HOW IS A SCULPTURAL PORTRAIT CREATED?
I learned how to sculpt portrait busts when I was earning my BFA at SUNY in New York. In those classes, we worked from a live model. It's easiest to do A 3-D portrait using 3-D reference, but it's hard on a client to ask him to pose for the many hours it takes to develop a portrait. So I taught myself to work from photographs instead.
I take many reference photographs of my subject from as many different angles of view that I can manage. One hour of sitting for digital photos and facial measurements is a lot more convenient for a client than weeks of sitting in my studio.
I get a great deal of satisfaction in watching a lump of clay transform under my hands into a human face. Even I am fascinated as the likeness evolves.
I am willing to go anywhere in the continental US to take the necessary reference photos and measurements. I need a helper at the sitting - a member of the family or a friend of the subject. He holds a piece of foam-core behind the subject's head, keeping the subject between us as I move around him. The idea is to get an uncluttered background - to provide a clean silhouette of the edge of the subject's face, no matter what angle I take the photos from. I use a step stool too so I can shoot from above to capture more angles of view. I place a lamp to one side of me, and pull it after me as I circle around the subject taking the pictures. That way there are good strong shadows on the face, bringing out its various shapes and planes. Later, when I am sculpting the portrait, I will light it from the same angles and try to make the clay shapes form the same patterns of light and shadow.
During the sitting, I also take about 25 measurements of point to point distances on the subject's face. I use sculptor's calipers. They are a very simple tool, shaped like a big "C", with a hinge in the middle. I place the ends of the calipers on two points on the subject's face - say the point of his chin and the back of his head. Then I place the calipers against a ruler and write down the measurement. The client and I discuss how large the sculpture is to be. If it is to be life size, then I will use the measurements as I recorded them. If we decide that the
portrait is to be, say 75% of life size, I will
adjust all the measurements down 75%, so
that they all remain in proportion in relation
to each other.
This sketch is a portion of the chart I use
to record the measurements.
There are many types of armature that can be used to build a bust on. The one I used for this piece is very simple. It is a piece of plywood and a half-inch plumbing pipe and flange. The flange could have been attached to the top of the plywood, instead of the bottom. But I planned for this piece to form its own base, instead of being suspended in the air when mounted. Therefor I wanted the support pipe to meet the top surface of the plywood cleanly, without having the flange in the way. So I attached the flange to the bottom of the armature and added a couple of extra pieces of plywood to the bottom. In effect they "inset" the flange and also provided space around the edge of the armature for fingertips to get a grip on, once the armature was loaded with heavy clay.
I use a home-made a sculptor's stand on wheels, that has a platform that swivels and can be adjusted up and down. The platform is supported by a PVC pipe that is held vertical by the holes that go through the center of the stand's shelves. The pipe has holes drilled through it along its length, so that a steel rod can be moved from one hole to another, allowing the platform to be raised and lowered at need. That way I can look at the sculpture from the same heights as the various photos were taken from.
I put a hole in the bottom of a large garbage bag and covered the armature with it. That makes it easy to cover the portrait with the bag after each day's work. I also covered the armature pipe with some newspaper. That makes it easy to slide the finished portrait off of the armature when I wish to.
I've attached a piece of foam core to an old music stand. I pin the photos to it, so I can look at them while I work. I also try to light the evolving sculpture from the same angles as my subject's face was lit in the photographs.
One strong advantage to doing portraiture in 3D is that any misjudgments of shape or proportion one might make, while working from one view point, become easier to see and correct when you change to another angle. The different views tend to correct each other. As I start sculpting, I change the photos very frequently. It is important in the beginning to change the point of view often so that the overall, basic shapes can be built up accurately. It is easy to get involved in the smaller details of a face. But if you do that, you may find that you've sculpted a perfect feature that is in the wrong position or size, in relation to all the other features and facial structures. And it's not as if you could cut it off and move it to the correct place. You'd have to re-sculpt the feature all over again to move it.
It is quite surprising how early in the process a likeness to the subject can start to be seen. That's because the basic structure of a face is the most important element of a likeness, and why the beginning steps of the sculpture are so important. The changes in the sculpture come fast at first, but as the piece gets closer to being finished, the changes become smaller and more subtle and take longer and longer to make. I take photos of the piece as I work on it and give them to the client when I'm done. People do enjoy seeing the changes and how the piece develops from a lump into a person.
When I am satisfied with the portrait, either the client comes to see it, or I send the client photos so he can approve the piece. Then the sculpture must dry to what is called "leather" hardness. That means just what it sounds like. The clay becomes firm and resistant to distortion, but is still fairly easy to cut. At this point I cut the clay head in half. I drag a wire or knife through from the crown, the sides of the head and the neck. I cut it off of the armature and hollow it out to a one quarter inch thickness. If this were not done, the piece would crack
as it dried and shrank. And it might
explode in the kiln. Estimating the
thickness is not always easy to do. But
clay is forgiving, and a thickness of up
to an inch is acceptable. Because of the
shape of this particular portrait, I did not
cut it in half all the way through the
lower portion. I only cut the head in half.
To hollow out the lower portion, I
reached down into the neck and up from
under the bottom.
Then I build a structure with clay, inside one of the halves to fit the metal rod that will eventually mount the portrait to its base. I make deep scratches on the mating surfaces of the two half-heads, wet them, and butter them with clay slip. Clay slip is clay with a lot of water added to make it into mush. Then I put the two halves back together and touch up the joint, making it invisible. Now the piece must dry completely. If any of the water stays in it, it could explode in the kiln. I wrap the piece up in a plastic bag each night, so that the moisture has a chance to even out throughout the clay. Otherwise some parts, like the nose and ears, would dry out quicker than the rest of the piece. Depending on the ambient humidity, the drying might take as long as a month to be very sure. When it is completely dry, it is fired in a kiln and becomes bisque-ware ceramic. It is dull, dead white in color at this point. If it were a pot or the like, this is when a glaze would be applied and fired. And that IS an option a client can choose if he wishes.
Here is the fired portrait and one of my reference photos of Al.
The client can choose to have me make a mold of the ceramic piece so that I can cast copies of it for other family members. This must be decided on and done before the finish is applied to the original piece. These copies can be made of ceramic clay or bonded bronze. I can put the same finish on the copies as on the original, or a different finish choice can be made for each of them. Bonded bronze is an economical alternative to foundry-cast bronze. Since the surface of a bonded bronze piece IS bronze, it reacts to chemical patinas the same way foundry-cast bronze does. Bonded bronze is not as durable as foundry-cast bronze, but it is far less fragile than ceramic. The client can also choose to have the piece copied in bronze by a foundry. It may take the foundry many months to craft their piece and it is a lot more expensive than a bonded bronze copy. No matter what else he decides, the client will have the original, ceramic piece after any copies are made. Unless the client chooses to have copies made, the whole process takes from 2 to 3 months to complete.
This pink thing is a flexible, silicone mold of Al's portrait.
The other picture is of the rigid mother mold that holds it in place.
That's it. The piece is finished, mounted and delivered. And the family swoons with delight.
I prefer to apply a patina. The possibilities for colors and faux effects are endless. A client might bring me an actual stone for me to refer to for color and visual texture, or the finish might be chosen from kitchen countertop samples. I can do a faux bronze finish, or antique copper, rusted iron, faux leather, etc., etc., etc. The client can make this decision right at the beginning, or think about it and change his mind right up until I apply the patina. The base that the finished portrait is attached to can be made from wood, or cut from actual stone. The bottom of the base is covered with felt so it will not mar furniture. I prefer to provide a base that contrasts in color and texture with the sculpture and is low and simple in shape so as not to compete with the portrait. But I have had clients who had more elaborate custom bases crafted by a specialist.
One of the many possible patinas on the finished, mounted portrait.
