The beginning phases of the sculpting process:
The next step of creating a figure is to make an armature. Click here for Part 1.
Wire and aluminum foil are used to create the basis for the toy to be sculpted around. It’s very much like the gesture drawings you would do in any basic figure drawing course, just in 3D. Not only does it give a firm base when you’re mashing clay onto the sculpt, but it establishes the size of the final figure. If I have a target size, I will print out a rough sketch to scale to work alongside the armature.
Here are the beginning stages of the armature. I sculpt the head and arms separately, so i put them all together towards the end. That way I don’t put a thumb print in the head while trying to put counter pressure on the body. If the clay sculpt were the final piece, I would make a complete armature in the beginning so the result will be stronger. Since I only need this sculpt to last long enough to make a mold, I can afford to sculpt everything separately and attach them later.
Next step is adding clay!
Tthis will be my first attempt at documenting my toy making process. I’ll post photos as I go along just to give you guys some insight into what actually goes into making them. This is more of a documentation of my process than a tutorial, so I’ll try not to be too wordy (yeah, right).
The very first step is deciding what type of character I want to do – whether it’s one of my signature characters (like Danny or Charlie) or something a little different (like Pepper or My Little Arpie). For this figure, I’m going to make one of my signature characters, and I’m gonna shoot for around 6″ tall.
Next, I spend about 30 mins to an hour looking through my folder of reference images and browsing fashion blogs (some favorites are Lookbook and The Sartorialist for street, The Fashionisto for editorial). For my characters the clothes play an important role (even if they’re very simplified), and I usually decide on their clothing before I decide how their faces will look.
After I decide on the general feel of the character, I do a couple of rough sketches (and I mean ROOOUGH):
That’s it, no joke. Because I’m in charge of the process from start to finish, there is no need for crazy detailed sketches – I know what I want to do – so at this stage I just do a couple of 30 second drawings. When drawing turnarounds for a client or another sculptor, the sketching and drawing process will take days of painstakingly detailed sketches from all different view points and pinpointed proportions and pantone colors. When I do the sculpt, my initial drawings are rough and dirty.
Usually I don’t decide on the name until after the first prototype is cast and painted, but for clarity’s sake, I’ve decided to name him now.
So stay tuned for the next step of the making of Arthur, I’ll be making the armature to begin sculpting.
Melt Down Group show at Soyal Gallery - July 1
Resin Minis will be available at San Diego Comic Con (July 22-25) at Carboard Spaceship booth. More info coming soon.
