https://www.cutoutandkeep.net/projects/vincent • Posted by Darcy UK
I began by making a wire armature, a very basic ball attached to a larger shape which will become the shoulders and chest. I began to fill the shape with aluminium foil
I continued to add foil, scrunching it in tightly, to make a dense shape.
I then tightly wrapped the whole shape with masking tape. This must all be done really tight and firm to provide a solid base for the clay.
Next I made a batch of air drying clay. I use the recipe from Jonni Good's website. http://www.ultimatepapermache.com/new-air-dry-clay-recipe
I keep a bowl of water next to me, and smooth the clay all over the head and body. This was left to dry for several days, while I worked on other projects.
I then began to add the face and clothing details. These were only thin layers of clay so they did not take as long to dry.
Finally I added a little more clay, refining the features. When you add wet clay on top of dry clay you must first add a little white glue to help it stick.
I left him to thoroughly dry out and then sanded the clay a little.
As there are no clear photographs of Vincent Van Gogh, I was using a self portrait of him as reference. Not at all easy , but the painting did help me with colour choices. i painted the face and hat first.
Then I painted the clothing, using lots of definite brush marks to closely resemble the marks that Vincent used in his paintings.
Finally I added a layer of satin glaze, to seal everything and also to give the piece a nice sheen.