, costs about $100-140 and is well worth it. I’ve burned up seven ordinary $25 glue guns in the past two years. This orange beast can effortlessly put out several pounds of glue a minute. It requires specific shaped glue sticks available in 11-pound boxes. You can find great deals on the web.Tree textures
I am determined to make the concrete Tree Troll almost indistinguishable from real wood. To do that, it is important to understand the complex language of surface texture. The whorls, knots, cracks, and crevices that trees gain as they grow are very characteristic.
Each day I mix up a pint batch of mortar and spend about an hour and practicing, using old weathered driftwood as reference. Pictured here are some samples of the real thing, along with some good tests — and some dreadful ones. Another photo after the jump.
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Removing the rubber molds
At long last we are removing the rubber molds from the clay. It slips off with astounding ease. This haunting image shows the inside of the face mold. Good, clean, and without flaw.
Two more photos after the jump.
Silk dying technique
We have chosen a stretchable silk that can handle all the movement without too much buckling.
We drew the pattern for the dorsal fin with a light pencil and masked the white areas with a liquid resist, then allowed the resist to dry. Next, we stretched the silk on a wooden frame with bulldog clips and rubber bands. After treating the fabric with vinegar, we drew the two silk dyes, intense yellow and magenta, onto the surface. With the vinegar treatment, it is astonishing how much control you can have with the movement of the color; it is very much like watercolor painting.
After the silk dries, Owen will steam it tonight to set the color into the surface.
Dying the fin silk
[Left to right: Jasmine Gilbert, Kim Graham, Owen Wolf]
We have begun experiments on the silk for the fins. Owen Wolf, who has been dying fabrics for more than a decade, is working with us find the right look for the Mermaid. My good friend Jasmine Gilbert, a fabulous costumer, is helping with the coloring.
This is the first layer of intense silk dyes. We will set these with steam tonight and then do the second layer tomorrow. It may take many layers, and quite a few attempts, to get the complexity of texture we are looking for. But it is a joy to finally be working with the colors.
The big molds (3): Opening
Three things today: cutting the legs to length, removing the bolts, and opening the shells. We used a contractor’s laser level to sight down the legs, then cut them off with a SawzAll. We then carefully removed the bolts from all the pieces — this took hours!
Near the end of the day, we used a few dozen screwdrivers to remove the first few shells. You can see them after the jump.
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The big molds (2): Mother molds and mold legs
Six volunteers today. We finished the mother mold shells and began to put the supporting legs on each piece. We’re doing the legs slightly differently from the hair because the pieces are so large. Instead of using a platform to measure all the supports, we’re just making them really long. We’ll cut them to length later.
Two more photos after the jump.
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The big molds (1)
I’ve already illustrated the molding process with the hair (see Moldmaking: the hair one, two, three, four), so I’ll just touch on the high points.
It is very rare today for a sculptor to do monumental work like the Red Silk Mermaid. An artist may sculpt only four or five such pieces in her whole career. The opportunity to make molds at this scale is equally rare, and it offers a terrific learning experience. A team of helpers can accomplish weeks of work in a matter of days. Their assistance is enormously valuable.
To find volunteers, I simply email all my friends in the industry and ask them if they know of anyone who would benefit from this study. In return for the volunteers’ assistance and labor, I introduce them to this work and show how it’s done in a professional studio. True, this is an informal atmosphere and not a standard lecture, but I require the volunteers to get their hands dirty in the process — often for the first time.
Photos of the volunteers in action after the jump. (more…)
Mounting the small parts
The small parts — fingers, ears, and fin bases — all get their own molds. We use cheap chopsticks to anchor them to sheets of 3/4-inch plywood.
Specific techniques after the jump.
Preparing for molding
My team and I are preparing the sculpture for molds. We’re taking off the pieces that need to be done separately: the ears, arms, and fingers. We’ve made a mounting bracket of scrap lumber and steel to hold the arms so it will be easy to get around them. We reuse the bracket materials after each job.
Another photo after the jump.
Symmetry
Here are some tricks for sculptors frustrated by bilateral symmetry.
First, impress a brightly colored string on the exact centerline of the face, then shine a light exactly on the center string. This makes the differences between sides glaringly apparent and consequently easier to fix.
Second, notice the terminus line — the delineation between light and shadow. You can get this line really sharp by bringing the light close to the sculpture. Concentrate on just sculpting along the terminus line. By moving the light up and down along the centerline, you can capture the volumes more accurately.
Last, take a picture of the piece and put it on your computer screen. Even now, I noticed a bunch of problems just writing this entry! Flipping the image horizontally also makes problems, and therefore solutions, really obvious.
Moldmaking: the hair (4 of 4)
To open the mold, remove all the bolts and place screwdrivers in the seams. It is easier if you work three or more sides at once. As one opens up and stops, another will have just enough leverage to move more.
Lots more photos after the jump.
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Moldmaking: the hair (3 of 4)
I have encased the T-nut side of all of the bolts first, using a polyurethane resin reinforced with polypropylene fiber. It goes on fast and cures almost instantly.
Again, many more photos after the jump.
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Moldmaking: the hair (2 of 4)
Here I’ve applied the first, really thin coat of rubber. It flows like honey and gets somewhat messy. This captures all the detail.
I am using Mold Max 30 high-tear-strength silicone rubber from Smooth On Corp. Used with the thickening agent Thi-Vex, this rubber has the most wonderful creamy texture, and it will hold onto a surface upside down.
Many more photos after the jump.
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Moldmaking: the hair (1 of 4)
(As mentioned in “Hair finished – but I need clay,” I decided to mold the mermaid’s hair ahead of the rest of the figure, so I could reclaim the clay for use elsewhere on the sculpture. I describe the entire process of molding the hair using nearly two dozen photos over several posts.)
I start with carefully removing as many of the difficult-to-mold hair pieces as possible — 29 individual bits, plus the main mass! Again, this is shocking; typically there may be two to five additional pieces. I carefully number both each bit and its connection point.
More pictures after the jump.
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Applying the clay
I am using “Le Beau Touche” modeling clay from Chavant. This plasticine goes for approximately $4 a lb. It is a mid-level hardness formulated for northern climates. It is just the right density at room temperature, 65 degrees, to be pleasant to work with. In Texas it would melt.
To soften the clay, heat about 2 lbs of it in a microwave for two minutes. Then apply the clay with a spackle knife or trowel. I’m putting on about 1/16-inch and leaving little sparkles of foil showing. This reminds me of the depth of the clay.
I have tipped the mermaid down to get to the top of the hair.
A side shot after the jump.