Day 4 The Head and Hat

Day 4 On My Journey to Greatness!!!

So for the past few days I have worked on sculpting the head, face, and hair and then using additional Sculptamold to attach the hat. To create the lips, nose, ears and hair I use Sculptamold that is the consistency of cookie dough, rather than a smushy porridge. It is easier to sculpt these features that stick out with the sculptamold stiffer because it holds the shape and doesn't just mush. I do not sculpt any eyes as these I usually like to paint on.

This step did not take very long and now that I have let the whole sculpture dry for several days I have begun to paint all the butt side of the piece with an acrylic polymer and once it has dried, I will paint the tummy side. I like to put a polymer on because I find it smooths out the rough texture of the Sculptamold just a little and makes it easier to paint.

I won't take any photos of the polymer stage just because it dries clear and wouldn't look any different from the photos above, but once I begin the actual painting of the piece I will document each stage and post my progress here.

Day 3 The Scarf

Well, didn't get much done today. I flipped my sledding boy upside down and added the sculptamold to the scarf using gravity to keep the look of the scarf flying out and away from the boys body. I didn't do anything else because I wanted the scarf to dry solidly before flipping the scultpure back upright. But next post I will have completed the head and put on his hat so it will look more complete. Here are some picutres of where I am now though.

Day 2 On My Quest to be a World Famous Artist

So its Day 2 on my Quest to becoming a World Famous Artist and I've been working diligently on my first full size 3D sculpture.

Step 1. I drew my sketch

Step 2. I made the sculpture out of newspaper taped together with packing tape. (to give the shape to the scarf I used a wire coat hanger bent into the shape I wanted and taped to the newspaper.)

Step 3. I used Sculptamold and covered the lower side, or belly side of my newspaper sculpture and let it dry.

and then last night.....

Step 4. I used Sculptamold to cover the top half, or butt half of the sculpture and the hat which I've removed from the head and covered while on the floor just because of the weight and gravity making it fall off my newspapter head.

Today I've got to go get more of the Sculptamold - I think just two more 3lbs bags (I've used four so far) - to finish the face and the scarf, and to attach the hat to the top of the head.

When I put the sculptamold on the scarf I'm going to flip my sculpture upside down and let gravity help me to keep the scarf shaped like it is flying in the wind. As well when I attach the hat to the head I will probably have to have supports to prop the hat up on the head until the Sculptamold dries - if this is the case I will photograph how I've done it to show everyone.

New Year and New Resolutions

So it is a new year and as I am 39 years old I've decided that it's time to not only make a New Years resolution, but also to make a "I'm going to be 40 soon" resolution and say that this is the year that I go from being just a stay at home mom who dabbles in art, to a full-time world famous artist!

So I'm on a quest - Day 1. Everyday I am committed to working on my art, and I am committed to working on marketing my art (that's the part I hate the most!) because it's time to cut the crap and either take this seriously or just simply forget it.

To begin, I've decided that I am going to work on a project that I've been wanting to do for a long time, but always put off because I'd say to say to myself, "you can't make that, it will take up too much space, it will cost too much to make, and the real kicker, if I don't sell it, what will I do with it" - talk about a defeatist attitude! But no more! I've been dreaming about making life size sculptures and I am going to do it!!!

Below are some photos of my initial quick sketch and the beginnings of my first full size sculpture. Because I am using sculptamold (a kind of paper mache with gypsum mixture) mixed with water, and I want the scultpure to hang from the ceiling, I decided to first create the body out of newspaper taped together as a way to keep the sculpture light, and then put the scultpamold over top.

On the marketing side, I look to blogging each day, doing the whole facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/httpwwwchubbyartetsycom/293737025312, twitter http://twitter.com/jcwgpwg and squidoo http://www.squidoo.com/happyfatart thing, post my work on my etsy store http://www.chubbyart.etsy.com/, and then once a month I'm going to make a postcard of my latest work and send it out to all the local art galleries and interior designers.