In 2D we have started with
life casting. The first thing we started with casting is our faces to create a mould.
We partnered up to cast one another faces. To start off with I cut my strips of
modroc up so I Amy wouldn't be sat with material all over her face for a long
period. I then covered Amy's face in Clingfilm but leaving her nostrils on show
so she could breathe, which is common sense of course. Once I had applied the Clingfilm
to her face I began applying the wet modroc on her face vertically making sure
I was getting all the detail in I could by rubbing the modroc deeply into her
face whilst making sure I wasn't hurting her and she was comfortable. After
finishing my first layer I then did another two again going both vertically and
horizontal. Whilst I was doing this process I was communicating with Amy making
sure she was alright in the mask. It is key to always be talking and
interacting with your model making sure they are happy and to keep them assured
of what's happening. Amy felt uncomfortable and too warm in the mask and asked
for it to be removed before I had completed the cast, so we ended up taking the
mask of early as the model is the priority. The process of the face cast making
was pretty simple and quick plus with little health and safety implications.
Healthy and safety precautions that should be taken are cutting the modroc
strips and not ripping them to prevent breathing in the dust and if you have
sensitive skin gloves are recommended.
My weaknesses within the casting process
were not digging into the face creases hard enough, and applying the Clingfilm
tight enough. I need to improve on this technique by being a bit rougher with
the model without hurting them, of course. The only problem with this is I
don't feel comfortable being rough with anyone, even my closest friends and
family as I don't want to hurt them even if my mistake. Hopefully I will try
this again and create a stronger piece of work.
Our next task in 3D class was to create a
plaster cast out of our casts we had made. To start off with we covered the
inside of the cast with casting oil, this is used to prevent the plaster
and modroc from sticking together and it makes it easier to peel the modroc of
when the plaster is set. I painted around 3/4 layers of oil in my cast so make
sure it was properly covered and so it had a tanned shine to it. Once this was
completed I created a batch of plaster and waited until the plaster got the
perfect consistency. As the plaster set's quickly it is important you use the
plaster when it's at the right consistency and use the time efficiently. When
the plaster was ready to be used I began to fill the cast with plaster whilst
making sure all the bottom of the cast was full so I wouldn't have parts of the
final piece missing. Also I made sure that I curved the edges with plaster so
when the cast was dry it would be able to stand without wobbling everywhere.
For some reason my cast took a little bit more time to dry than the others and
I had to carefully remove the modroc strips from the plaster cast.
All together this casting process was a fun
experience, quick and simple. This technique is a really good one and can be
used in all sorts of ways. I never really ever liked 3D lessons and so far this
year I have enjoyed every minute of it.
The following week at college we were
starting to begin body casting. We had been told to only cast the side of the
body so the model could get in and out of the sculpture. Firstly what I did was
I covered my model Amy in Clingfilm making sure the parts I was casting were
covered enough and making sure it wasn't raised so I could get an accurate
cast. I don't like using Clingfilm whether it’s in college or to wrap
sandwiches in, it just a material that I dislike handling. Anyhow once I
finished covering her in Clingfilm the plaster had already been made and the
scrim was already cut up all I had to wait for the plaster to thicken. Once the plaster got the correct consistency I began covering the scrim in plaster and then applying it down the side of Amy's body and continued doing this all until her side was fully covered. This process is a really quick process and the plaster dry's quickly so it is important to make sure you have everything you need ready before you start to plaster and to make sure you know what your doing. With this process it is skill important to communicate with your model making sure they are comfortable as sometimes the feel of the plaster on their body can be a shock and they may feel restricted and trapped. Health and safety procedures should be taken whilst using plaster such as making sure the vacuum is on when mixing the plaster to prevent the dust being breathed in, dust mask's should also be worn for extra protection and if you have sensitive skin or an allergy to the material gloves should be worn. When you are using disposable dust mask's it is important you know that once you take that mask of it can no longer be re-used. 
All together I enjoyed the experience of casting Amy. The only bad thing about the experience was going through a bit of a panic mode when the plaster was ready to be used as I knew I didn't have much time until it would set and I worried that I wouldn't finish the cast in time. My cast of Amy turned out well and I don't believe I would do anything majorly different if I was to do this again. Only thing I would do differently would to be calmer when applying the plaster and not go into panic mode and work quicker than I did. A good thing that has came out of this is that I came out of college that day with some great idea's for future work. The week after I had cast Amy she had a go in casting me.
After our week of we came back to college and got given our first theme that we was going to be working on in 3D which is British folk art. As a group we looked through British folk art on the internet to give us an idea what it was about. We talked about possibility's and what we could or couldn't do and ended up on the theme of a freak show. In the end we made a decision of making a three legged human. We used Amy and Eleanor as our model's for this. Amy and Eleanor get into the position we thought would work the best and let them get comfy by grabbing them fabric to lean on etc. Once they had get in the position myself, Emma and Cameron began covering Amy and Eleanor with clingfilm. We covered then from the bottom of their feet to their shoulders. Then when the plastered was made and ready to be used we starting applying the scrim and plaster the their legs and working upwards. We ran out of plaster before we had finished so we had to make another batch quickly before the plaster completely set. Luckily we had three people working on this one cast so the process was quicker. When the plaster was set we began to remove the cast from their body's, we needed a few extra hands to help lift the cast away from them.If I was to do anything differently the next time I would think more carefully about the way I would take the cast off and the difficultly's I could face and also make a bigger batch of plaster so I'm not wasting valuable time. This cast was a fun experience to do as it was two models attached and made it that little more interesting. I am pleased with the cast we have produced.
19/11/14 Today at college we started creating our latex masks. To start of with I started building off my plaster casts with clay. I wanted to over exaggerate on some of the facial features but making sure I wouldn't interfere the shape of my face so I can wear the finished mask without having any problems. Once I had finished molding the clay onto my cast I then covered the cast with soft soap so the latex would come of the cast easier. After I had covered my cast in soft soap I then covered my cast with an even layer of latex. The latex dried pretty quickly as the room was warm. I was able to do 4 layers of latex throughout the day. I'm really happy with my face cast so far and I've really enjoyed this process. Also I'm really excited to see the outcome and hopefully I can get a chance to create more of these casts. After our break we went to the construction department and had a look at the space we had to create some body casts to decorate the walls. When I walked it looked so bland and I knew we needed to add colour to our casts to bring the site to life. We talked about whether to include a story within the casts. It was pretty difficult trying to compromise with everyone as we all had such different ideas, but in the end with all the possibilities we could come up with a really strong piece of work.26/11/14 This week in 3D I did around 3 more layers on my face cast. Whilst the latex was drying we did some more body casts with plaster. As a group we all have decided to make the sculptures interact with one and other. To start with I was the model and had my leg up on a small pair of ladders that we had borrowed. I must admit it was pretty hard trying not to topple over when the plaster started setting on my body. The end result of the cast wasn't very good as it was weak and didn't have much shape to it. After I had been cast it was someone else's turn to be cast and James volunteered. James sat on top of the ladders for his pose. I covered James in clingfilm to begin with. When I had finished covering James, Scarlet had just finished mixing the plaster and we was waiting for it to thicken a little more. When the plaster was ready to be used I started applying the plaster to James. I was struggling to do this quickly as he a tall model and needed more than one hands, so I asked for help from other and people started helping. The cast could of done with being a little more stronger on some parts but overall I am pleased with the outcome.
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