The Bohemian Skull

This project evolved from my previous attempt to study the understructure forms of the human head.

While working on that half skull- half face sculpture, I realized I was lacking the knowledge of the inbetween layer- that is the muscles layer. I just did not know how much flesh to add, and I was too occupied by guessing what works rather than knowing what is right, and as a perfectionist- I just could not bare this feeling. So I decided to carry out a new study and get familiar with the facial muscles and understand how they are formed and laid on.

In order to be able to complete this process I used photo references (found in anatomical books) and observed a human skull model. Gary Faigins book – “The Artist’s Complete Guide To Facial Expression” was a great guide as well.

Once I finished sculpting the skull I was ready to make the mould.

Well, it turns out that making moulds is an art form of itself. It takes some experience and basic understanding, and I had none of the two. Thanks to Oleg (big thank-you Oleg!), my teacher and a very talented artist, I could actually carry it out till the (almost bitter) end

I used plaster as the material for creating the mould. As a start, I divided the sculpture by building a separating”brass foil wall”. It enabled me to separate the mould into two parts later on.

Throwing the plaster

Though I think it is the easiest part of the whole molding process- in my case- it was the most devastating. While trying to splash the plaster all over the clay, the sculpture fell on its side and got seriously damaged. Later on (after completing the cast) I spent hours in fixing the damage- that was sculpting in plaster- not fun!!!

Anyhow, once the plaster was fairly dry we separated the two halves of the mould (along the brass foil wall) and began removing the clay.

Now that I had two (clean and oiled) halves of the mould I had to combine them back together and cast into it (sorry- no casting pictures).

And this is when all the “fun” began- removing the mould in order to reveal the cast underneath. A hard and nerve racking work!

As I’ve mentioned- I had a little accident when the sculpture slipped over and got squashed on its side. I had to add plaster on it and reconstruct the skull. It took like ages, and it felt so irrelevant- after all- I wasn’t trying to make a beautiful statue for my living room. The project was meant for my anatomy studies while I ended up spending 80% of its time in molding, casting and doing corrections…

So next time (if there is going to be any) I plan on paying a professional to do this irrelevant work for me (the whole molding and casting process), and I advise you to do the same, especially if molding and casting is not your top priority…

Anyhow, this is the end result- the painted plaster skull- finished at last!!!