Hyn Patty Posted May 29 Report Share Posted May 29 (edited) So I had some trouble with my Porthos rubber masters of my original plaster mold. Having used a silicone rubber with a slightly lower shore hardness I had to rejacket my rubber mold masters to prevent warping. I should have known better than to fall for that great sale! Hahahaha. Once past that I could finally pour my production plaster molds and yesterday I finally slip cast another of my Porthos sculptures. For any of you who follow my album or my previous thread on this draft horse sculpture he is normally standing with his head turned to look back behind himself. But as I am a sculptor I also like to play with the clay! Instead of the usual assembly of the cast parts, I fabricated him an all new neck, tail, and then shifted two of his legs around a bit. I'm in the process now of fixing his shoulder and haunch accordingly and added the start of a mane. Still plenty of clean up and fine tuning to go! Once you slip cast a piece you don't have to dry and fire it the same as it came out of your molds. You can also rework, resculpt, reposition, redetail to produce completely new and exciting one of a kind pieces! By the time I am done with this boy and get him onto his base he's not going to look much like my original Porthos sculpture. I've redone him to be a heavier continental European breed or even Russian Draft. Clay is so much fun! Soon as I get him to the point that he's ready to dry and bisque fire I'll cast another one to see what other repositioning and resculpting antics I can get up to. Breyerfest is only about 6 weeks away so I don't a lot of time but I might manage to get two new pieces completed. Wish me luck! Edited May 29 by Hyn Patty Hulk, Rae Reich and Kelly in AK 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted May 29 Report Share Posted May 29 He is beautiful he reminds me of a Greek style sculpture. I haven't started on my dog's sculpture yet, my sister is coming to visit next week. I don't want to start it and just let it sit. I think I will take a look at some of my art history books for inspiration. My husband got my big stand down for me so I am ready to begin. He has a big car show this weekend and is showing off a 1965 El Camino he just finished this week. The weather is suppose to be bad so I don't know how much showing off he can do. Denice Hyn Patty and Rae Reich 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rae Reich Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 More cool inspiration! Thanks and good luck! Hyn Patty 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted May 30 Author Report Share Posted May 30 (edited) On 5/29/2024 at 2:26 PM, Denice said: He is beautiful he reminds me of a Greek style sculpture. I haven't started on my dog's sculpture yet, my sister is coming to visit next week. I don't want to start it and just let it sit. I think I will take a look at some of my art history books for inspiration. My husband got my big stand down for me so I am ready to begin. He has a big car show this weekend and is showing off a 1965 El Camino he just finished this week. The weather is suppose to be bad so I don't know how much showing off he can do. Denice Thank you Denice and Rae, both. Denice, if I can assist you in any way with your dog sculpture you just let me know. As for starting and then just letting it sit - would you start with ceramic clay or oil clay? If oil clay, letting it sit for long periods between work doesn't matter. If wet ceramic clay for your original I have a few tips that might help so that you may come and go from it without concern that it would dry out on you. I often have more than one sculpture going at a time and I may come back and forth from them (even wet clay) for months or even years at a time before I complete them. If you choose to work in oil clay and want to make a waste mold and resin or rubber cast for your 'master' from which you can then make plaster slip casting molds might I suggest you have a look at this gentleman's page? He does fantastic dog sculptures and his methods for mold making are very simplified! Simple brush on rubber with a resin or plaster jacket mold. Talk about stupid easy to do. You may only want to do a ceramic clay original but how cool would it be if you made a master from which you can make additional production molds easily and slip cast an edition??? I mean, that's what we are here for, right? To help & encourage each other. It may /sound/ daunting but it isn't, trust me. Small steps, lots of patience, and confidence that you got this - and you do, whichever way you choose to do it! All-FanYu Dog Sculptore on Facebook Incidentally he just had a big exhibit at the Westminster Kennel Club's show but if you scroll down past that you'll see tons of step by step progress how he does his dog sculptures. May it inspire you! Edited June 2 by Hyn Patty Typos Rae Reich and Hulk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 Thank you for the info I will definitely check them out. I am making a life size sculpture in a brown clay that turns black when fired. I was in a sculpture group for 10 years and did life size busts, we would hire a model but mostly we had volunteers. My senior year in college my professor had me make small figures in anguished, happy, sad ect poses. My first one was of a elderly man peeping over a fence and grinning. I actually saw a elderly man doing this on the way to my class, on the other side was a couple on a blanket passionately kissing. I had my elderly neighbor pose for me. Fortunately I didn't need the couple on the other side that was to be imagined by the person looking at the sculpture. I have worked with oil clay but have never explored resins or rubbers. One of the problems that my MS has caused me is a instant stop breathing reaction to many things, chemicals and cat dander are the worse and I love cats. I am happy that I can still work with clay and plaster. I have my husband handle all of the painting. Denice Rae Reich and Hyn Patty 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted May 30 Report Share Posted May 30 I took a look at Fan-Yu site, it has given me new ideas on poses and armatures that are needed for them. My dog's body looks like a sausage and has very fine, slick short hair. When he was a puppy he was hard to hang onto. He just slid out of your hands, I am going to have to search his body for every small ripple of a muscle or rib. His hair is another problem to tackle. Denice Rae Reich 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted June 2 Author Report Share Posted June 2 On 5/30/2024 at 3:33 PM, Denice said: I took a look at Fan-Yu site, it has given me new ideas on poses and armatures that are needed for them. My dog's body looks like a sausage and has very fine, slick short hair. When he was a puppy he was hard to hang onto. He just slid out of your hands, I am going to have to search his body for every small ripple of a muscle or rib. His hair is another problem to tackle. Denice Or, if you feel up to it, capture him in a pose that bends that body around while curled up to sleep, or leaping for joy for a treat, something that would be more fun than a straight sausage form. Though there's nothing wrong with that either - say trotting or running forward! Then you are more likely to see a hint of rib or ripple caused by wrinkles, etc. Hair is usually pretty easy so again, if you need help, feel free to send me a photo and I may be able to make suggestions. But a good rule to follow is just simply things and don't worry about capturing every little detail. All-FanYu does that beautifully. He simplifies the hair into wavy forms that makes things interesting without being bogged down with texture that could also be too distracting. If the hair is very short then a subtle brushed texture using a stiff oil painting paint brush may be sufficient to give a hint of it, with a little detailing just here or there to suggest the hair without getting bogged down in it. Besides, if you do decide to give molding a try, too much texture will complicate things! Sorry to hear about the odors of things stopping you in your tracks. One other option is to get someone else to do the molding for you. Since it can be as easy as a brush on rubber and a simple jacket of plaster or plastic resin, a neighborhood teen or your own kids or grandchild may be willing to undertake doing that part for you. As said it's not hard to do if your form isn't too complex. If need be you can always cut it up and mold/cast in pieces to assemble if the form is complicated, like I did with Porthos. The nice thing is that you can also flood undercuts and cut them back out later once you have a resin or rubber master to make your plaster slip casting molds from. There may also be someone local to you who could do it for hire. But totally up to you what you want to do! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted June 3 Report Share Posted June 3 I will call on you is I need some help, some of his fur is like peach fuzz and stiff brush pounce may do the trick. I was looking at my sculpture armature today, I think I can arrange them for a dog standing up and twisting. I am going to stick to clay and plaster, there aren't any children around me. My son and his wife moved to Costa Rico and don't have any children. My neighborhood children have gone off to college. It is probably for the best, I don't want to have another attack, and end up in the hospital. One spring my husband was spraying paint on the house, the paint had a insecticide in it. With in minutes I started choking, he looked at me and told me my face was purple, he rushed me to the hospital I couldn't see. The hospital told me if it had gotten into my blood system it would have killed me. When we got home I started to convulse and my face was twitching. We left for 24 hours, when we got home we figured out that I couldn't be outside in the yard, we had to close all of the windows and I had to use the backdoor. About a year later I could open the windows. Doctors told me that once you have a severe reaction to something you will react to other chemicals faster. The only times I have a problem recently is when I decide to do something I am not suppose to. I started to grab a can of organic bug spray to kill the ants on my humming bird feeder. My husband grabbed the can out of my hand and said oh no you don't spray that, I said it's organic I should be able to spray it. He said I am not willing to take that chance. I'd better go feed my birds. Denice Hulk and Hyn Patty 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted June 3 Author Report Share Posted June 3 Oh goodness, I am so sorry, Denice! Also I wouldn't use even an organic bug spray on your hummingbird feeder. Just add a water trap to keep the ants off. Organic is still as dangerous to your hummingbirds as it may be to you! Good luck and yes, be very careful. Do what you got to do to be safe. Big hug! Hulk 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted June 10 Report Share Posted June 10 I said that wrong I was going to spray the stucco wall leading up to the bird feeder. I take down the feeder and clean it when we spray, I just heard about the water trap a couple of days ago. I need to research it and see how it works. I am ready to buy a new feeder, the sun has destroyed it. I am going to be able to work in my studio this weekend my sister is leaving Wednesday. She has gotten grouchier in her old age, she rants about anything to tell her. My husband said that I was just not thinking first before I spoke, he finally spent some time with her. When we were alone he said I was right that she would tear into anything he said. It will be nice to not be walking on pins and needles. Denice Hulk and Hyn Patty 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hyn Patty Posted June 11 Author Report Share Posted June 11 Sending a hug! Post us some eye candy when you are able to have fun with mud! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denice Posted June 12 Report Share Posted June 12 Still taking photos trying to get the right pose. He will be 2 years old next month, my sister also tried to get some photos for me. Aiming at a moving target. Denice Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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