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Materials
- Hydrostone : For this cast I am using Hydrostone, a very fine art plaster that hardens like stone. You can use any plaster-like material even fine cement.A few other options are Plaster of Paris, Hydrocal,Crea-Stone.
- Box: I'm using a cardboard box to hold my mold as it can be easily closed up and stored under my work table when not in use.
- Plaster of Paris: I fill the cardboard box with this cheap plaster to use as support for the mold.
- Mold: This is the latex mold I made in a previous mold-making tutorial on my website.
- Bowl: A container to mix the hydrostone in.
- Cup: A cup for measuring the ratio of Hydrostone to water.
- Hanger: A sawtooth hanger which will be used to hang the final cast.
- Water: For mixing the Hydrostone (Not pictured here.)
The first thing you do is fill your box with the Plaster of Paris.
The Plaster of Paris can be substituted with sand or any other fine granule substance.
I prefer the Plaster of Paris because it`s very fine and yields to the shape of the mold more finely than sand.
Be sure the plaster is very loose not packed into the box at all.
Make sure your box is level.
Next, be sure your latex mold has a clean interior, no dust, or any particles, and gently place it into the Plaster of Paris.
Gently wiggle the mold down into the Plaster of Paris until it feels as if the dry plaster has been shaped snugly to the exterior form of your mold and is immersed up to the excess edge of your mold.
Measure out your Hydrostone into the bowl.
Measure water into your Hydrostone.
Most plasters in general call for a 2 to 1 ratio of plaster to water.
I`ve done enough casts of this particular mold to know it takes 3 of these 5oz cups of plaster(by volume not weight) to 1.25 5oz cups of water because I like a little thicker consistency.
Once mixed it should have the consistency of pancake batter.
If you're a little off on the ratio it`s not a big deal as long as it pours slowly and smoothly you`ll be ok as any excess water will rise to the top of the cast once dry.
Slowly pour the Hydrostone mix into your mold filling the lowest areas well with no air bubbles.
If you get near to filling the mold and find your box isn't exactly level just slide something under the edge to level it out before filling the mold to the top.
Once the mold is filled to the edge tap the box good and hard a few times to force any air bubbles out.
Once at this point you should have a nicely filled mold with no air pockets.
Depending on what type of plaster you used to fill the mold it should take about 20 minutes until it is solid enough to gently press the sawtooth hanger into.
You can use a piece of hanging wire as a substitute for this hanger just make sure it`s embedded securely into the plaster but not so deep as to go through to the front of the cast.
This is also the time to carve your name or initials and date into the piece .
Most plaster products dry very quickly and your cast should be completely dry within 2 hours but I often let mine dry overnight to be sure.
I am removing this cast 2 hours after I poured it.
Gently lift the mold out of the plaster of paris support.
Peel the mold away all the way around the edges of the cast to make sure there are no stuck areas BEFORE trying to remove the cast as a whole.
Once the edges are free, slowly peel the mold away from the cast being very careful around the areas that are the highest point of the relief.
Finished raw cast below...
At this point your are technically done with the casting.
All that remains is to gently sand down any rough areas or small air bubbles that might have formed.
Brush off the dust and add a Patina.
A few points about casting and marketing with this method:
As I'm sure you can see by reading through this tutorial there are many ways this final cast can vary from any other casts to come from this same mold as they are cast and patina'd individually.
For this reason I only sell these casts in very small limited editions called "Varied Editions"
Varied because no two will be exactly the same mostly because of the hand patina.
This one you watched being made is my 13th in an edition of 50 for this sculpture.
For this reason I will again sign and date the back of this sculpture in graphite (sealed).
The "VE" stands for "Varied Edition" and will be listed as such on any COA I issue with this sculpture along with a definition of exactly what Varied Edition means.
S.King
VE 13/50
2/04
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