Fertility figure

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Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 8:21:16 PM

JPT

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This is a polymer clay sculpt I recently finished. I wanted to create my own take on a fertility idol. The idea was to make a mold of this when finished and cast her in clear glass with a small nugget of colored glass in her "belly". I'll post more pictures when it gets to that point.

Please let me know what you think!

Thanks,
John

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< Message edited by JPT -- 2/24/2009 8:26:03 PM >

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 8:23:35 PM

JPT

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Another view:

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 9:09:51 PM

bafiedel

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Hi John...I think she's lovely just as she is. She's wonderfully serene and at peace. What size is she? I can't quite picture the glass belly.

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 9:16:49 PM

88heather

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Wow John! Wonderful work

.. looking forward to seeing this in glass also!

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 9:31:53 PM

labeana

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I'm very impressed with this beautiful image....it's perfect....so glad you posted it

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 9:51:55 PM

lamillerphotography

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Wow...I'm looking forward to seeing the progress. So far it's looking great. I'm curious about the size as well.

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/24/2009 10:00:31 PM

bromley2

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Lovely! A wonderful piece!! I like it the way it is now....but curious about the glass.

Carolyn

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/25/2009 9:39:43 AM

JPT

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Thank you so much for your kind comments! She is about 3 1/2" tall, so my pictures are actually larger than "life size". I made a quick gif animation so you can see what she looks like from all angles.

If the glass version doesn't work out, I may try to paint this with a faux bronze patina.... I haven't decided yet! Maybe I should have posted this in the WIP thread!

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/25/2009 10:35:31 AM

labeana

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John, I'm seriously in love with this piece...have you considered making a mold of this and "cold casting" it in bronze? In case you are unfamiliar with this, it's using rtv rubber molds, then mixing real bronze(or copper or brass)powder into a two part resin and pouring it.....you can cast an edition then and sell them all rather than just having one...
it's such a wonderful piece that it would translate well to any medium, but this way it's so much cheaper than having a foundry cast it, it's not difficult to do(or that expensive to have done)and the materials are much less costly, yet the finished pieces are comparable....if you are interested, pm me and I will give you info....

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/25/2009 10:39:24 AM

labeana

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omg....I just realized who you are, John lol.....sorry, I thought you were some wonderful new member with oodles of talent that we could Svengali to our will!

this piece really does knock me out....and I believe that an edition of cold cast bronze sold on ebay or etsy would find a good market!

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/25/2009 11:20:38 AM

JPT

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quote:

ORIGINAL: labeana

sorry, I thought you were some wonderful new member with oodles of talent

So does recognition mean I'm not wonderful with oodles of talent anymore?

Seriously though, my main purpose with this sculpt was with eventual castings in mind, which is why I tried to minimize the sharp undercuts. We have plenty of silicone rubber for mold making, and Dawn has glass galore, so I really want her to try the glass casting first before I give up on that idea. I've made resin casts before, but never with bronze powders, so if it gets to that point I may need to track you down for your input!

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/25/2009 2:26:39 PM

labeana

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lol John....you are most talented indeed, you're just not new and easy to push around!

if you do want to try a cold cast, try Polytek for their easy flow resin....then just add any metal power to the resin when you mix it and pour....I get metal powders from some sculpting supply place I can't remember....Polytek's website give you info on amount of powder to resin, etc....oh , and if you do decide to do it, I also add dye to help make the color richer, then I use steel wool to burnish it and bring out the metal highlights...here is a pic of one of my handles done using bronze powder...

Ok, I may have played with it a little on Photoshop but it looks pretty much like this in real life....

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/26/2009 12:10:33 PM

JPT

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That looks great Lauren! I think I need to give that a try. Do you use enough powder to give the cast more weight like a real bronze piece?

The nearest Hobby Lobby carries 2-part resins and dyes, and also small containers of metallic powders-- at least they look metallic, I have no idea what they're actually made of. I have a small jar of the bronze colored powder that I thought about adding to some resin but just haven't tried yet. I'll have to do some experimenting!

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/26/2009 1:02:35 PM

labeana

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yes, resin is fairly light so by adding the powder it does make it heavier...in fact during the weekend seminar I took at Polytek, I accidently added way too much powder and my handle came out more like a door knocker...

that two part resin stuff at Hobby Lobby isn't what you really want.....let me give you a link to Polytek, they have a great policy of only charging you the deep discount price the first time you order each of their products....

http://www.polytek.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=EasyFlo60

the above is what I use...EasyFlo60...it's a one to one ratio so it's super easy to use....just measure, no weighing involved and it's a bit forgiving if you go either way a little bit....you can buy this in small quantities too....it's opaque and can be dyed, which I would suggest you do, plus add powder.....

here is the dye
http://www.polytek.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PolyColorDyesBrown

here is their bronze powder....it's expensive but you can shop around if you want to...I think it's 350 mesh
http://www.polytek.com/store/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=BronzePowder

I would experiment a bit with ratio of powder to resin, as you don't need nearly as much as they suggest for it too look metallic, and you can use other much cheaper additives to give it weight

I don't know what kind of rubber you are using but when you order, make sure it can take the EasyFlo, and ask if you need a mold release, which they sell...

there are many good tutorials online on how to do all this....here is their's

http://www.polytek.com/tips/tips.html

there are little tricks, etc so if you do this just pm me and I can walk you through it....

< Message edited by labeana -- 2/26/2009 1:03:39 PM >

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/26/2009 1:09:49 PM

labeana

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ok duh...I just remembered a trick they taught us, but I don't know that it would work with a piece like this....if you are doing a piece that will only be seen from one side, you can pour an initial amount of powder rich resin, then pour the rest wih only dyed resin....saves lots of money on the powder and you still get that great metallic look on the surface...I think it's called back pouring or something like that

but with yours, the only part that wouldn't show would be the underside...so I guess that wouldn't work on this....but why not call Polytek and ask a tech there....they are extremely helpful and I've had one tech drive an hour to my house on two occasions to help me just because I'm a customer....they rock and if you send a pic of your piece with questions, they will respond with much better info than I can give you

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RE: Fertility figure - 2/28/2009 8:25:10 PM

JPT

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Thank you for all of this information Lauren! I'll have to wait a little while to try the bronze powder/resin casts because of the cost of supplies, but it's something I'd like to try eventually. When you cast do you have much problem with air bubbles getting trapped in the resin? Most of my bubble problems have come from using old resin, but I'd like to know if you have any tips to avoid them in the castings.

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RE: Fertility figure - 3/1/2009 10:11:18 AM

GreenBiscuit

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OMG John, I also SERIOSLY love this piece....wow.

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RE: Fertility figure - 3/1/2009 10:16:21 AM

labeana

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sure, John, no problem

as for bubbles...they usually are only a problem if you are using a clear resin, in which case you want to use a pressure pot when making the mold as well as the cast resin....I've never done this, but I do have a pressure pot lol...I've cast some clear colored pieces and love the look (except for the bubbles)but haven't got around to actually using it....I got it for cheap on Harbor Freight, you need a compressed air source to use it(I've got a tank)...I guess it's just the learning curve again that keeps me from trying it lol

I sometimes get a bubble that has risen to the top of the mold with opaque resin, but you can blow it away easily....and since you would use opaque resin to cold cast in bronze, you wouldn't have that problem. You would most likely use a two part mold for your piece, although looking at it and realizing how small it is, I am wondering why you couldn't make a one piece...

What brand of polymer clay did you use to make it? I learned a very hard lesson a while back about using the right material to make the original from....I knew you could use plastilina(that oil based modeling clay)to make the original, but didn't realize you had to use the type that does NOT have sulpher in it....because when you do, the mold never cures....I learned this when I used it as a damming material in making the mold box

I also had good luck using polymer clay until I tried Sculpey 111....their new stuff.....I had used a combination of Fimo and this new Sculpey111 and when I made the mold, the ares that I had used the Sculpey111 were awful, the Fimo areas were fine....so I called the manufacturer to ask what they were using in their new clay and of course since it's proprietary they wouldn't tell me lol....

anyway, if you did use Sculpey111 I think it would be ok as long as you seal it well somehow before you cast it

back to the one part or two part mold for this piece....I'm thinking a one part mold that you cut away...or two part where you have a seam you have to clean up , no biggie....either way it's a pretty simple mold...

actually, the idea of using glass with a colored glass nugget in the belly is a cool idea too...can you pour glass into a silicone mold?

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RE: Fertility figure - 3/2/2009 8:36:23 PM

JPT

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Lauren, I used Super Sculpey "Firm Gray" clay. I don't believe it reacts to the brand of silicone I have here at home. It's also sealed with 2 coats of primer. I'll make a 2-part mold eventually and use Clean Clay for the dam, also not reactive with the silicone. I could mold it as a one-piece, but I don't want to accidentally cut into the original sculpture trying to open the mold.

You can't cast molten glass into silicone, instead we will mix powdered glass frit with water and pack that into the mold. Then we will put the mold in the freezer to harden. After that, you pop the glass and ice cast out of the mold and put it on a kiln shelf to fully melt and dry before firing in a kiln.

We tried this method with another sculpture, but the piece broke at the figure's neck during the firing process. The head was too heavy to be supported by the thinner neck, which at that point was about as stable as a dried sand sculpture.

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