Sculpting Flat Pieces 1

We began Dramatic Contexts by sculpting flat pieces to turn into silicone prosthetics. We were given Le Beau Touche on a basic tile and could sculpt anything small and relatively simple. I chose to sculpt a eye bag based off a photograph of my Grandpa.

1) Start by rolling a basic sausage shape onto board
2) Block out the basic shape of the piece (in this case the eyebag)

3) Smooth edges with thumbs
 - here i smoothed the edge that would attach to the cheek out normally but for the edge that would sit directly underneath the eye i left a very small, thin edge as the bag needs to start as close to the eye as possible and you don't want to use alcohol to blend in such close proximity with the eye.

4) Tidy the edges by scraping away excess and smooth out again

5) Begin to add texture by adding lines - the best way is to X shape lines that intersect for a natural effect.

6) Sprinkle talc over the piece then brush over with a wire/harsh brush. This sweeps away any balls of clay that have clung to the piece and blends the lines to look natural.

7) Continue this process until texture is complete
- for my piece I wanted a lot of texture as the eyebag I was looking at was on an 80 year old man so has many wrinkles and undulations. I used different tools (iddy biddy, mixing stick, scalpel) to create lines that all originated from the inner corner of the eyebag as this is where wrinkles naturally fall. I repeated the above process many times until I was happy with the result.

8) Use lighter fluid on top of the piece slightly if it needs smoothing and take lighter fluid around the edge of the piece to neaten and create a feather thin edge. This is so the piece fits seamlessly onto the skin when glued and dissolved and it cannot be detected that it is a prosthetic.

Evaluation:

Overall I am happy with the final result of my flat piece. Using a picture for reference helped create a more realistic interpretation of an eyebag. I particularly like the different heights of the eyebag as it's something I wouldn't have known to do without a reference but it makes it appear more realistic. Next time I would work on not spreading the piece out so much as when this is made I think it will go too far down the face meaning it may be noticeable on a moving models face. I must also not build the piece too high as this can look unrealistic. I'm happy with the wrinkles and how natural they look but they may become less pronounced when the piece is made into a silicone flat piece so then I will be able to tell how much texture I need to put into the clay.