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Garden Reverie- 2nd Post

January 18th, 2013 | Posted in Sculpting tips | Print Print 4 Comments »

Garden Reverie- 2nd Post

Glad to share the next step for creating my garden lady — figuring out her hairstyle. Sculpting her hair is my favorite part of modeling her (adding clothing is a close second… sculpting the face comes in third although it’s the most difficult).

Most of the time I like to work in silence because I need to concentrate and think about what I’m seeing on the model, not just sculpt what I see.  Understanding the bones and muscles as I mentioned earlier helps me sculpt more lifelike.  But when I sculpt hair, there is no anatomy to think about, I get to be free and flow with it.  For this I turn on the cd player with my favorite music and let joy and love come up in my heart.  Then, with a clear mind, add one tendril at a time and enjoy the process.

 

 

Water-based clay is so wonderful to work with when sculpting hair because it doesn’t push back on your tools like oil based clay does.  Applying water along with a wet brush, the hair can be “brushed” and hair lines will result.  Also, I like to use tools such as thick paper or pieces of plastic to pull through the hair to form it and leave brush strokes.  Fingertips work well along with moist clay for organic textures to result.  To soften, I apply a wet brush over all the hair as needed and then add back sharpness here and there.

 

 

 

 

I’d like for her hair to be fuller in the front but next I’ll start working out her hair in the back. I think a long wavy loose braid would accent her torso from the back view.

Thanks for following the progress.

~Tamara

(See Garden Reverie’s finished clay pics and promotion and bronze photos)

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4 Responses to “Garden Reverie- 2nd Post”

  1. Lynda Sappington says:
    January 19, 2013 at 8:14 am

    Thanks for the detailed explanation! The site you sent me to yesterday – the author said he sculpts the hands and face off the sculpt, then adds them later. Do you do that too? How do you keep from squishing the detail when you press them onto the sculpt? I’m still trying to figure out some of his explanations. It will be easier when I get back to my clay piece. She really is lovely – love the little curls by her temples and the lifted hair in front. Thanks for sharing!

    Oh, there’s a question on WC about finding live models – you’d be much better at answering that than me. Just a heads-up.

  2. Bill Brooks says:
    January 19, 2013 at 8:14 am

    The creation of hair in water based clay has been an interesting revalation for me in my learning process… I have much still to learn, I like the curls you have made, reminds me of some of the work I have seen done in marble in Italy… Hair has bounce, and curl and depth, and springyness for lack of a better way to describe it and when I create a piece, I like to imagine the affects of inertia, the wind, and gravity on the hair… this helps me in trying to picture what it ought to look like on the model… It is also a good tool for setting the mood of the piece… Love what you are doing… I like that you explain your environment in the studio as well… it seems this affects the creative process a lot. My teacher here in Carlsbad plays classical music and strives for a no stress environment in the studio which is really appreciated by us… :)

  3. Tamara says:
    January 19, 2013 at 2:52 pm

    Thanks Lynda :-) These pics are really early on but I have to take it slow for the work in progress and show all the stages but want to just skip to the end!

    Yes,sometimes I will remove the arms or feet and sculpt them further and then reattach them. They are pretty stiff at that point so nothing gets squished except for the seam line.

    Glad you enjoyed Peter’s site.

  4. Tamara says:
    January 19, 2013 at 2:54 pm

    Bill- Environment is so important. Most of the time I sculpt in complete silence but if I something doesn’t require concentration, wonderful music just makes the heart sour. Sculpting can be like pure ecstasy/exhileration at certain stages, such as adding hair with great music in the background.

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