|
Casting a face
A head is the most difficult part of
the body to cast properly and it would deserve a completely separate
tutorial but I am giving you here a few leads that should allow you
to attempt the project successfully. The basic principle is exactly
the same as for casting a torso but there is a few areas hat require
some extra attention.
Safety precaution
Never attempt to cast a face on your own. Always have an
assistant present. Remember that the entire face will be covered
with alginate and plaster for extended period of time. Warn your
model; ask about claustrophobia or other respiratory conditions such
as asthma.
Ears
Please do include the ears in your casting. Their delicately crafted
folds will add to the realistic and amazing effect of the final
sculpture.
Buy some ear putty and ask the models to push a small amount deep
inside the ear before you start. This is because the alginate is
very cold and cold liquid against the ear drums can be very
unpleasant.
When applying the alginate make sure to push the paste inside every
recess and folds, pack some paste behind the ears but not so much as
to make them stick out. You will also be careful when unmolding the
ears as the plaster cast will be fragile.
Eyes, eye brows and eyes
lashes
One of the major problems of casting someone’s face is that the eyes
must be shut. This is very unfortunate as the eyes are the window of
the soul and a portrait with closed eyes looks a bit like a death
mask.
There are only two solutions.
• The eyes can be manually reopened in the plaster. However and no
matter how talented a sculptor you are, this will never be as
realistic as the rest of the casting and will always look a bit odd.
• The other solution is to choose a pose or facial expression in
which closed eyes are naturally expected, a scream, a pensive pose,
a laugh.
Apply some petroleum jelly on eye brows and eye lashes.
Nostril
This is the questions that everyone always asks. How does your model
breathe?
There are two different techniques.
• The drinking straw technique. Ask your model to hold one drinking
straw in each nostril until the alginates sets and keeps them in
place. This is uncomfortable to the model and can distort the shape
of the nostril.
• The wipe and clean technique is a better approach. You will be
careful not to completely cover the nostril openings and wipe out
any excess blocking air passage. Likewise the plaster gauze will
leave small gap open for your model to breathe.
Hair
Hair is difficult to cast. It can be sculpted by applying liberal
amounts of a strong styling gel and letting it set in an attempt to
make the hair stiff enough to sustain the weight of the alginate and
plaster shell. This does not work and almost always end up in
unsatisfactory and disappointing results that need a lot of rework.
This is what I do instead. I ask the
model to wear a swimming cap and make a “bald” casting. Then I paint
plaster on the skull to reconstruct the hair. With practice you will
be able to make very convincing and realistic hair matching your
model’s style.
Facial expression
It is difficult to keep a facial expression for 20 minutes. Start
applying the alginate on the outside of the casting area and only
cover eyes nose and mouth last. That way the model only has to adopt
the expression for a few minutes. Once the alginate has set, it is
no longer necessary to keep the expression and the model can relax
its facial muscles while you construct the plaster shell.
|
.JPG)