Curious Masses

What's up, Doc?

2010-06-28T21:28:00.001-07:00

From Mitch Caster's Monday night drawing class at ASLD. I really need to draw more frequently, it makes me happy.

More in oil based clay

2009-06-05T12:14:00.000-07:00

Some very low quality photos (my camera broke) of a bust I did at the Art Students League. I took a new class there, taught by Valentin Okorokov. It was seriously a lot of fun and I learned sooooo much! The method taught was a sort of simplified version of Edouard Lanteri's method (a common classic method of sculpture), and focused on the planes of the face and neck.

A Little Drawing

2008-11-12T15:08:00.000-08:00

Uuh... has anyone seen Em?

2008-10-07T20:03:00.000-07:00

I found a life drawing session in Bennington, and came home with this:

Eyeball, tri-ball

2008-09-25T23:50:00.000-07:00

After seeing two blog posts in two days, I had the sudden urge to immediately go make some new eyeballs.

And you know what? I think eyeballs aren't so scary after all! Kinda fun, really. Especially in sets of 3.

The one-eyed cherub

2008-09-16T21:10:00.000-07:00

Some works in progress before I head to bed:

This first one has been pulled apart and restarted about three times already, I have been measuring off the reference (illustration shown in the background of the photo) and I probably should be doubling the size. Just looking at this picture now makes all the obvious structural changes stand out to me like a sore thumb (another very good reason to post often, it forces me to take a more critical look at what I'm doing).

And this, well, I'm putting this one up cause I started it sometime in June, and wanted to give myself a little bit of motivation to finish it up. It is life size, which makes me really excited to see how it will turn out (I'm using a live model, so comparing it against the real thing should be fun).

Hand, hand, fingers, thumb

2008-09-11T10:29:00.000-07:00

Hands...

2008-09-10T19:57:00.000-07:00

are a difficult subject. But well worth the effort.

The armature (aluminum and galvanized steel wire) :

About 1/2 way through the process:

More pictures to come tomorrow when I can shoot under some real sunshine.

The Clay: Chavant, NSP Soft "(Non Sulfurated Plasteline) ... sulfur free sculpting clay ... minimizes difficulties associated to mold making ... can be melted and poured at approximately 185°F."

This stuff is much harder than the Chavant Davinci Soft (shown in earlier posts). Still, it is very soft for modeling clay, sticky when warmed up (I heat it up in a clay oven to make it more pliable). Not great for super realistic detail, but I suspect that it will hold detail well enough when cooled below room temperature. I like this stuff because it is soft enough that my hands don't get tired, and it seems to stick well to an armature.

The Star

2008-09-09T13:02:00.000-07:00

Just a little update. I think this is basically ready to be fired, and then maybe stained/painted or something (to help some of the edges pop out a little more, especially the stars in the background).

A little relief

2008-09-04T22:07:00.000-07:00

In an attempt not to start any big projects, I began this little piece in pottery class tonight. Too small for any real detail, it is mostly just an opportunity to practice a little relief sculpture. I don't have any plans to glaze it, maybe a little paint would help some of the edges to pop out a bit after it is fired. Ray let me take some extra clay home, maybe after completing this one I will make another to keep it company.

Cardinal Richelieu

2008-09-01T21:05:00.000-07:00

The lighting here isn't so hot, I might try to take some more photos later tonight after the sun has gone down. I think this guy is finished. It would be nice to get a plaster cast of him, but the clay is so soft that I wonder if it is even possible. I might use the backside of this piece as a base to start another, just to save time preparing.

New growth

2008-08-29T22:58:00.000-07:00

Ok, so... I got the eyes pretty well blocked in, and decided that the nose was just too good to pass up... as well as the mouth, chin, and, if you look closely, the left earlobe as well. (the mustache isn't scheduled to appear until tomorrow morning)

And, just cause I thought they were both pretty...

Here's a 9-eyed-green-monster
feasting on my tomatoes...

And some flowers that I grew...

Progress...

2008-08-24T22:37:00.001-07:00

I still have some superficial smoothing out/texturing to do, but as far as the anatomy goes, I feel it is pretty well done. All of the major wrinkles and folds are in there, and although I may build the brow up a bit further, the bone structure is complete. Do the eyes seem to be looking at the same point? I'll probably dream about a friendly cyclops tonight.

A quick note about the clay I'm using:

Chavant, Davinci Italian Plastilina, "...wax-free, sulfur-based sculpting clay which has the non-sticky, smooth feel of water-based clay."

This stuff is super soft and is extremely pliable, making it easy to rapidly cover a lot of ground. It gets sticky when the weather is hot and humid, and I've noticed that it has a tendency to sag and lose detail after it has been sitting out for any extended amount of time. I'm looking forward to using this clay in cooler weather.

Work in Progress

2008-08-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Are there too many pictures here? I had trouble making up my mind.

#1

#3

#4
#5
#6Photos #4 and #6 look very similar, which is frustrating to me because there was about an hour's worth of work in between the two. Must be time to stop and look at something else for awhile. I think it is typical for me to get hung up about this point, so when I go back to it I'm really going to make an effort to identify any major anatomical errors before moving onto the details (I caught myself adding some wrinkles under the eyes just before taking the last photo, which is waaay too much detail for this stage).

I think it might be a good idea to:

1. cover up the non-eye parts of my reference pic
2. focus on the arch of the brow
3. double check proportions by measuring

4. put on some music, cause that always helps

And here is my reference:

Philippe de Champaigne
Triple Portrait of Cardinal Richelieu, 1642

Quick Eyeball Sketch

2008-08-18T17:33:00.000-07:00

Just a quick sketch, this probably took about 45 minutes of not-so-intense working time. I used Bridgman's Complete Guide To Drawing From Life as reference because I think that his blocky style lends itself well to quick little studies like this one. Eyes probably give me the most trouble, I should do about 10,000 more just to start getting comfortable with them.