Sculpture Moulds

Friday, 28 June 2013

Staying a Head, Portrait Sculpture

I'm finally back to blogging after a month long break. It's been busy in the studio so I have a back log of pictures to publish.
Today's post is about a different version of a portrait I had started back in the winter. This first version of this head was done in Monster Clay but I found this material very similar to wax so it was a bit slow to work up.
Instead I decided to use traditional water based clay for the bust. I find clay so much easier and faster to use.
Although the bust appears to be near the finishing stage, it isn't. There is much to do in regards to not only the hair but also the face as well.
For privacy reasons I can't show an image of the model herself to compare but I can say that the likeness is getting close.
I will be back after the weekend. Happy Canada Day!

Tuesday, 21 May 2013

Head Transplant and Comparison Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Figure Final

Hello again.
I've just completed the "head transplant" of my Homo Erectus figure. The face is definitely different from the first as you can see from the above image. It's difficult for me at this point as to why there are differences. The skull used on the first head (head on the left) was produced by BoneClones. It's a carefully crafted model which is very close to the original but not an actual cast of the fossil skull whereas the new head was built over a cast of the actual fossil and so my question is: Are the differences between the skulls that significant or is it simply me having another attempt at essentially the same skull?
In the meantime, I will be starting final contouring and applying the skin texture to the new head as well as the rest of the body so there will be more posts on that too.

I'll be back soon. Have a great week.

Friday, 17 May 2013

Head Transplant Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture Homo Erectus/Ergaster Part 3

A short post today, I just wanted to show the process and progress of building the new head for my figure sculpture. I'm still sketching out the muscles and making connections so my "head transplant" will appear seamless. As you can see a face is starting to emerge but there's still a long way to go.
I'll be back soon. Have a great weekend.

Tuesday, 14 May 2013

Head Transplant Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Figure Part 2

Just a quick post on my figure. The surgery to connect his new head is still in progress. I just wanted to show the neck muscles as they are the first part in connecting the original body with the new head.

You'll notice that the nasal bones and brow ridge have been repaired with clay. The next stage I'll sketch out the muscles, start building the facial features and by then a face should start to emerge. We'll see how it differs from the original.
I'll be back soon. Have a great week!

Friday, 10 May 2013

Head Transplant for Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Figure Sculpture Homo Erectus/Ergaster

Bone Clones Replica made from fossil cast

Recently,I came across an authentic casting of the skull of Turkana Boy, a 1.5 million year old fossil skeleton from Kenya. I found this casting on ebay of all places. The cast that I purchased was made in plaster with a resin jaw. The cast appears to have been moulded once before with some loss of surface detail and some distortion especially with the mandible. So I repaired this new cast and then made a resin copy to compare with the skull cast used as the armature for the head of my figure. The original skull that was in the sculpture before was by Bone Clones.
It's a decent replica which is a carefully crafted model and is close to the original but not as accurate as the new cast. But after comparing the two skulls with photos I had of both I decided to ditch the first head.
The differences are mainly with the facial details such as the nasal bones and eye sockets where there is a noticeable difference between the two skulls although not very discernible with the above image. The other issue was authenticity, I wanted to base this figure on an actual cast but found obtaining one before difficult so that's why the Bone Clones version was used in the first place

Now that the original head has been removed and the new skull installed,it remains to be seen if this move was wise or foolish. We'll see how this head transplant works out. I feel bit like Dr. Frankenstein.

On other news, I'm still working #8 and that Monster Clay portrait plus moulds and casts of other artists' works.
I'll be back soon. Have a great weekend.

Saturday, 27 April 2013

Hyper/Photo Realistic Reconstructed Figure #1 Adjustments

Over the past several weeks I've been reassessing this natural size clay model of Homo Erectus/Ergaster.
The main concern has been that the figure was too thin and the modelling lacked sufficient force. The subject is based upon the fossil remains KNM-WT-15000. The descriptions by researchers has been that this individual was a juvenile although not quite like a modern one, had a very slim muscular build with narrow shoulders and hips. The challenge for me is the proportions of this figure are not natural when you compare him with modern adolescents.
For example the shoulders are extremely narrow for someone 163cm(5'4") tall which is further enhanced by the very wide neck muscles. Additionally, the upper thorax apparently tapers more severely than a modern one which has made the modelling for me at times a bit awkward. Other challenges include the very narrow hips with thigh bones that have unusually long necks which has a direct influence on the shape of his buttocks as well as the muscle groups immediately above and below his hip bones.

In the end it still comes down to believability.
I'm hoping to finish these adjustments over the next couple of weeks. I feel it's going in the right direction. We'll see.

I'll be back next week. Cheers.

Thursday, 11 April 2013

Hyper / Photo Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture #8 Roughing Out Clay Model

Hello, It's nice to be back blogging again. It's been a very busy period over the past six weeks working on numerous projects and I will be showing pictures of these different sculptures that I've been working on next week. But instead of one single post, I will break it down into several posts with more content.

In the meantime........Today, I wanted to return to my last bust in the series Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture. I've just finished roughing out the clay model over the past few days. Although "roughing out" is a funny term to use because the images above show a fairly smooth model at this point however what I really mean is that the basic forms are there but it's only lacking in final contouring, detailing such as creases and skin texture.

Next time, more news about Hyper Realistic Figure Sculpture#1 and of course as I had mentioned pictures of some of the various moulding and casting projects that have kept me extremely busy.
I'll be back next week.
Cheers.

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