Woman wearing Yukata figure

[unknown01]

Hello, Jamie.
Good progress.
The design seems to be a flower of a cherry tree, doesn't it?
Purple is the color Japanese like.
Many people use (UCHIWA) outside in summer even now.
A bone of UCHIWA is plastics at present.
Good luck!

Mitsutaka

 

[WPS]

Jamie, don't worry about trying again and again. It is vital to get the right pose from the start and to sculpt your figure as closely to a human body before you put on the clothing.
This way you'll be sure that every aspect of the body is in the right place, shape and volume.
I can see you're getting there and you're already filling in on ideas for the clothing and accessories.

Groeten, Willem

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Thanks!

Mitsutaka, yes, the design for the Uchiwa (fan) will be a a 'Sakura' pattern (cherry blossom), to keep to the theme of spring.

I didn't realise that bone was used for the uchiwa, thank you for sharing that, I learn something new!

Willem,
When you shared how you are prepared to go back and work something that needs correcting, well, I guess I learnt that from your efforts.
I agree that even if the body is going to be clothed almost completely, if the anatomy underneath is not right (The foundation of the figure) then the rest of the effort will be compromised.

By shifting focus form the main figure to the clothing and accessories, it helps break the project down into smaller parts, and lets me work on one part while another part dries/ cures/ sets.....

Thank you both for your encouragement

Cheers

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Howdy all,
after some research (and a degree of frustration with standard sculpey) ordered in some super sculpey. Came in a box, all nice and pink. Kinda like barbie pink, not as bright. I could use some more interesting terms to describe the shade, but I'll keep this polite rather then vulgar.

Seeing as it is so soft coming out of the box, I could get stuck into the sculpting straight away, rather then muck about trying to get standard sculpey malleable.

So with the third torso, started to build up the figure. Added buttocks, a bust, made the shoulders more symmetrical, and started to mark in some of the under lying body structure.
Like the spine, shoulder blades, calves, knee caps.

Far from anatomically spot on, and seeing as most of this is going to be covered by the Yukata, I am doing this as a study in progress.

Doing the bust; rather then sculpt one breast, then match the other and hope for symmetry, I added a rectangular blob of putty to the chest, using the nipple line as a reference.
The heavier/ lower third of the breast should be below the nipple (that's the rounded part) while the upper two thirds are where the breasts 'hang' or are attached to the chest.
The breasts should have a tear drop shape, not some ball shape kinda stuck to the chest.


By starting with a rectangular shape, I was able to carve the putty down, and make both at the same time. Still not symmetrical, but better then doing one and trying to match.....

Given the build of my friend, the fact that Yukata, like Kimono, are fairly tight when worn, I will probably have to slim down the bust a bit.

The heads; well, it seems I make a good start with the first, get the second effort close, and the third closer still. So I made three heads as bases, and will try to match as I go.

More to follow......

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Rear view of the body.....

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Ok, while mucking around with all that, and while the sculpts were baking in the oven, did an experiment on fur texture.

Seeing as she will be walking her dog, an experiment on fur texture will be needed.

So a spare (pre baked) block of sculpey had a skin of super sculpey placed over it, and then I tried various fine tools from the tool box to simulate fur texture.

Seems the best one was the sharp new scalpel, moving the scalpel in a way similar to the way the lines of hair grow on a dog.

From the back of the spine, down to the ground, with a slight angle away from the front legs.

By doing this, it's easier to comprehend the idea of fur, rather then a series of carved lines.

It didn't photograph well , so I gave it quick coat of light flesh tone, then a few coats of brown ink. hopefully it will show up better now.

Planning on working on the face/ head this afternoon, as well as trying to work out how to fold the bows for the Obi (sash)

Cheers

 

[Jamie Stokes]

Ok,
more putty pushing done....
A few thoughts..I need to upgrade the digicam from point and shoot model to something with a ability to do good macro level shots.

The work looks adequate in real life, just let down by the limitations of the camera.

Decent set up for camera work would be good too

Ok, done with that minor dose of mumble mumble...

Have decided to tackle the hardest part of any figure, and that is the face/ head.

Gary Dombrowski's sculpting 101 thread has been printed out and is sitting to one side as I follow his process of having a blank head, and add to it as I go.

Work in progress, adding the basic structures to the blank, in pic 1 and 2. Gary made it a simple process, and it keeps a face symmetrical as you go along.

Pics 3 and 4 show how far I got with the chin/ jaw under structure, nose and base point for eyes so far.

I stopped at this point, because I realised that I was fiddling rather then working.

So took my brain out for a walk, while my body tried to keep up with the dog

Once I get a face/ head I am happy with, I'll return to the figure, so I've got the most challenging part done.

Cheers

 

[tonydawe]

Good stuff jamie.

Gary D.'s sculpting thread is an excellent toolfor beginnersculptors (I used it myself recently).