Figures will be 'clothed' in fur with glazes such as these.
Here you will see a related set of five porcelain sculptures come into being. The story will unfold in weekly instalments from now until June 30. Get a glimpse of the different processes and materials I use on my way to the finished product. A new post every Tuesday for the next six months.
Images are a little scarce as I get everything in place to begin. What I need to do in the studio this week is generate moulded wax parts from which to build posed figures. Porcelain copies of the wax figures will become an important element in the Furry Things project.
I am going to re-visit a method of making figures I was using at the end of grad school. At that time, I made plaster moulds from action figures which were used to make slip cast copies that were cut apart and hand built into selected poses.
This time, I am casting the copies to build the poses with in wax. Then new moulds which will allow multiple porcelain copies to be made.
I see Furry Things as an edition of five copies. At the end of the six months I would like to have the first set done. There are five individual poses to make. I am short one body so a set of twins is in order. Expect the cycle of moulding the different bodies, building poses and then back to mould making to recur as the five figures for the set are composed. After they are done, the settings for each will be built followed by more mould making. This forming stage of the project will take several months to complete.
In the first week of the project, I am looking to make the basic plaster moulds for one action figure. Once I prep the figure to meet the requirements, I will determine the number of pieces the mould requires and get it done. As soon as the mould is finished, I will start making wax copies to cut up for building. Wax releases best from wet plaster so no need to wait for the moulds to dry before using.
By the end of the first week, I want to have at the very least five wax copies of the action figure ready to be modelled into poses. I only need one or two poses of each and may treat some as practice copies or spare parts. Got to learn the curve. It should be fun. What big kid wouldn’t want to spend time making poses for action figures?
The pictures attached to next week’s post will show if my goals for this week were met. Will things go as planned? Find out when the images of this project in action start flowing Tuesday the 12th.
