Starting Mystery Sculpt #3

I just started new Mystery Sculpt #3. This is 1/2 life sized ceramic paperclay. I will be adding Whitestone clay over the paperclay when it is closer to finished.

Due to Spring Break - I won't be posting for a while, so it will take a bit of time before I update this portrait sculpture.

Any guesses who this mystery person is?

The photo below shows the armature that I constructed for this sculpt. I took 1/2" plumbing fittings to create the contours and used t-fittings to form the shoulders. Water based clay is very heavy and prone to slumping and will need a sturdy armature until it is sufficiently hardened enough to support it's own weight.

Once I secured the armature to the wood base using the flange, I wrapped it with some newspaper and covered the newspaper with strapping tape to hold it in place.

The wadded newspaper at the top is for the head. Without a broad enough surface to support the clay - the armature can act like a spear and the clay can slump down the armature.

Mystery Sculpt #2 revealed: Eleanor Roosevelt portrait bust

 Mystery Clay Sketch Sculpt #2 Finished.

This clay sketch is about 5.5-6" tall and is a portrait of Eleanor Roosevelt. The clay is a ceramic paperclay called Max's Clay. The paperclay has interesting properties but it doesn't tool very well in a subtractive manner - the paper drags, clumps and clogs your tools - especially rake tools.

It does additive work much better and is very versatile.

This sketch has been hollowed and is drying for firing later - then I will use the sketch as the basis for a larger sculpture - possibly in a porcelain clay.

Suit up!

I had loads of  fun sculpting her and even more reaction to her as a nude figure......but I always wanted to do something more with her. So this week I had a ball sculpting a nice swimsuit for her and I think this look 'suits' her very well ;-)

Since this piece was a finished fired ceramic sculpt I opted to created her clothes using an artist's two-part epoxy, Aves Apoxie Sculpt.

You simply knead together equal parts of the epoxy until well mixed. I dampened the ceramic a little before applying the epoxy and sculpting it onto the figure. There is a window of time (1-2 hours) where the epoxy is workable and it gradually becomes stiffer. When it was stiffened up to the point of being quite firm, I pressed textured cloth onto the surface to give it a texture similar to the ceramic.

Once the epoxy is cured (24 hours) I was able to patina it in the same manner as the original sculpt so it looks like the suit has always been there.
This was on my to-do list for quite some time but as I rather liked the nude sculpt and had received a good response from her as is, I was concerned about ruining, rather than improving the piece.

I must say, however, that I'm very pleased with the outcome and I plan on keeping this in mind for other projects!