Forton cast bust

[max nelson]

First post. Hope this works!. This is a bust that I cast (another first) making a rubber mold with Polytec 40, mother mold, bronze first coating and Forton inner coating. I could not find a suitable base so made one by the coil and scrape method from wet clay. Used a charcoal glaze that created a rough textured finish. Comments or critques welcomed.
Max

[diane555]

Max Max Max!!! She is lovely! Please tell me more about this coil & scrape method . I am afraid I do not understand the term. Did you have it fired or cast after (the base, that is)? I am definitely going to look into this Forton. It makes a beautiful piece. Pleeeease show more of your work Again, beautiful work.

Di

[max nelson]

Di..thanks for the applause symbol. After posting this image I realized how large it was. Must take forever to download. I really wasn't very happy with this cast. Being my first there were some obvious flaws and it was not a peice that I was going to save anyway. Kept it around in clay for a couple of years and used it as my experimental peice at the workshop I mentioned in an earler post. The coil and scrape is not a 'technical' term. It is just the method I used to make the base. Coiling is an ancient technique. The Native Americans use this method for making pots. I had never tried but did not know of any other way, so gave it a go. Basically, just made a flat bottom, rolled clay into lengths, coiled around the base being careful to insure a good bond by wetting the top layer and forming sort of a slip. Then the process is to 'pinch' the layers together and smooth out. I could not get the exact shape or the degree of finish I wanted. I experimented with different methods until I hit on taking an old peice of wire mesh I had laying around. I shaped a gentle curve to the mesh so that it would follow the curve of the base shape I desired. Then it was much like sanding a peice of wood. I waited until the clay was nearly 'leather hard' to do so. The inside of the base I didn't worry about for finish. Then brushed a couple coats of the charcoal glaze on, popped it in the kiln and fired. Drilled a couple of holes in the fired peice to mount bolts to the bust. I'm sure there are better methods but pottery is not something I have much experience with. Keep us posted on your molding process. Max

[diane555]

Thanks for all the info Max. I thought maybe it was something I missed not going to art school! I like the base. Unique.

Di

[kjsspot]

Hi! Can you tell me what Folton is? Is it a product, a foundry or a method? TIA!!

[max nelson]

Kerry...Forton is a modified gypsum(plaster). I posted some info on it previously. Check Diane555's two threads: Casting 2001 and Two step. There is an 800 number for them. They sell either in bulk or have a very generous starter kit for about $35.00 with everything needed for a 'bronze' cast. They also have a polymer material for solid pours, bas reliefs etc. that would be ideal for your peices since they are smaller. One of the best sources for other molding materials is Polytec. If you want I will try to dig up there address for you or you could probably find a web site for them.
Max

[ftb]

wow max.. this is very impressive almost looks like marble on my screen I like what you have done thanks for posting

[max nelson]

ftb..Thanks for your comments. As I've posted, like yours as well. Max

[impetuous]

OMG Max, she is absolutely gorgeous!!!

I popped into this forum after seeing your post in Portraiture (believe me, the folks in there need to see this!) ...I am soooo glad that I did.

What a delicate and pretty feminine face, women would kill for those cheekbones (have you ever considered going into plastic surgery ...you'd make a killing in Hollywood!)
Love that slender neck too, very elegant.
It probably sounds very strange, but when I see lovely works of art I have this really strong impulse to reach out and touch then ...LOL, I want to hug this one!

The technical jargon is completely lost on me, you might as well be talking Double Dutch, but maaaaaan... does this make me want to go out and buy a big slab of clay!

Inspired! I haven't seen anyhting this beautiful since the my visit to the limestone caves of Waitomo.

Bec

[kjsspot]

Originally posted by max nelson
There is an 800 number for them. They sell either in bulk or have a very generous starter kit for about $35.00 with everything needed for a 'bronze' cast. They also have a polymer material for solid pours, bas reliefs etc. that would be ideal for your peices since they are smaller. One of the best sources for other molding materials is Polytec.

Thank you!! I really want to start to learn the mold & cast methods as I can't afford to have a real bronze made yet. I'll be looking into these! Thank you very much for the info!

[tritium_pie]

Max, you've done very well with the facial features-- the eyes, lips, chin, and cheek are particularly nice. When I look at her face, and particularly the expression in her lips and eyes, I wonder exactly what she is thinking-- is she thinking about what she's looking at, or someone or something else? The face truly tells a story for me!

Now, I hope I'm not offending the model for your lovely sculpture, but the ears appear to be *ever so slightly* larger than typical feminine ears, specifically the top half. Also the neck and shoulders seem to be ever so slightly thinner in proportion to the size of the head, but then again, your sculpture is most likely of a real person like you or I, and not some Michelangellan fantasy of perfection of form that I may be conjuring in my mind. Perhaps the picture of the blue base is throwing me off a bit, because when I look at her face, my mind fills in "blue blouse, unusually small bust... something is amiss" rather than seeing that it is just a base.

As with any sculpture, I'm sure a picture or two from a different angle would give a clearer idea of the overall shape.

with humility,
Benjamin

[max nelson]

kjsspot..glad the info is helpful. If you need any more info that I can supply for you will be happy to do so.

Imp...thanks very much for your very generous comments. (Ok if I print and frame?... Don't know if I will ever get any this good again. And you SHOULD get some clay and try it. Imagine how much fun you would have doing your "Passion" in 3D. And you would not even run out of paper!

tritium-pie...yes, the ears are a little larger than the ideal, but her's were (and just a little floppy at the top). You are right about the neck. I did make it a little longer than real but probably overdid it just a tad. The base looks blue in the digi pic but is actually a dark charcoal. The piece itself is considerably darker than the photo as well. Think I will take another pic or two and repost. Thanks for your comments and taken as helpful obsvervation. This piece 'melted' off the armature a couple of times over 3 years while I decided what to do with it. It was in plastine but it gets hot out here. Lost several others in a pile of goop

[impetuous]

Originally posted by max nelson
Don't know if I will ever get any this good again

Shame on you for being so negative! I thought that as artists we were meant to get better not worse I am certain that this is just the start of many!

[mebucko]

Mad Max... (I'm sure that nobody has ever called you that before!)

I, like everybody else here think that this piece of work is, well,
a piece of work! Really! It is 'very good', and yeah, it does make
me want to get some clay out.
I saw this the other day and thought to myself, I need to get over
there and tell him what I think, and Lo and behold, you want me to
mow your lawn! Well, I never... I'm still laughing over that one!
Anyway, you've got a knack, I suppose for this, as I'm sure you've
realized by now, and I hope to start frequenting this part of the
forums. I have so much going on though, I'm wondering where the
time is going to come from.
I want to learn the basics from you and Di, y'all got my attention
early on, and I think that anybody that wants to start out with some
clay should start here, and just watch, and learn.
We would all (I'm sure) love to see more of your works, (and Di's)
so we would want to jump in the mud, so to speak.
I am going to post a little doo-dad I did a few years ago.
The name will be "Eyebuckled", It is weird...
I haven't done anything like what you've done here in a long time,
and believe me, not nowhere near as well.
I will come, I will post, I will learn, and thank you for the invite,
that was not only very funny, it was very nice of you!
(I do my stuff in Sculpey, I don't fire my stuff, so don't get any
hopes up!)

Keep posting, we'll be watching...
-Randy-

[ZOTMA]

you put soft grace into a hard material
the neck is a fine length, seen longer on a ballerina
technically fine
I agree about the conflict of the sculpture color to the base color but you said the colors aren't true here
the cheekbones and nose are incredible
how much artistic license with her face?
it seems ideal, it's lovely