The National Portrait Gallery

10 - National Portrait Gallery

Last Wednesday we visited the National Portrait Gallery as art of our research for Dramatic Contexts. We focused on Tudors, Stuarts, Victorians and any portraits before World War Two. I wrote down some of the portraits I liked best in the rooms:

For the final piece I want to chose something relatively simple so I can concentrate on perfectly sculpting the pieces and making it as intricate and true to the portrait as possible. The portraits I was most drawn towards at the gallery were:

11 - Elizabeth I

12 - Anne Boleyn

13 - Richard III

14 - Christabel Pankhurst

 I feel that going to the National Portrait Gallery was an invaluable experience as it was a lot more inspiring to see the paintings up close where the textures and brush strokes were clearer. It also allowed me to see the way portraiture changed over periods of history and the way portraits weren't necessarily anatomically accurate to the sitter - some important figures in history were painted in a more flattering way in some portraits than in others. I will not be deciding between the four portraits above for my final piece.

Postiche - Templating

After learning how to whip we next learnt how to make beard templates. This is an essential step to do before making a beard so that it fits the actors face perfectly. For this we used tutu netting so that we didn't waste lace netting for practicing. I also used black threading so that I could show what I was doing.

1) First need to take 3 beard measurements:
 - from side-burn to the jaw
 - from ear to middle of chin
 - from underside of lip to Adams apple.

2) Wrap cling film over the bottom half of face (just below nose) it needs to cover the side-burn area. Needs to be taught but not so tight it's uncomfortable for the actor.

3) Cover whole area with sellotape so that it stiffens up can be drawn on.

4) Draw beard shape onto the cling film. If you tell the actor to not shave that morning then the natural hair growth can be seen underneath meaning you can follow it. The basic shape needed peters out halfway up the cheeks and has a W shape underneath the lip.

5) Put sellotape over the top of the drawing.

6) Cut the sellotape shape out of the piece of clingfilm.

7) Pad the wooden block with tissue to make a chin shape on the head with the cling filmed beard. Needs to be well padded so the template holds its shape.

8) Lay the netting over the template. Put points in at the front and at both sides (just above sideburns). Also put points in low on the neck to stretch out the lace.

9) Place finger on the chin area to darts appear under the chin - need between 2 and 4 darts for a beard. Fold them inwards and point them into place.

10) Knot the darts in using the same method as before. Start the knots at the line of the bottom of the beard and go up to the tip of the triangle. I used black thread so it could be seen in photos but for a real piece of postiche we would use lace netting and invisible thread.

Evaluation:

I am pleased with the final result of the template and practice netting. For the templating I could have done better in drawing the of the beard shape. It would have been easier if before hand I has looked up pictures of typical male beards therefore if I do this again I will research a lot of different types of male beards. I also should have used a bigger block to put the template onto as I only used as 52 inch block which is a very small head shape. This meant the padding for the chin didn't sit very well. I am pleased with whipping of the beard as I think the knotting was neat and tight enough. You can also see from the pictures where the net is put onto Kate's chin that it fitted well so therefore the beard would fit well when it was finished.

Sculpting Flat Pieces 2

Today we started off by finishing off any pieces we'd started in the last session. I had begun a cut.

The shape is a simple, small cut which I imagine to go on a fatty part of the body. Therefore I began to add fat cells on the inside. This also stops the texture of the tile being transferred onto the flat piece.

I continued to add small rolls of clay until I had filled the gap in the cut. I then texturised the clay to resemble skin.

I had a much shorter amount of time in which to create this flat piece so I am not as pleased with it as I was by eye bag. I could have spent longer on the skin texture and the definition of the cut.

After we had finished sculpting we began making the channel and wall for when the silicone is poured in. We created a channel in the mold as this gives a good edge to the piece that is very neat. An advantage of this is if you're using bondo to create the prosthetic is prevents the bondo from shrinking inwards. It also gives a good edge to hold onto whilst working with the prosthetic.

1) Roll a sausage of clay out and put around edge of prosthetic, flattening slightly. Make sure to leave enough room for a good amount of cap plastic/bondo.

2) Neaten the edges on the inside and the outside using a scalpel/palette knife. This will create a neat channel meaning the prosthetic will be easier to work with and last longer.

3) Make a wall around the edge of prosthetic and channel. The wall needs to be considerably higher than the prosthetic as it will have the silicone poured into.

4) Push down the outer edge of the wall to stop any holes occurring. Silicone is very viscous and can pour out of any holes in the wall so the wall must be 'airtight'.

5) Neaten up the inside of the wall making sure there are no holes and the clay is flush to the board. The smoother the inside wall the better the silicone mold with come out.

Evaluation

Although I was not completely satisfied with my clay cut as i didn't have enough time to perfect it I am very pleased with my clay channel and wall. I think they are the right distance from the pieces so that I will have enough cap plastic to glue down. My wall started off very messy on the inside but after some time I had smoothed it out a lot and I feel this will benefit my silicone mold in being stronger and more resilient. Overall I am pleased with the final result.