My appalling skills with Photoshop.

Art246 Assessment.

The Face of Sorrow.

This is the final outcome of my first face cast, I carved back a lot of the plaster from the nose neck and chin to give the face more definition.

I also carved detail into the eyes, eye brows and side of the face to reveal some smooth “raw wood”, Inspired from a primary image I had previously took.

What A Goopy Mess!

I have wanted to do a head cast for a while now and finally got a model, the necessary material and arranged a date that we were both available. Ideally I would have liked for the model to express a facial expression that looked like he was uncomfortable or in pain but the curing time of the alginate would be too long to keep the face in the same state without moving slightly.

I started at the nape of the neck with mod rock bandages until all of the back part of the head was covered, letting it dry then covering an inch of the front edge with a pigmented release agent.

Following the instructions correctly, I mixed the alginate with water but I found that the ratio stated did not give me enough time to cover the face before it had cured. With the second batch I added more water and got coverage of the face but only a thin layer before the material again cured.

Carrying on with the procedure I added several strips of mod rock bandages to the cast making sure they did not go over the pigmented release agent on the back head cast.

After letting the front dry for the correct amount of time I took off the front head piece with the intention that the alginate would stick with the mod rock, I would patch the front cast to the back and pour the plaster to create a positive cast of the head. Unfortunately this was not the case, and due to the short time limit I quickly pinned the alginate mask to the mod rock, quickly covered the holes in the nostrils and poured the plaster only into the front negative cast.

Playing with plastics.

I had the idea that I would make sculptural piece that looks like a tree trunk that is spilling leaves from as if it was the trees internal organs.

To do this I made a tube out of plastic bin bags, by stitching them together, and adding smaller tubes to it and then filling it with leaves, once full I would heat the plastic up with a heat gun so that the plastic would bubble up and warp.

 

I wasn’t very happy with the look it was going in and abandoned the idea half way through hoping to come up with a better approach to doing this, whether it is to use a different material or adding a more supportive structure to it.

Paper Making.

 

Referring to my primary sources, taken at the local dene, I was drawn to the images of trees that i had took close up and found the textures, pattern of moss and bark interesting.

I wanted to create a mossy like material to incorporate into my practice, Keeping a recycled theme I chose to make some paper with a similar lumpy, fuzzy texture as moss.

Quick how to guide:

Things You Need:

• Blender
• Frame with fine mesh on one side
• Plastic sheets or tray
• Jug
• Small cup
• Access to working a sink.
• Scrap paper
• Paint

To begin with I selected two shades of scrap green paper, shredded and soaked them until soft. ( For one A4 sheet of paper I use one cup of water. If i use thicker than standard paper, I soak the shredded sheet in warm too hot water and let it cool)

DO NOT blend the mix when water is hot!

Once the paper has soaked thoroughly and the water has cooled to room temperature, you can then blend the mixture to make paper pulp. I was not satisfied with the colouring of the pulp so I added a deep green ready mixed paint and dried leaves I collected and blended it for a few more seconds then added more water. Luckily for me the meshed frame was slightly bigger than my studio sink and lay perfectly over it for any access water to go straight down the drain.  I then poured the watery pulp over the mesh using a small cup, going into the edges and corners first then filling in the centre. ( You can pour straight form the blender but I find that you do not get as much control and places become more clumped and thicker than others also splashes create a crater like texture that I did not want to have in this sheet.) I usually leave the frame over the sink for fifteen minutes so the bulk of the access water has drained out of the paper then place it vertically at an angle (shown in the image below) into a plastic tray so any further water can escape allowing the paper to dry.

 

 

 

 

 

Only remove when fully dry!

 The drying process for an A3 sheet takes over a day to dry. This is not very convenient for myself and I intend to hand make a larger frame for myself so I can produce more material to work with.

 

 

Please note: This is just my version of making a tactile piece of recycled paper, there are many different and more accurate ways of creating paper but for me this is my preferred method for my practice.

 

Working in clay.

Instead of just throwing down ideas on paper as sketches I wanted to demonstrate three dimensionally one of my ideas, I bought some DAS, a fine white modelling clay that doesn’t need to be fired up. I wanted to make a skewed human form, and produced the figure in the top photo.

Having little experience in working with material, I realised trying to sculpt the idea that I had in mind would not be successful with using the clay alone.

Combining wire as an armature inside the clay was the best way for me to create this little creature.