Time for the head!

It’s now winter, and the portrait is needed. The head is the trickiest part. It takes more than good proportions and correct gender. All the specific characteristics of age and ethnicity come into play. I taught myself some anatomy by purchasing a plastic skull and duplicating it in terra-cotta clay. Next I made an armature for supporting the oil-based clay for the portrait. Months passed with much frustration. I added clay, I took it away and added it in a different location.

Eventually I consulted a master carver that specializes in portraits, Malcolm Harlow. He showed me how to add some ‘baby fat’ and give the portrait a little smirk in the corners of his mouth. He also made a good point about how the sculpture is outside and the child’s hair should look like it had been moved by the wind. Malcolm will also aid me in casting the completed head bust into plaster. I will measure the stone version of the portrait from the plaster model to be cast.