Research into Sculpting

To start off with I was thinking about making one full sized bust to do tests on so I know how to improve the sculpture as well as testing the projections, seeing how they look on the sculpture and see if adjustments are needed such as the projection is too distorted or it bleeds over the outline. 

So to begin with I have to think about what I need to use for the structure of the bust and from discussing with my auntie, who knows a bit when it comes to arts and crafts, she said that chicken wire would be the best as a base structure and then paper mache because it's cheap and easy. 

After a bit of looking around on the internet I found cardboard could be used a base structure however because the paper mache is wet it will dampen the cardboard and it would be difficult to make a head shape with cardboard. 

So instead I ordered chicken wire on Amazon to practice the first bust. 

Paper mache

Then I looked up how to make paper mache and I found a few different ways to make it. There is the option to use glue and water it down a bit, or a cheaper way to use flour and water. I'm going to try both and see which is better quality.

Ultimate Paper Mache

This website is very useful as it has multiple recipes for paper mache as well as tips for when building a sculpture which I'll take into account.

Sculpting tips:

• After using newspaper for the initial shape I can use softer paper, like tissue paper, to smooth it out
• Rougher paper, like paper towels give it a bit of texture to the final coat
• Also with painting the busts she recommended any kind of paint, of course I'm going for white and textured look so nothing difficult there 
• She says to make Gesso to seal in the paper mache and ready the sculpture for painting however I'm not going to use this tip