terracotta bust

[abhijit8p]

A big HI to all the planeteers!!
Working on my architectural thesis has not allowed me to sculpt much lately.
Here I would like to present my latest work..
Its a bust of a village chief in Nagaland, North-eastern India (one of the 7 sister states)
The reference pic was taken during the annual Hornbill festival of the nagas.

Material: terracotta clay
Size: 400mm approx to the top from base
Armature: wood
Bulking: crumpled paper bound to the armature using jute strings

Working & making details in terracotta was easier after working in much smaller scales--- but some methods were improvised responding to the properties of the material..
Right now the work is on to take a multi-part mold out of Plaster of Paris & then taking slurry (terracotta clay) cast & subsequently firing.
I would love any crits & comments.
Regards from India!!!

 

[TWOMOONS]

Truly wonderful sculpt....a fine likeness.
I'm curious...do you know the age of this individual? I'm sculpting and extremely old individual myself- the facial changes are fascinating compared to a younger subject- and I'd love to know. Whether an individual wears false teeth is a huge factor.
Thank you.

 

[gordy]

Hello to India!

Abhijit , thank you very much for sharing ! A fascinating and well done piece

Will you be leaving it as terracotta or painting it ?

We would like to hear more about the figure scene in India when you have the time

 

[abhijit8p]

i thank you all for liking the bust...
@ phil--i found the reference pic on the internet---i think the age of this person would be anywhere around 70-75+ ....This is also my first sculpt in this larger size & also that of showing an older person. Wearing false teeth does affect the jaws & lips ---in the presence of false teeth, the jaw is fuller in proportion with the overall head & in its absence, the lower jaw closes in the gap of the teeth leading to lips drooping outwards/inwards a bit-- in the reference pic, it appears to me that the person might have lost most of his teeth (but not all)...---plz do correct me if i m wrong..

@ gordy---i have taken a multi-piece Plaster mold of this piece. Then i tried to cast it (unsuccessfully in the 1st attempt) in clay slurry--- i will post pics of the mold & the unsuccessful cast as soon as i collect the pics---i will attempt another cast soon--- later i plan to cast it in metal (preferably copper!!)---plz do advise if u think something better can be done with the piece..

As far as i know, in India, miniature figures only exist in vernacular crafts, made of metal & clay(depicting gods & civilians). Military miniature figure casts in resin, plastic, white metal, as used by hobbyists across the globe have not yet penetrated to that extent here---such quality of miniature figures are only found in Mumbai in a particular shop only..

I thank u all again!!
Regards from India!!

 

[gordy]

Thank you for the reply,

Abhijit, do you mean better as in casting or the piece itself as far as likeness?

That's interesting, are there folks interested in figures or miniatures and models in India? I mean is there a market there but just hasn't been tapped into yet ?

Thank you for the insight!