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Figure Development 3rd Stage

8K views 48 replies 11 participants last post by  Gary Armitstead 
#1 ·

I've completed stage 3 in the developement of Abe. In this stage I test paint the prototype. I do this for a few reasons:
  1. The paint reveals imperfections that I can correct before making a mold
  2. I can determine if the likeness of the subject is close, or if I have additional work to do to get to that point
  3. I can add finer details with layers of paint, such as veins in the hands, wrinkles in the knuckles, seams in the clothing and creases in the shoes

I can also determine if the color scheme works for the figure. Painting also reveals problems with proportion that a divider and a ruler don't always show.
It is important to note that unlike building a scale model, successfully capturing a likeness isn't as simple as transfereing measurements from the subject to the sculpture. 
The fact is, that some exageration of  features is required in order to make the person seem more like themselfs. Its hard to explain, but, the human mind doesn't identify human faces by the size of specific features, but rather by how individual features impress us, or disturb us, or attract us.


During stage 3 I take several photos from different angles. 
Here is a trick that a lot painters used to help see them perfect their master pieces. They would take a mirror and look at their painting in the mirror.
The mirror isn't magic, but the reversed view of the painting was new to the eye, and because it is new, the eye will pick up on more problem areas than it would looking at the normal view. The fact is, that the longer you look at an object, the more your mind makes up for things that are missing and the more bored it gets with the subject matter.
The mirror gives your mind something new to look at, and it treats this percieved new image with greater attention.
Its like waking your mind up. 
Photo images do that for my mind. Wakes it up. Makes me look at the figure in a new way. 

Another advantage of the photo image is the closeness you can get to the subject.
I have magnifying glasses and they can do a pretty good job of getting up close, but they tend to distort what I'm seeing a little.
As you can see from the image above, there is no distortion.
What I can see is that this figure  will require an additional cast before the final piece.
The reason for this is the area around the eyes and ears.
As the photo reveals, they are kind of clumsy and not well defined. Sculpty doesn't hold small detail well, (at least not for me) and tends to crumbly when you get too small. 
The first cast will allow to work the resin, which holds a lot more detail.
 
 
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#2 ·
The only thing that would seem to me to be a major problem (from my viewoint) is his eyes. He looks like he is asleep or squinting into a bright light. I know how difficult eyes are,but it just doesn't look natural for "Abe". Sorry, don't mean to be negative. Just my opinion (which will get you a cup of coffee, if you happen to have an extra dollar to go with it!)./DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/sad.gif
 
#5 ·
Now we come to the most difficult stage of stage 3. Deciding whether to move on and create the mold, or starting over. Last night I decided to start over.
Probably one of the most difficult things a person can face when sculpting is admitting to yourself that a piece is weak, even though you have spent hours on them.
This one, is ok, but not good enough. It will be put aside and my new figure will hopefully be better.
I'll get some images up as soon as I am done with the new armature.
 
G
#6 ·
if you start over anyhow, may i suggest, that you make the chin and the beard at the chin a little bit longer?
the scull at eye height and higher could be a little less broad i think.
and the whole body seems to be a little "stumpy" to represent that long, skinny man.

korm
.
edit: more like the left one below.
the fotos and paintings i saw from him, he stood a little hunched forwards, not erect.

 
#7 ·
yep, its too stocky, and the head is too big. Finally got hold of a good sized image of Lincoln standing and he is almost 8 heads high. The pic shows him standing next to two men. One is some sort of Union Officer and the other is a guy in a derby with a suit. They are standing on either side of Lincoln with their right hand stuffed in their lapels in a Napoleanic fashion. Lincoln towers over them by a good head, and while his hads are huge, his head is tiny.
I printed out a copy and tooks some dividers to it and was shocked by the proportions. Poor guy did not fit in the golden mean and that bent over look you are refering to was very obviously some sort of spinal disorder. Although he is standing erect, he is bent to his left a little as if gravity or a strong wind were holding him there.
I've just set up a blank, and to save time, I did him beardless and clotheless. I want to make a younger version of him leaning on his axe with rolled up sleeves, in Log splitter days.
 
#10 ·
This is the rough of my new lincoln:


I call him log splitter abe. 
The tan portions are resin. 
The grey is super sculpty and the white (except the axe) is regular sculpty.
The axe is carved from styrene.
I'm thinking of either casting the axe as whole (since it makes a great spru for the mold) or just the figure without the axe.
He still needs some refinment work on the hair
around the eyes
And cleaning up parts of the clothing and suspenders.

I casted a blank of him in that pose without the axe. 
without the hair
without the clothing
without the beard
with more flesh and less wrinkles with the intention of having a younger version and an older version.
I also got bored with sculpting him in his iconical suite and beard ;)
 
#13 ·
Next release Jim. I am picturing him in a pastoral sitting next to a bunch of logs and an old stump and a half cord of (scale cord) of split wood neatly stacked.
I'm thinking of a seated pose for the presidential look, so he can fit in one of my coaches.
 
#15 ·

/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/mls/emoticons/crying.gif
Testing. I seem to have lost the ability to post images!

(Richard, you didn't do anything wrong, you must have posted this reply around the time Shad was doing some work on the system getting things setup and working for the return of the monthly photo contest, which is what caused your problem. I've corrected the code so everything is back to working, sorry for the inconvenience. SteveC mod.)
 
#17 ·
Please do not toss the presidential pose of Lincoln. I was so looking forward to getting him. I have been assembling what I refer to as my patriotic holiday train. It has a Liberty
bell mounted on a flat car with red white and blue bunting arround the car. It will feature a lecturn and place for speaches if not from the back of the coach car in front of it. The mayor and other politicians will have all turned out with flags and bunting adorning the station and town square. I have a statue of liberty that may also go on a flat car on its side with overhang over a trailing flatcar. President Lincoln would be the perfect center of attention in the gathering.

Bob
 
#20 ·
Posted By BnEgscale on 02/16/2008 8:55 PM
Please do not toss the presidential pose of Lincoln. I was so looking forward to getting him.
Ditto here, but for different reasons. This is a figure I am going to want for one of my models, perhaps along with the wood-cutting version. Keep up the good work on it !
 
#22 ·
Posted By rkapuaala on 02/19/2008 9:08 PM

Hows this Bob?
Needs some touch up and a mold, so it should be ready by Next Friday.

Richard -

A truely magnificent figure of the president. (The rumpled pants and frock coat are quite correct - no such thing as dry cleaners back then.) Being something of a Civil War buff (in addition to my other interests, which you already know about) and a long-time reenactor (see below, that's me in the movie "Gettysburg" trying to save the colors) I can tell you that no self respecting 19th Century gentleman, much less the president of the United States, would go about without his hat.

I'd suggest that you come up with a representation of his signature "stovepipe" hat for him to hold in one of his hands. Probably easier said than done, but, I think, not for someone of your talent.

Another thing I just thought of - didn't he have a rather prominent mole just to the lower right of his nose? Maybe I'm missing it in your photo of the figure. Just my two cents worth.

 
#23 ·
Jack,
You are a movie star too! Cool. How about some pics of you in your civil war costume, standing at rest arms. I would like to see one front, one back and one on each side without the backpack and the same with the backpack.
I left the mole out on purpose. 1. It is one of the finer details that get dimensiones when you paint the figure and needs to be added back on any way. 2. If you put a mole and a beard like that on Alfred E Newman, everyone thinks its Lincoln.
I'm working on the stove pipe hat, but its not going to be easy. I've had a couple of failures because of lack of a clear image of his hat. Most of the images are very small and blurry.
I will release him as is, since he will be good for standing on a coach or in the oval office. He won't be able to go outside till I get the hat finished is all.
 
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