The Head-Maker

Alex can't stop making massive, wild, energy-filled, disturbing heads in large numbers; his pantry is full of them.

He also holds the British All-comers record for the most clay used by one individual in a single day ...

And here is a micro-documentary I made of the artist himself, relaxing at home ...

Bloody Mary?

What are we, am I, I mean? I don't know ...

Using Fowler

Progress on a clay head built around the paper laminate of a Fowler Phrenology head
The paper head was stuffed with newspaper and an inverted plastic cup, then wrapped with cling film. I then rolled clay sheets onto a basic clay frame.

Angry Man 2

Another "Angry Man", this time with much more of his internal head space filled with paper which of course is reduced to ash on firing. Below is the unfired head with paper stuffing.
So there's more space for the candle to light it from the inside, which was the intention.

Angry Man

Inspired by Alex's crazed clay heads as well as Maria's demonic baby, I came up with this creation. The head was stuffed with newspaper which was removed prior to firing, so the upper part at at least is hollow and therefore a good place for a candle!

Casein Finished For Now

I think I might stop now ... the casein finish is still changing and still smelling a bit, but I think I'll see what my Dad thinks of it before I make any further changes.

Evolution

Life Tips

Things learned during yesterday's life class:
1) look to model the structure before the detail
2) the basic structure of the body is the same for everyone - e.g. lengths correlate like "foot to forearm"
3) working from photographs rather than life can tend to produce flat sculpture and distorted perspective
4) ears are usually about 2 ear widths back from the front of the face
5) neck muscles are important

And here's where I am with my head:
Although it's now a better sculpture, paradoxically I think it has just lost a bit of the likeness and I now need to add back those touches that make it look "right"

A New Head

Actually it's quite an old head - my father's - which I have been working on at home. The advantage is I know the subject well; the disadvantage is that I will spot every imperfection. Anyway here is the progress so far. Getting there slowly I hope!

Evolution?

Shimming

A plaster mould will next be made from the clay model. This mould needs to be in 2 sections and to achieve this, a barrier of metal "shims" is created through the middle of the model. I had to use cut up pieces of old beer cans. These need to fit very snugly together to prevent any plaster bleeding through the divide. An edge of clay is added to act as a clear marker once plaster is added.

Greeks

Well, the head is looking better with some hair and the ears are now not bad. Last week I visited the British Museum. I wanted to get some ideas of how sculptors down the ages had created ears and eyes. The Greek statues have blank eyes like this, apparently because they were originally painted. Anyway, next I'll try to do something with the eyes.

Final Clay

It was really difficult to get the eyes right and I needed Paul's advice.
In the end I went for gouging out a hole to indicate the pupil and made a slight indent for the eyeball. This is the final clay model - it does have a hint of me I think. Next I will need to make the plaster mould.

Clay Head Progress

Progress has been slow, but it does take time to get not only the individual features right (or at least plausible) in themselves but also in relation to each other and as a whole. I get Paul's feedback every now and then and find out: ears are not just stuck on but flow from the cheek, lie behind the jawline and always contain a C and a Y; lips do not end in points, they are rolls of flesh; your eyes are actually quite far back into your head and round to the side.

I created these comparison photo montages using Photoshop - they will help me sort out where the sculpture needs tweaking!

Cement Fondue 2

Following Paul’s direction, rolled up newspaper in a rough head shape is put in a plastic bag and wound round a wooden block, tied with fine wire. Clay is then moulded onto this basic frame. This is hard work. Will it be human?