portrait-sculpture.com

[Heidi Maiers]

I like to document WIPs. I always try to do at least one thing a little differently with every piece, and if successful, everyone out there can learn along. Hopefully these WIPs will spark your creativity encourage you to try new thing. This is just a piece I'm doing for fun, so if I botch it up, no big loss.

Modeling 1/2 life-size in plasteline, I start with an armature a little different than my ceramic busts. Made of galvanized pipe, you can fit together in any lengths you want for a sturdy support. Here I gave it some shoulder support and angled the head/neck to protrude forward like a head naturally would.



Then, rather than use a ton of clay for the chest portion, I took a section of large heavy duty cardboard ring and used duct tape to secure it to the armature shoulders. Also ran duct tape over the top and bottom so I could add a skin of clay rather than make the piece hollow underneath. The big void of air saves using that much clay and makes the piece lighter. I could just as easily have used styrofoam blocks instead. I just blocked in the body, and am going to try to use mache stiffened cloth for his robe to get the main cloth shapes, and then paint melted plasteline on that, then do the final modeling by hand when that stiffens up. Not sure if it will work or not, but will give it a try.

Here is the first hour of modeling. The bust will be similar to those old roman busts you see on the wall in the background and one of those bottom pedestal things will be part of the statue. What took the longest was tearing down an existing clay statue I had to reuse the clay. Almost impossible to cut up when the clay is cool. I cut it up and put it in my hot box to stay nice and toasty soft.
(links to hot box topic)
http://portrait-sculpture.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=247



After day 1 of modeling, here's the block in. Now to go back and study the forms to start going after the resemblance before I get too carried away with any detail.


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[Heidi Maiers]

Oh, I wanted to add one comment at this point.
Last night as soon as I posted that comment about developing the resemblance, I had the thought to take it back because what I really meant was that I know the likeness hasn't developed yet in case anyone was eager to jump in and start adding comments about how it doesn't look like him yet - this is off, that is off, yada, yada.

Even though that clay is hard to work, I got to this point (too far) way too fast and now I need to spend a good chunk of time studying the forms and getting things in sync. Even the eye sockets are not in line yet as is obvious. In the last photo, they are just sockets with lines drawn in them at the approximate spots where the inner forms will be modeled out once I have the surrounding structure correct. Resist the temptation to put in the eyes until the sockets and surrounding bone structure are exactly right. Don't think that this is the point to start focusing on getting a likeness. When the forms are right, the likeness will develop naturally.

I tend to do everything too fast and when it comes to sculpting, I know that slower in the beginning will save a lot of rework so I have to force myself at this point to slow down! (Easier said than done).

Stuart has often reminded us of this same thing many times and it can't be repeated often enough - so drill his words into your brain now " Slow down and don't rush to the surface!"
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[Tamara]

Hi Heidi,

So did you look at him and just feel that he'd be a great emperor? Sounds like this isn't a commission but just for fun project. He's lucky to have you as a friend to make this wonderful rendition of him in emperor status.

Curious as to the choice with plasteline versus earthen clay. I know that you prefer the latter usually unless you intend on spending a great amount of time on a sculpt and don't want to worry about keeping it wet.

Is this one going to be loose and sculptural?

Thanks for sharing all the progress pics with the armature showing and everything. You're always so generous with your time and knowledge.

~Tamara
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[Heidi Maiers]

HI Tamara, yep, this one is just for fun. Not sure why I chose plasteline here. Probably because it's a little on the small side, is going to have some fun detail and cloth treatment, and it is one I am going to mold instead of fire. It's not one of the quick weekend clay sketches that I have planned.
I have some other commissions in the works, so this will be one that I work on from time to time and I don't want to deal with having to keep it moist while it waits.
The photos I took of my co workers were for reference only. I looked at each one and tried to think of something out of the ordinary that they reminded me of so the casts will be more sellable as a character of an era or culture instead of a portrait of a stranger. This one will be fairly tight - but definitely with a tooled texture. I'd like to do one with the entire surface as flattened little balls of clay (build up method), but not sure I will do that on this one or not.
By the way, how is your western gal coming along?
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[Tamara]

Thanks for explaining that Heidi. I think you're having more fun than anyone else. Ha, ha. Got all your pics of your workers on hand and ready for inspiration and weekends of play. BTW- Congrats on your new commission as well. Love to see how you will use the build up of globs/balls of clay for a protrait technique. I think I've seen that technique before and it's way neat.

My western woman should've been done a long time ago. At least I know that I can do these more quickly but just my circumstances haven't been such that I've been able to work on it like I want to. However.... I'm almost done... only working on the small details...

Thanks for asking ,

Tamara
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[Heidi Maiers]

Here he is a little farther along. Still working on placing the forms correctly. I couldn't resist plugging in the eyes, but see the levels still need adjusting. At this stage, lots of analysis and moving things around. Whenever I find myself starting to get into too much detail, I try to remember to take off my glasses. I can't see a thing close up without them except basic dark/light values (the basic forms), so it forces me to only work with those.



I like the ball building look, but not sure I have the patience for that. I like to add big hunks and then carve away. It's just a different approach and it's good to change things up a bit and do things out of your comfort zone.

Looking forward to seeing the latest on your piece Tamara. I have a few in plasteline that I set aside years ago and have never finished - but yours is in water clay and demands a lot more attention.
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[Paula Slater]

Lookin' good!! Have fun and congratulations on the little girl bust. Another one to cast in bronze and patina in your patina oven

Much creativity to you all,
Paula

[Heidi Maiers]

Thanks Paula! Anxious to see what she looked like. Her mom is gathering photos to send on that one, and waiting for photos on another, so was working on this bust this weekend.

Took a break from the face for a while and tried out my silly idea. I soaked a piece of sheet in a mixture of Elmer's glue and water and then draped it around the bust and shaped it how I wanted it, using staples here and there to keep it in place.
It's dry now, and very stiff. Stiff enough for me to paint melted plasteline all over it and let that cool and get hard. Then adjust the modeling where I want with additional clay that is very soft and warm, but not melted. Also add clay to fill gaps and holes, etc. and make it more suitable for molding. Seems like it will work, but we'll see if it ends up looking any better than it would have if I'd just modeled the drapery on in the first place.


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[Heidi Maiers]

Well, another experiment success. The painting of the melted clay on the stiffened material worked great so far.
To melt the clay, I put some in a tin can and put it in a heavy pot half full of water. It took a while to melt, but then brought the whole pan into my studio and set it on a butcher block next to my stand so it would stay melted while I painted it on. As soon as it was spread, it hardened to make a perfect clay base to start with.






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[Claudio Setti]

This is looking really fantastic Heidi!

Claudio
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[Stuart]

I particularly like the neck detail Heidi. Getting the head correctly positioned on the neck can say a lot. It gives the sculpture 'attitude' and combined with the muscle and skin detail really makes it live.
So often a portrait can be spoiled by not enough attention in the early stages particularly to this aspect.
Stuart

[Mark Newman]

Looking great Heidi. I really like your technique for the fabric.
At first look without reading I thought you draped the fabric just for the reference and then removed and sculpted in clay.
You cant tell you cheated at all.
Just kidding Heidi.
I'll have to try that technique sometime.

Mark.
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[Tamara]

Fantastic Heidi! Wow, that technique worked out really well. He's looking very good. Thanks for the pics.

~Tamara
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Happy Sculpting!

[Heidi Maiers]

Thanks for the comments y'all. Necks have always presented a challenge, and when they're wrong, it can ruin your whole piece. The long side is still quite ambiguous and need to spend some time studying that area more closely. Jawlines, chins, and foreheads I think are the hardest parts to figure out from photos. I plan on asking Jerry here to come over and sit for me for a while.

Mark, yes, I suppose it is a sort of cheating, or shortcut - but I'd rather be spending the time on the face! Also, doing this gives me the opportunity to study the fabric folds and behaviors as I add clay to the stiff rough in and hopefully remember how the forms flow when modeling fabric from scratch.

Actually, this idea is just an adaptation of a technique shown to me by John Coleman. He melts plasteline and paints it directly on a flat piece of material, and then places the warm, sticky mass on to a sculpture and shapes it as a base to start with - then fills gaps etc. Where a sturdier structure is needed - such as a cape flapping in the breeze, for example - he paints both sides of a piece of aluminum foil and then shapes and attaches it to his figure. I view the stiffened material or aluminum foil as just a support armature to be built on.

It's a type of support armature well suited for plasteline since you don't have to worry about removing it to fire the piece. You could do the same thing with water based clay that you just want to mold, but I would suspect a lot of trouble with cracking. Instead of melting the clay, you'd just paint on slip and then build it up, fill in gaps, etc.

I think this works better to stiffen the material first, shape it and let it dry, then paint on the plasteline. That way, the material keeps its free flowing, rounded curves and forms and holds its shape better than the method of painting dry cloth and shaping it in place. With that method, the plasteline gets cold and hard fast and the material cracks and bends unnaturally as you try to manipulate it.
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Heidi Maiers
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[Heidi Maiers]

A little further along. Still studying shapes and the likeness is starting to develop on its own now. Realized his nose was too far back, so rather than build the tip and bridge out, move the nostrils out, etc, it was easiest to just slice off the entire nose with a wire, build up a little clay behind it, then stick the nose back on and fill in the back voids. To turn the bottom shape, I just turn my modeling stand like a potters wheel and hold a tool up against the clay. Hard part is anchoring your hand and tool so it doesn't move while the table spins. You can use wire loops and rakes, rounded or pointed tips - anything a potter would use to cut into clay.






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Heidi Maiers
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If you learned something here, consider donating to the COFFEE FUND!
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