Sunday, February 7, 2010

SCULPTURE - "Boarbarian" pt.1

Time for a new sculpture! Once again, I'll be showing this in process. I'm creating a "bust" piece, instead of a full figure. I don't have any sketches to work from, so I'll be figuring it out as I go. I've gathered a lot of great research, though, so I won't be flyin' blind. I'm not going to reveal the main character just yet, so you'll have to stay tuned. But you can tell from the title where I'm heading.

Let's begin with the base. I cut a square from a 2"x4", cut off the corners, then belt-sanded it into a circle. I put the nuts and bolt in the middle to add some weight.

I've got a fondness for Celtic Knot designs, so I decided to incorporate a basic Celtic pattern around the base. (Must be from the Scots-Irish heritage in the family tree.) This part was very tricky...no matter how I measured, and redrew the knots multiple times, it never quite matched up. I was able to rework the final design to hide it pretty well. I traced a short segment of the knots, cut it out of Sculpy, then placed that segment on the wood base. I cleaned up the pattern, and baked it.

I used epoxy putty to create a "mother mold" that would become the inverted shapes of the knots. I carefully cleaned out the baked Sculpy, and now had a "stamp" of the pattern. I probably should have used a "plasticine" type clay, that would stay firm, but pliable. It would've been easier to clean out of the mold than the baked Sculpy. Live and learn. When I did a test run of stamping the pattern around the base, it didn't match up. So I cut out a shorter segment from the stamp and added a wooden handle, which seemed to work.

I drilled some holes to help the Sculpy stay on better. I pressed the stamp around the base, and after a little cleanup, had a nice Celtic knot pattern.

Here's the final base, with a few more details added. I had an unexpected problem, however, with the wood expanding and contracting. It made a couple of bad cracks in the pattern.

So I had a decision to make...try to repair the cracks, or work with them. I decided that the theme of this piece lent itself to a "battle damaged" look. So I purposely "distressed" the whole base with more cracks and scrapes. I plan on painting it to look like stone, so it will feel like it's really old and weathered. I actually like it better than the cleaner look.

5 comments:

Kerry Callen said...

Looking forward to seeing what this turns into!

Don't you even run out of room for all this stuff you're making?

Warren said...

I have several shelves in my studio that are holding the sculpts and junk I've made so far. I also have fun making shelves...so as long as there's wall space, I'm good.
-W

Fitz-Badger said...

Nice! I love Celtic knotwork, too (and have some Scottish and Irish heritage as well). I can see it would be very tricky to get it to match up correctly when wrapped around a circular object like that. Interesting to see how you did these steps.

Anonymous said...

How beautiful that would look as trim on an apple pie. Why didn't you do that at home back when you were small? I could have really used you then. Mom

Warren said...

Funny, Mom. I suppose I could try it, next time I come for a visit. But, before you get too excited...notice how often I've burnt my sculptures in the process of making things!