Meet Izzy (Patreon)

     I know I'm supposed to be posting the final stage of Mr. Undercroft's painting process, but I can't shoot those pics right now. The MATTE VARNISH I used to seal it--and to achieve the desired matte finish-- in fact resulted in a glossy finish.  So now I have to keep hitting it with dull cote and matte fixative until I bring down that shine. Then I'll get those final pics and post them here.

     You probably recognize Izzy, here. I think I posted his face recently. He's another sculpted head I had laying around when a customer asked me to create a bust for him, along with his counterpart, Mr. Undercroft. There's a happy honesty about him that I really like.

     When I started the two sculpts, I needed a concept. I decided to make Mr. Undercroft a fancy rich guy, and Izzy a poor grave digger. Their eventual color schemes also play off each other, reflecting similarities while retaining distinct identities.

     I must confess that I do a lot of these old, decaying faces because I love all the details, the wrinkles and veins and straining tendons. You can squeeze a lot of character into these old guys (and gals).

     As with Mr. Undercroft, Izzy's arms started off simply, just paper clay over wood dowels and wire. They're repeatedly compared to the 1:1 diagram and the sculpted torso for fit and position.

     You can see that Izzy's coat sleeves lack the fancy cuffs of Mr. Undercroft's. They also have multiple patches, and the shirt sleeves are ragged.

     You might also note the cat hair on the arm, courtesy of Cricket, whom I'm using here as a black backdrop.

     Izzy's torso. Unlike his counterpart, Izzy's coat is single-breasted, with scalloped lapels reminiscent of bat wings. Because I want the coat to have a frayed, dirty and damaged look, I'm allowing some flaws to remain, as well as deliberately adding some.

      I usually use wood plaques for bases, but they were out of round plaques with beveled edges when I started this piece, so I had to use simple wood circles. The graceful scalloped effect was achieved with paper clay. The same was used to fill in the largest of the imperfections in the wood.

     Here we see that Izzy's head has finally found a body. The dowel used to hold the head during sculpting (I don't have a studio, so I have to be able to basically hold my work in my lap) was cut off, a rotary tool ground down the stump, and the holed was filled in with Apoxie Sculpt. A hole was carved into the neck of the torso that fit the dowel and screw that extended out the neck of the head sculpt. The neck hole was filled with Apoxie sculpt, and the neck of the head inserted. The head was taped in place to prevent sagging while the Apoxie cured. When the tape was removed, I sculpted the shirt collar from Apoxie (it had to be sturdier than paper clay) over several sessions, then made his tie of the same.

     Here we see the two gents, ready to move on to painting and assembly. The hands, shovel blade and cane topper are all made of Apoxie. I would never trust paper clay not to break on suck small parts, or polymer clay, for that matter. Izzy's hat has been created from paper clay over anchor screws and styrofoam, using the same build-up process discussed in Mr. Undercroft's tutorial.

     Izzy gets a coat or greyed gesso, which will be warmed up with lavender-tinted gesso for his second coat.

     Here you can also see the shoulder prepared for joining. Hollows were carved out and screws inserted. The same was done to the upper end of the arms, and the two repeatedly test fitted. When Apoxie is packed into the hollows and the arm pressed into place, the Apoxie grips the screws from both sides, locking the limb in place.

     Like a patient under the care of the worst imaginable doctor, Izzy is wrapped in rubber bands, tape and wadded paper towels to hold the arm in place while the join sets. The paint brush holds the place of the shovel he will eventually hold, ensuring that the position in which the arm sets will allow the handle of the shovel to rest on the correct place on his shoulder. The right hand was sculpted around a dowel of the same diameter as the shovel handle, guaranteeing a perfect fit.

     You also might notice that we've jumped ahead to the painting process. His face has been completely painted, with green skin, blue tongue and lots of veins and blotches. It was also necessary to paint the hands before attaching the arms to the torso, not only to ensure that the skin colors would match, but also because it would be a nightmare to try to paint those hands once they're in place. My back hurts just thinking about contorting into the positions that would entail.

     Another shot of the same. He's such a good sport.

     The same process is repeated for the left arm. You can see some of the veining on the back of the hand. Also in frame is the shovel, complete with rusted bolts.

     Here's our guy with both arms attached, and the joins sculpted over. I've bulked out the upper arms a bit, as well as built up his back for a hunch-backed effect, to add distinctiveness from Mr. Undercroft.

     And on that note, my wrist is telling me that's enough computer for the day. I'll be back with the conclusion to Izzy's process when I've reduced the shine on the guys and can take final pics. See you then!