Face Casting

Finished Horse

Calke Abbey Performance Images.

Today I have made a painting in the manner of an vernacular 18th century Race Horse Painter.

Plus a collection of mini hobby-horses.

All for the forthcoming Prosopon Performance at Calke Abbey (11th April 2015)

Five Pieces, Horse, Cow, Ping masks plus Crow and Dove.

For the Calke Abbey Stables project. All made and awaiting final painting.

More animals for Calke Abbey Project. Clay designs begun

House Cow                                                                           House Pig

The difficulty is to make an animal face sit onto a human face but with the eyes in a similar place. Human eyes in scale are much closer together and generally the human skull is wider proportionally. So some compromises to be made.   As I make the designs more abstract, then the differences can become part of the new, human-animal design

Today the horse Head has been encased in plaster to create a two piece mould. I cut the ears off and made a separate mould just for them.

Next anxious moment will be tomorrow as I gently prize the two parts of the mould apart without breakage.

Thus releasing the clay design and the head beneath. Quite a hefty one this, will be glad when it is apart.

The removal of the clay and the plaster head will lighten the load considerably.

Horse Head now all cottled-up ready for casting in plaster to make a two part mould.

The ears have been cut off and I shall be making a separate mould to cast them.

Plastercasting as a special process, magical, to mix a liquid which turns into a hard material.

Always makes me slightly anxious so I always try to approach it in a slow measured and undistracted manner.