Building process for a statue? please help!!

[BKH]

:Lets say I want to make a 16 ft tall monument. for a cemetary, or something. Would I start with plaster, or wood, What would be the materials that I would use as a base to build on? Eventually, would I coat with clay, then wax? Fireing the clay first??? Then am I going to do my detailing in wax? To get it ready for the foundry??? or am I totally on the wrong track for this poor statue!!!! Please someone jot down some good foundation materials, and process details. I'd appreciate it and so would the statues. :confused:
Thanks for the help
Bobbie:p:

[GlennT]

Bobbie: From your questions it sounds as if you need to do some basic reading about the process, such as Tuck Langlands book " From Clay to Bronze" ( I think that's the title) or "The Sculptor's Way" by Brenda Putman which has a couple of photos of armatures in the scale you are looking at), which is available as a Dover reprint, " Sculpture: Inside and Out" by Malvina Hoffman, or " Abraham Lincoln Sculpture Created by Avard T. Fairbanks" by Eugene F. Fairbanks which has some good step by step photos and explanation of a heroic-sized sculpture.

[Alfred]

Bobbie, it sounds to me like you need to make some 16 inch statues first. You're level of confusion regarding the process of making a large sculpt sounds to me like you haven't sculpted small work to begin with. Before taking on such a monumental task as sculpting a 16 foot tall work, I would suggest starting small and working your way up. Do the maquette for the sculpture at 16 inches, then move up to 32 inces, then maybe if you're ready do the piece at half size (8 feet). I know it sounds like a lot of work, but then again, sculpting a large sculpture is a lot of work. You don't want to create some disasterous looking thing simply because you rushed forward to soon. Take your time, learn the process of sculpting smaller (possibly even casting), before you undertake anything to that scale.

Good Luck,

Alfred

[racine]

do you have some commission of size but dont know what to do? it does happen.it would in that case be good to open up, u will get some poor responses but also the occasional well meaning and neccesary help -it might be well to split the job with a local sculptor that knows their stuff. otherwise try some art schooling, whichever seems to suit. do you need to use these materials ie bronze so early?

[furby]

i reckon lanteri's book is awesome too if you want more reading about making armatures. he only wrote 2 books both are excellent, one is figures the other is animals. both detail how to make armatures. i copied his armature frame from the book in steel for the life sized man i just made. i drew up a diagram based on a 6 ft man & got the measurements from it, & got the steel cut to size & i welded it all up (it is SO easy when someone cuts it all for you) & most importantly welded 6 wheels under it. i found the wheels invaluable throughout the process. for 16ft high you will need some very strong wheels if you need to move it & putting them under there at the beginning is the only way its gonna work.

it was very easy to work using this type of armature. it comes out & supports the figure at about tailbone height, from the base. it gives you a large support/handle to use to move it around that is external to the figure & using it you can tie the entire thing onto a truck at the end when you need to move it, without needing to damage the surface of the sculpture. do yourself a favour & make the base dead straight & level at the start, as doing this simple stuff at the end is a gigantic task, where doing it at the start is easy.

i did mine in direct plaster but must say it was a terrible lot of work when i made a mistake & had to cut back. if you plan well & get a very accurate armature & make the armature very strong, you can do the surface in plasticene or clay. plasticene is good cos it won't dry out & doesn't require upkeep like clay does. i suspect clay would be much faster to apply though & i prefer that texture to plasticene.