Saturday 3 January 2009

Work in Progress

I hope everyone has had a thrilling New Year's celebration.

I have been using the holiday period to get some work done on a wax model to be cast. This is a commission that I took on quite a while ago. Although I have been doing a little each weed, this has been quite a long process.

I normally work to a much larger scale, so this has been a learning process for me. To get things right at a small scale is much more work than getting it right at a large scale. The family have been very patient with me, but now it is nearing the casting process, so I thought I would show my progress.

I first began the process with a large number of sketches once the pose had been determined between the clients and me. I determined the scale and made lots of measurements and converted them as final sizes on photographs. The person comes in from time to time so I can check the work against the actual person.


This first photo shows an early stage of the work about six months ago.









This second photo shows the state of the wax model at present. It does not show so much difference in structure from the first. But the real work has gone into the hands, face and feet. Also tiny refinements are required. Now that I am smoothing the whole, I am finding more of those little imperfections.


I intend to take a RTV rubber casting of this in case anything goes wrong. Then I can fill the rubber negative with wax and cast again. Just insurance for me.

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