Tombstone tutorial: Part 2

We're using more Model Magic clay today to sculpt Poe's face.  There are many techniques you could substitute for this, but here's what I did and learned.

So first let me say, I am not a sculptor.  These are not professional techniques.  However I needed a passable representation of the bronze bas relief on the Poe tombstone and so I jumped right in!.  I started with a plain mask to give me the right proportion of eyes, nose, and mouth.  It was much too tall/deep, so I trimmed it with scissors.  Still was too tall, but I didn't have anything else, so I forged ahead.  I built up his facial features, made some eyes and lips, and then added hair.  So far so good.  Model magic takes a while to air dry so I let it sit for several days.

Then I rolled out a fairly thin model magic sheet and covered a piece of foam core for the background.  I used regular baking tools like a pastry roller for this.  I then let it dry for another couple of days.

UH OH.

It cracked.  And cracked.  And cracked some more.

Model Magic shrinks when it dries.  So by placing it on the mask and board which don't shrink, the clay had to crack.  Ugh. 

I covered up all of the cracks with wood filler, however this did not solve the problem, there was still more cracking.  Totally feeling failure now.

So I took my HWFF Bounce and Foam Coat and brushed it on all over the clay. 

And at last!! it worked.  The cracking stopped and the foam coat covered up all of the lines.  Whoo hoo!

So life went on and I added the dates (clock number with adhesive backs) and started to paint.

I started with a combination of gold and copper metallic acrylic paint.  Then added bronze and black metallic.  It doesn't show up well in these photos, but there are different colors in the crevices and highlights.

It was done for now.  I'll wait until I mount it to the tombstone to add the verdigris as shown below...

See you in Part 3!