05.13.10 Twisting the Month Away

You last saw this new sculpture on March 17 in a rather long post with lots of pictures demonstrating a new technique I use to build up sturdy legs in hard wax, rather than soft plastilene clay. 

Did you wonder at the time why there are gaps at the joints?  If you surmised that this allows me to continue to bend the wire at the joints to refine the pose of the sculpture you would have been 100% correct. 

In April, I built up the wax on the legs just a little bit more and roughed in the hooves. No dramatic progress was made until just last week.

The posture of the rearing horse was completely twisted and tweeked to create a more dynamic spatial  relationship with his playmate.

Now you see another advantage of the hard wax legs and hooves -- the horses can be removed from their supports to test how well they stand by themselves and to view the composition from all angles.  The sculptures easily return to their vertical supports for storage and further work. 

The focus will be on the composition for a while longer. When that is finalized, the legs and hooves will be completed in wax; finally, will I cover the armature wire in the upper bodies with clay and refine the musculature.   But you never know,  I might skip ahead to work on faces before the legs are done, it's just too tempting...

Is there an order that you prefer to work in?  Do you wait for inspiration to strike, or just get to work?

~ Lynn

05.11.10 Follow Up to a Molding Question

Back in late April we had a great question in response to the post about molding Elsie and Oliver, sculptures by Sarah Minkiewicz:

Hi Lynn (and Barry!),

Is casting an easy to learn process? I have my first two sculptures, which are medallions, that I would like to try and cast myself, but I don't want them to get ruined if I make a mistake.

Will casting easily damage things such as ears that were re-attached? One of my medallions has an ear that broke off and I want to make sure molding and casting won't break it off again.

Thanks!
Grace B.

Barry responds with this guest blog --

Casting is easy to learn but it is not simple.

There are many involved steps that need to be done in a clean environment, a kitchen does not count.

Medallions are a good thing to mold for beginners and it should not damage the ears. To make an open face mold you need to attach the medallion to a board with hot glue and construct a containment field around the medallion to keep the silicon from oozing out.

The containment field can be wood or non-sulfur clay and needs to be 1/2 inch above the highest point on the medallion and about one inch all the way around. Seal the medallion if needed and use a spray release to aid in demolding.

Thoroughly mix the silicon mold rubber and use a vacuum chamber to remove air bubbles. Slowly pour the silicon into the containment field at the lowest point and let the silicon cover the medallion to the 1/2 inch above the highest point.

Let the silicon cure for the recommended time and temperature and then you can demold. You might break an ear off at this point but you have already captured the image so it won’t matter.

Use a spray release on the mold and now you are ready to mix your resin. Follow the directions for the resin, use in a well ventilated area.

Most resins will set up in five to ten minutes then you can demold and start the process again. I use Smooth-On products but there are several companies out there.  Good  luck with your projects.

Barry Moore
bearcastmolding@gmail.com

Barry also found several helpful videos to share with you.