Carving from Belgorod

[HAIIAPHNK]

The main theses of the concept were clear to me. It was necessary to depict a warrior and a commander in such a way that there would be clear hints and allegories within him. And in the end, it should be evident that this is not just an ordinary soldier.

Naturally, the first thing I began to study was ancient sculpture. I was especially interested in those works that depict rulers and emperors. How, and by what means, was their status and position conveyed?






And of course, it would have been a serious mistake not to consider another important direction as well. These are rulers too, but not ancient ones—those who lived much later. After all, the fashion of presenting oneself in the image of ancient emperors, heroes, and even gods is far from new. And I was interested in looking at such examples.









I will try to divide my further observations into parts. Separately, I will consider how exactly a cuirass might be designed, and then I will think in the same way about the helmet. But more on that a little later.

While I was engaged in searching and reflecting, I had another question. I was thinking about how the sculpture should be executed stylistically. How far could I move away from the original ship sketches? Added to this was the question of technique. Would I even be able to create armor with fine carving? Would it be visible at all? Would I be able to make such small details myself?

I was thinking about the fact that I had not worked with very fine carving for quite a long time. I had made fairly large lion figures before, and that scale is much larger than what I am planning now. Yes, I worked on carving for Fulminant, and there was also a lot of fine detail there. But I still had concerns. Would it work? And would it even be necessary?

Perhaps it would be far more appropriate to make not a carved imperial cuirass, but some kind of scale armor instead. That is exactly what appears in the sketches. Rhythmic, repeating scales would be clearly readable, and the viewer would understand what it is. But would it be clear what kind of strange small details appear on the chest if it were an imperial ceremonial breastplate?

[HAIIAPHNK]

I was also very concerned about the figure itself. How can I explain this clearly? In this case, we are dealing with a classical bust. This is a very common practice: there is a head, there is a torso, but there are no arms.







Instead, there are stumps just below the shoulders. And here my own personal perception comes into play. I have never liked such busts. These kinds of portraits look as if they were tortured in the basement of some horror film about a maniac cannibal.

I remember that during my studies we drew plaster busts, and in one assignment I was drawing a bust of Laocoön. For those who are not familiar, he is a mythological character. In fact, this is a large multi-figure sculpture depicting the agonizing death of Laocoön and his sons.





What we had was only a bust. And it also had truncated arms. And when the plaster face showed a storm of emotions—pain and grief—I always thought that the absence of arms seemed to serve as an explanation for such suffering.





I could not relate calmly to other busts either. That suffering Laocoön evokes sympathy, but when you look at exactly the same armless character who is, at the same time, sweetly smiling, it becomes even more frightening. Man, why are you smiling? Your arms have been torn off—are you aware of that? At that point, he no longer looks like a victim of a maniac, but rather like the maniac himself, someone who does not care whom he inflicts pain upon.

 

In short, I have always disliked busts without arms. Perhaps this is a reason for me to question my own psyche. Maybe it is I who am unbalanced? After all, I am completely calm when it comes to plaster heads. You sit in front of the easel, draw a plaster head, and everything is fine. You do not think that in front of you there is merely a severed head… All right, now I am frightening myself. Back to the topic.

I was thinking about how I could make a bust non-classical for myself.

I had thoughts about how it might be done so that there would be no arms, yet this would not draw too much attention. There is a wide range of artistic solutions: capitals, caryatids, atlantes, and much more. But how would this look in my case? Would I like it? I realized that simply imagining it would not be enough. Even sketches did not fully satisfy me. I needed to make a preparatory sculpture.

I have written before about my peculiar relationship with this stage of work. Before this, I had already tried several times to make preparatory sculptures. I tried modeling in clay. I experimented with soap. But none of it worked. I could never bring this work to any tangible result. I lacked patience. Or I disliked the fact that the techniques were fundamentally different. Modeling requires a completely different mindset, a different approach. I needed, even at the preliminary stage, to get closer to carving. But how? Because in that case it would be almost the same as carving what I would later carve as the final piece. Would it not be easier to attempt the final carving right away? If it works—great. If not, I could always make a new one. After all, that was how I had always worked. That logic kept winning every time.

But now I had a different thought. I decided to try yet another technique that was new to me.

 

So now I will tell you about one more of my attempts to train myself to do rough, preparatory work. I will begin this story like this: and then I took out this…

 

[Beckmann]

Hello Alexandr,

did you ever try carving-wax? That is, what the old artists used back in the 19th and 18th. ctr.

Matthias

Edited Monday at 01:25 PM by Beckmann

[HAIIAPHNK]

3 hours ago, Beckmann said:

Hello Alexandr,

did you ever try carving-wax? That is, what the old artists used back in the 19th and 18th. ctr.

 

Hello, Matthias.

I am not entirely sure that I have correctly understood all the contexts of your question. Judging by it, you seem to be referring specifically to the historical method of producing decorative elements using compo or gesso. I am not certain that an automatic translator would handle these terms correctly. Do you mean a putty-like material based on biological glues, chalk, oil, and similar components (I cannot recall the exact recipe at the moment)?

If that is the case, then no—I have never worked with such materials. My knowledge of the technology is limited to descriptions found in books. If I understand the subject correctly, this process is closer to modeling than to carving, or else to forming using molds or matrices.

To be honest, I had never really considered this material before. Do you have personal experience working with it? If you do and have something to share, I would be very glad to hear your advice.

If, on the other hand, you are referring to a material related to modern hard jeweler’s wax, then I have not worked with that either. However, I have already started thinking that this material could be useful for me. I have purchased two different types to try out, and I hope they will not gather dust in a drawer for too long and that I will be able to test them in practice soon.

[Beckmann]

Hi Alexander,

I am talking about easily moldable medium-hard modeling wax. Sculptors use this for the designing process. It is quite stiff, but when you warm it up a bit, or even just warm up your carving tools, you can very essily form it with precise details. You can also make it warm and form it around wire for better  stability of arms or weapons etc.

I bought myself some of it for designing the sculptures of my model, but did not try it out yet.

Matthias

[HAIIAPHNK]

17 hours ago, Beckmann said:

Hi Alexander,

I am talking about easily moldable medium-hard modeling wax. Sculptors use this for the designing process. It is quite stiff, but when you warm it up a bit, or even just warm up your carving tools, you can very essily form it with precise details. You can also make it warm and form it around wire for better  stability of arms or weapons etc.

I bought myself some of it for designing the sculptures of my model, but did not try it out yet.

 

Excellent news. I will be very much looking forward to updates in your thread when you begin this stage of the work. It should be both interesting and useful.

I know ship modelers who create decorative elements using modeling techniques. In this case, epoxy putty is used.










Visually, everything looks fairly simple and straightforward. However, there are always nuances that become apparent only in the course of work and with the acquisition of hands-on experience. I myself have never made modeled decorative details. For me, this is an entirely new and unfamiliar area.

Why did you decide to settle specifically on this material? What are its particular characteristics? Is this an intermediate stage, with the intention that the decoration will later be cast in metal or plastic, or will it remain on the ship model as is? Will it be painted, or perhaps gilded with metal leaf? Is it even possible to apply any kind of finish to this wax?
 

I have watched several videos showing jewelers working with wax. What I liked is that this wax can be used in different ways: in its hard state, where carving is performed, and in a heated state, where wax can be gradually built up, dripped, and layered to form a rough shape. Later, this form can be refined and brought to a finished state using power tools, heated modeling tools, soldering irons, or knives and chisels.

[HAIIAPHNK]

 

By now, it has become obvious what kind of material this is. And therefore it is clear what exactly I am going to write about. But for those who did not recognize it or have not encountered such material before, I will clarify—it is plaster.

It is a very useful material with great potential. First and foremost, plaster is known as a casting material. The same plaster figures used in art schools clearly demonstrate how detailed forms can be made from it.

I, however, will take a different approach. I will use plaster as a substitute for wood—in order to carve it. Although in this case it might be more appropriate to say not “carving,” but scraping or hewing. But that is not essential.

 

Next, I will show some stages of working with plaster.

Everything began with casting a blank. This part is very simple. You mix plaster powder with water. The mixture can vary greatly. For casting, it is usually made very liquid. I did not need such a consistency, so I mixed something resembling dough and simply shaped a white lump. The main thing is that it should be large enough to accommodate the planned figure.
There is not much to describe further—everything is clear even without words. First comes working with large masses, and gradually the excess is removed.











 

Everything is very simple. Plaster comes off very easily.
No force is required—only patience.
You should not try to dig deep right away; it is better to scrape little by little, layer by layer.










 

It is much more convenient to work by hand. I do not recommend rotary tools or burrs. Although it is possible to use them, there is absolutely no point in doing so—for many reasons.

First, plaster has to be scraped, and what you will be removing is plaster dust. It spreads quite far and soils everything around: hands, clothes, the table. The use of any power tools will create air currents, so plaster will not only end up where I have already mentioned—it will be in the air. Which means it will also be in your hair and on every surface on the other side of the room. In a home environment, this already represents an increased level of risk. Household members will automatically switch into a state of dissatisfaction.

In addition, working with a rotary tool and burrs is inconvenient for another reason. A burr instantly turns the immediate working area into entire snowdrifts of plaster dust—especially when dealing with recesses. One second, and suddenly both the burr and everything around it resemble the scene of walking a small puppy during its first snowfall. He was just there, and a moment later he has vanished into a snowbank.

Within seconds, you will no longer see the tip of the burr and will not know what is happening there—have you already removed the necessary volume of material or not? Perhaps you have long since overdone it and ruined everything. You can only find out once you stop, shake everything off, or at least blow the snowdrifts aside (and do not forget about the household members—they will very soon notice the connection between your puffed cheeks and the new clouds of white haze around).

 

In short, it is much easier to work with simple hand tools.

Although here, too, a warning is in order. On the one hand, it is good news; on the other, not so much. The good news is that plaster is so easy to remove that it does not require any special tools. Sharpness is not important. You can make a primitive scraping tool out of any nail, and that will be enough. You can make several different shapes and sizes.

 

 

The not-so-good news is that if you decide to use your favorite knives, you will most likely have to say goodbye to them. No, they will not break. And they will not be irreversibly ruined—everything is not that dramatic. But if the tool is dear to you, it is better not to let it anywhere near plaster for another reason.

As I mentioned earlier, plaster is removed in the form of dust. This is dust whose particles have adhered to each other to form a solid body. But at the same time, it is not exactly dust. These are small, hard granules or crystals. Does that sound familiar? Practically the same words can be used to describe sharpening stones—only there the bonding of the grains is stronger.

In other words, when working with plaster, essentially the same thing happens as if you decided to carve a figure out of a sharpening stone. Very quickly, nothing would remain of the sharp edges of your knife. And perhaps the knife itself would become half as long. Yes, this is a hyperbolic, exaggerated example—but the principle is exactly the same.

 

Yes, plaster is softer than even the softest sharpening stone, but you will still dull your tools very quickly.

So what should be done? It is simple. Use tools that you do not particularly value. Replaceable blades are ideal. Even those that have already served their time and are lying in the trash can will be perfectly suitable here. From there on, everything is up to you. If very fine tips are needed, they can be sharpened, brought to the required size, and put to work.

There are no further nuances regarding tools here.

…to be continued…

 

 

[druxey]

While the use of wax or modeling clay (Plasticene) is very helpful to work out the problems of a carving in 3D, the process is quite different. In the case of carving, the process is subtractive, while modeling using a plastic material is additive. Sure, one can carve wax and clay, but if a mistake is made , one simply adds more material. Try to do that with stone or wood!