NEWS
This page mainly covers the process of creating the Gnome Hunter from day one to the day he went off to the foundry. To make sense of it, you will need to start reading from the bottom of the page..
Gnome Hunter!
The bronze safely delivered to me by Jose
The final stage.
Wax is applied while the bronze is still hot
Colour added using a combination of chemicals which react with the surface of the bronze.
First stage of patination
the liver of sulphur and scrub
Re-detailing the weld areas
Welding the head section onto the body
Assembly
All of the bronze pieces ready for assembly
Just a few bits of shell left to remove
When the bronze is cool, the shell is broken off
Bronze is poured into the shell
The shell is fired and the wax melts out
Shell ready for firing
Shell being built up in layers
Wax being coated in ceramic material
Wax sprued and ready for ceramic shell
Seams being removed from the wax
The wax head being removed from the mould
Wax being poured into the mould
A new mould has been made at the foundry
Thursday 9th February
FINISHED! Well my part of the job is anyway. I need to get some good photos and then I'll pack him up and send him to the foundry.
Tuesday 7th February
Highlighting with a lighter colour
Monday 6th February
Painting on the undercoat using enamel paint
Friday 3rd February
I have assembled the figure and removed all signs of the joints
Thursday 26th January
This is the part of the job that I like least of all. I am working on all of the resin pieces with filler and sandpaper to make sure there are no seams visible and that each piece is perfect before assembly.
Friday 20th January
I have cast the body using three layers of resin and fibreglass.
Tuesday 17th January
I have opened the mould and removed the clay. The rubbers have been washed and dried.
Monday 16th January
I have added two layers of fibreglass and reinforced the mould jacket with lengths of steel.
Thursday 12th January
I have decided to make the jacket for this mould using polyester resin and fibreglass. This will take longer but the mould will be lighter and stronger than a plaster one. This photo shows the first layer of resin painted on.
Tuesday 10th January
I have added seams where I intend to cut the mould and lugs to hold the rubber in place in the jacket.
Friday 6th January
After four days carefully applying two layers of silicone rubber the body looks like this:
Friday 23rd December
The body is finally finished and ready for moulding. Good timing really as it's Christmas eve tomorrow!
Thursday 1st December
All the pieces and their moulds
Wednesday 30th November
Exciting news today. My friend and coleague Jim Kempton, sculptor of the Fairy and Woodland boy has just started work on his third sculpture for the collection. Jim's bronzes are modelled on his children. The latest one will be based on his four year old daughter Flora.
Well, a whole month has past since my last post but the sculpture is still some way off being finished. I have now completed, moulded and cast both hands, the head and the shoulder bag. One of the arms is cast and I'm just finishing the mould for the other.
The canvas shoulder bag (with thanks to Jo for the loan of her bag as reference)
Moulding one of the hands
The arm armature is supported from the wrist so that it can be cut through at the shoulder while remaining in place. In this way I can cut the armature and make good the surrounding area of shoulder before making the final cut through the clay with a fine wire. This gives a very sharp joint area. Once the arm is away from the body I can work on the inside which was previously inaccessible
Thursday 27th October
It is difficult to report on the latter stages of the sculpture as it involves an extensive period of 'tidying up'. I have finished the cast of the head and put it to one side. The fur linings have been added and I've done a lot of stitching on the tunic. I've managed to find one suitable gnome head so far.
Tuesday 18th October
Today I finished the fur linings and the head mould. I have removed the clay and painted in the first layer of resin for the cast of the head.
Monday 17th October
My next job is to make the fur linings for the boots, gloves and jerkin using a technique I developed for 'The Aviator'. I carve away the clay to the depth of the fur and make a carbon fibre former. I then cover the former with the 'fur' material. Later it will be soaked in resin and spun to remove excess.
Friday 14th October
Thursday 13th October
Wednesday 12th October
Tuesday 11th October
The head is finally finished! I've done the first stage of the mould which involves building up a clay wall around the head. I've decided to mould and cast the head now so that I don't risk damaging the clay head while I work on the rest of the figure.
Monday 10th October
Here's a little trick I first used on my portrait of Arnold Schwarzenegger back in 1992. I cut away an area of 'skin' and add some vein shapes made from bent wire. I then cover the vein with a thin layer of clay and stipple it with a brush. The effect of a vein showing beneath the skin is quite convincing.
Friday 7th October
Today I made the teeth by casting rough shapes in plaster and sanding down to the right shape.
Thursday 6th October
Refining of surface and adding details such as pores, lumps and moles.
Wednesday 5th October
More work on the head! I keep fiddling with the expression because I'm never quite satisfied with it. I've softened some of the lines and changed the shape of the jaw. As I've reduced the size of the skull, a bit of armature has emerged on top of the head. I will have to deal with it after the head is moulded. I'm sure it's nearly finished now!
Tuesday 4th October
More work on the head.
Monday 3rd October:
A day off for my birthday!
Friday 30th September
A repeat of yesterdays exercise, but with the left leg.
Thursday 29th September
Today I have borrowed a pair of my daughters leggings to dress the duplicate leg. (Thanks Izzy). I have then copied the folds onto the right leg of the sculpture. I have also added some folds on the tunic. In a local fabric shop I found some metal studs to use on the strap and the belt. By the way, if anybody has a gnome they wouldn't mind sacrificing, I'm still looking for suitable heads for his belt.
'GNOME HUNTER'
Wednesday 28th September
Today I have made a replica of the right leg using a quick plaster waste mould. I will dress this and use it as reference for the trousers.
Monday 26th September
Friday 23rd September
Another couple of days on the head. I've aged him a little with the addition of some more creases. I've also defined the chin a bit more. I think the head is not far from being finished now but I'll see how I feel about it on Monday.
Wednesday 21st September
Today I worked exclusively on the face making the forms around the eyes and mouth richer and more flesh-like.
Tuesday 20th September
Using the gloved hand casts as reference I have done some work on the hands. I've also roughed in some folds on the right boot. I've decided that the gloves will have roll over tops to match the boots.
Monday 19th September
Today I made a start on the hands. I decided to make some reference castings by moulding my gloved hand. First I filled a small bucket with dental alginate and stuck my gloved hand into it, gripping the hammer handle. When the alginate had set, (after two minutes) I wriggled my hand out of the glove and filled it with plaster. When the plaster had set, I cut open the mould to release the gloved plaster hand. This will now be a very useful piece to work from. As with the head, I have made the hands removable so that I can work on them from any angle.
Friday 16th September
At this stage I spend a lot of time 'fiddling' with the features. Trying different things to see if I can make the face really fleshy and realistic. It is very different to doing a portrait from life in which I can see what I need to achieve. I am in effect, making it up as I go along. Having sculpted many portraits in the past gives me an understanding of what forms will work.
Today I have been into town to buy a pair of leather gloves to use as reference when it comes to sculpting the hands.Wherever possible, I try to work from observation. It would be very difficult to sculpt folds in a leather glove from the imagination.
Thank you for the e mails!
Thursday 15th September
Refinement of the features and starting to smooth the surface
Wednesday 14th September
More work on the face
Tuesday 13th September
I fit the head back onto the body frequently to check the overall look of the sculpture. I've thickened up the tunic and put roll-over tops on the boots. I want his clothing to have the look of sheepskin or furs.
'GNOME HUNTER'
Monday 12th September
A bit more refinement of the features. Ears starting to take shape.
Incidentally, If you are following this, please drop me a quick e mail info@david-goode.com I've never done this before and it would be nice to know that I'm not talking to myself!
Friday 9th September
Head removed for modelling. Now I can sit while I sculpt. Much more comfortable!
I'm off for the weekend now. More next week.
Thursday 8th September
Clothing roughed in. Bands on arms and legs to indicate gloves and boots.
Wednesday 7th September
Body ready for clothing. Expression emerging.
tuesday 6th September
Further roughing out of the body and some basic features on the face.
Monday 5th September
Armature fully covered and getting started on some very rough, basic anatomy. I've also made a mould of the hammer and cast it in resin because the real one would be too heavy for the armature in the arm.
Friday 2nd September
Getting some clay onto the armature.
Thursday 1st September
Back from holiday and I've started on a new sculpture. The idea is still a bit vague at the moment. I often change my mind a few times during the early stages but the basic idea is a continuation of the theme I started with the Aviator. This one is a 'Gnome Hunter'! I'm thinking that he'll have a hammer and a cold chisel and he'll have a string of gnome heads hanging from his belt as trophies. Needless to say, this one won't exactly be a cute goblin! I seem to have a lot of people copying my work these days so I don't know if I'll be able to continue posting my ideas before they're finished but I'll see how it goes with this one.
