Embracing the Imperfections

Newest Clay Character!

My independent study this semester has been trial and error with using new clay and different techniques.  The first type of clay I used while making the human figure was really tough to work with around the wire armature.  I found it really hard to keep it standing up right.  My second attempt at this technique was creating a slightly smaller scale model of one of my character which work quite nicely.

With my most recent piece I completely changed my structure of sculpting.  First I built a solid wire structure so that my figure wouldn't collapse or shift.  After I felt the structure was firm I covered it with tin foil.  The tin foil acts like a volume builder so that I don't have to create it with an abundance of extra clay.  It also can act as a smoother surface for the clay to lay upon.

 

After the structure was refined I began to place slabs of the clay onto the grounding enviornment of the piece.  I choose a rocky texture as his earth.  Creating this texture was really fun.  I found that to make it look realistic I had to embrace the imperfections of the scratches or rips in the clay surface.  After I had the clay laid down the way I wanted it, I softened a darker brown clay to a liquid and brushed it into the surface thus creating a rockier texture.

After his grounding was completed I began to construct Zane's form.  I knew from the beginning that I wanted to give his skin a scaly texture.  It was a trial an error with about three to four different materials.  I decided on a fish net texture that wouldn't be added until the end.  Here is an image showing the basic layover of the clay with out the texture.

Finally, when I tough I had the proportions correct I began adding more detail.  This included adding the hands, feet, nails, hair, moles, and scale texture.  The eye was also big for trial and error.  I attempted the a total of three times until I choose a final.  The iris is created with tin foil and nail polish with a clay glaze over the top.  Here is a few final images of the piece before I need to fire it in the oven.

 Wish me luck with the firing!  New photos to come of the final on my website!