Well, six months ago I started work on this Gyrfalcon, and AT LAST the sculpt is finished! :D To be fair, I have had a lot of interruptions - exhibitions, installations, trips, etc. but the main thing slowing me down has been the choice of clay. Chavant NSP, which is great modelling clay that I have used very successfully on a number of pieces, but never a smooth bird piece, so I thought Id try it. I normally use Jacobson Chemicals Plastiline. With hindsight, I should have chosen a smaller, less ambitious subject to try out Chavant, because once the form is roughed out, everything about it is slower than Plastilene. It sticks to modelling tools, but not the brass and copper sheet used in the wings, and it is structurally very strong, making it very difficult to make minor adjustments to pose. Properties that Plastilene does not share. And smoothing is a nightmare! Chavant is stickier than Plastilene and tends to grab the modelling tools, dragging and tearing as you smooth the surface. Also, it seems to have more memory than Plastilene. It is something that most synthetic modelling clays suffer from - bumps and depressions returning to a surface that has been smoothed, meaning that it has to be worked over again, and again, and again :( . So, though Chavant is great and I will be using it again, its definitely back to Plastilene for my next bird piece! :) Anyway; at last she is finished, and despite all the problems, I am very happy with the end result! As some of you will notice, if you have been watching my progress on this piece, I made a last minute decision to change the original modelled base for a much taller, simpler base, adapted from a beautiful weather-blasted tree limb, which I much prefer. I think the Gyrfalcon benefits from the extra height and cleaner lines of her new perch, she is going to make a stunning bronze!! :D [I hope]. OK, I will shut up now, and go and spend some quality time with my darling wife! [Before starting the next piece ;) ] Thank you for your patience! (Y)
Posted on: Wed, 01 Oct 2014 08:32:19 +0000