present a couple of close ups of the face with lots of contrast added to the images because it's difficult to see the surface detail without it. Although it may give the viewer the impression that I have overdone the texture on the skin, it's actually understated. Children, do have texture on their skin, it's just more subtle than an adult. So why bother? I guess the best way to answer is to say that if the skin is absolutely smooth and then cast in silicone, it tends to look odd ,doll like and very artificial.
But on the other hand, I have to be careful and not get carried away otherwise it will not be believable. The whole process of making this sculpture has been a constant evaluation of the skin and testing it under different lighting conditions before declaring it satisfactory.

Moving on, I'll back soon with the introduction of a new sculpture,Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #7.
Until next time,take care. Cheers.

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