Patinas and bases

I didn't have enough time to set up and properly photograph the sculptures on their bases with the patinas prior to taking them to the show. But I did a rough shoot within 30 minutes, so while not great photos, at least it's something. Didn't get my white balance quite right but I will try to photo them later at my leisure...

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #8

After letting the sculpt sit overnight I came back to it with fresh eyes. Something had been bothering me and I finally came to the conclusion that the dress wasn't quite right. So I spent some time adding clay and changing the way that the fabric moved. That seemed to make a pleasing difference:

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #7

 Making progress on the sculpt and generally pleased with her. There are some areas that need a bit more refining. The lighting is rather harsh because I just grabbed some quick pix in the studio. .

When she's fully completed I will set up the photo lights and get better photos,

I really enjoyed sculpting her and have titled this piece:

"Her  first dress rehearsal"

This was my first sculpture of a child and I have to agree with other people - kids are challenging. I did not work from a model which can add to the challenge of a piece as I try to imagine limbs in the round. The thing with children is their softness. It makes it hard to find the forms sometimes.

 This was so enjoyable that I'm certain that I'll be doing more dancers and hopefully gymnasts too.

 I have hollowed out the second arm and attached it back onto her body. Then I fleshed her out a bit more and started to define her ears.

She needs to rest a bit and firm up more. Next I'll block in the hair mass and dress before heading back to start any refining.

It was quite fun to chop off her arms and move them around. I probably took them off and on about 5 times until I had both working in the direction that I was looking for. Really looking forward to the rest.

One thing I will say about paper clay is that it re-wets readily - sometimes a bit too easily and can become water-logged...but with a little time and the proper amount of circulation, you can get the firmness of the clay back to a workable consistency.

What to do when you drop your head?

Start over, of course! Yep, after I reattached her head, I bumped the sculpture stand and tipped the figure precariously. Consequently her head dropped to the floor with a big plop! Naturally it did a real face-plant so there was no real salvaging her. Quite gruesome, actually ;-)

Oh well, I enjoyed sculpting her and felt she was a bit stilted in expression anyway.

So I sat down today and created a new head. I also worked on her arms by cutting them off and hollowing them out. Then I started to rough in her hands. I've decided to change the position of the arms a bit, making her a bit more expressive, too. Have I mentioned how much I love the second chances you get with clay?

Happily, the new head is in place, the body has firmed up better to support the weight and I have one arm and hand attached again. The battery on my camera needs charging so I don't have enough juice to get more photos in today....I'll photo and post the progress soon....in the mean time, I'm happy with the progress of the head and face and feel that the second sculpt is better than the first.

I'm planning on having this sculpt more 'painterly' in the finish so this will be a new challenge on to over-work the surface.

Stay tuned!

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #6

 Off with her head!

Yes, it does seem a bit brutal. However, there are several reasons to to mutilate your sculpture. In this case I wanted to hollow the head and neck more and I wanted to work on the face "off sculpt". 

By removing the head, I have easier access to the skull and the features ~ sometimes sculpting on the full form can be awkward and space limited, so by removing a piece from the overall sculpture, you can get to it easier.

I will sculpt more on the head and re-attach later. Ears and hair are sculpted later, since they would be squashed in handling anyway.
 

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #5

 No time to work on Monday and only an hour this morning...so not much change, but refined the form and the arms a bit. Later today I hope to have enough time to start her hands.

Then I may remover her head to make it easier to sculpt, be sure of my wall thickness and reattach - we'll see how far I can get....

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #4

Last post today. Would have preferred to go further, but hubby just got home and the last of my Studio Tour visitors recently left so will call it a night!

Having people come to the studio and sculpting in front of people was a fun experience! Though I didn't get as much sculpting in, as I stopped often to talk with people and show them around, I feel like I've got a good start to this sculpt. I'll let her firm up overnight and get back to work tomorrow. Plan on trying to have her done by the end of the week so check back to see her progress....

Thanks for visiting everyone - I had a great time at the tour and plan on doing it again next year. I think I'll book a model and try to compete a figure pose over the two days next year....

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay #2

Here is the progress - I've continued to move the sticks around at the form takes shape. The clay continues to sag and slump and I am continually bringing it back up to it's original height.

Next I will begin forming the arms and putting into place.

Stop by today to see the progress in person - I'll be sculpting until 5pm today as part of the Fort Collins Studio Tour!

900 Marble Drive.

Figure Sculpting Demo - young dancer in ceramic clay

For the Fort Collins Studio Tour I'm doing a sculpting demo. I'll be sculpting a young dancer with an attitude using ceramic Paper Clay. Here I've just started. The armature is a steel pipe attached to a board. I've put newspaper around the steel post and wrapped that with a slab of clay. The stick are temporary supports - the clay is wet and heavy and slumps while at this stage. It will be a couple of hours before it's stiff enough to support the weight and the sticks will come out. Will be updating the sculpt all day as I progress.

Come on out toe 900 Marble Drive in Fort Collins today from 10am to 5pm to see the progress!