Ceramics Induction: Clay Head

In our ceramics induction, we also tried out different materials, such as clay. I felt like this was a more fun medium to work with, just because it was harder to make mistake and mess up things you have already done, like in plasticine. The clay did get harder to mold when your hands were too warm, so there were a lot of breaks/running hands under cold taps to get back to work.

We started off by making two halves of a sphere. After that we made some slip - runny clay - to stick the sides together. We used the same technique to stick on the facial features, and hair, making sure to crosshatch the back and fill it in with lots of slip so that no air would be trapped and explode. We also had to make a small hole in the head to allow air to escape there so that the whole thing did not explode while being fired.

I like how my model came out, although it could definitely have been improved if I stuck to either a realistic or cartoony style; the cheekbones do not really work since I made the cartoonesque, but then began building them up as if it was a real face. I think that it makes the model look a little bit creepier; that is half because of the eyes, but I think they would have looked fine with one style of cheekbones or the other. Next time I will plan the design out properly and decide which style to do instead of just getting excited and trying to do everything at once. 

Again, this didn't help my main project too much, but it does give me a semi decent reference if I want to draw this character from other angles.

Ceraics Induction: Armature

While our main project was on going, we had a ceramics induction, where we made armatures that could be used for stop motion. It could have been interesting to do for a project, but at this point of the year, we had already planned out and started making our animations, so there wasn't any time or projects where we could put it into practice. Still, it was a good experience and I know how to make an extremely basic armature if I ever need one in the future.

I thought that it could be a good idea to base my armature off one of the characters I was using in our main project, just in case it could actually be used and also as an opportunity to push the design further and to see what I could do with it.

We twisted two lengths of metal together in a drill to create the head and spine of the armature, and used thinner bendy wire for the limbs. This will not last as long as using the thicker wire would, but it is much more appropriate for a model if this height (15cm). I made longer arms than is proportionate to get a really cartoony feel, but I made the loop for the hands too big. When it came to putting the milliput on the frame (a squishy substance that hardens over time, stopping parts of the armature from bending - e.i chest, forearms etc), I had to cover all of the wire, so the hands ended up way bigger than intended. I think I can get away with it for this design, but in future I know now to be careful.

After the mulliput dried, we covered the frame in fabric plasters to allow the plasticine to stick a lot easier.

I tried to make the proportions even more extreme which I think worked out, but on such a tiny frame it was hard to get the precise shapes and sizes that I wanted; hopefully I get an opportunity to do a bigger model in the future.

I still couldn't figure out a way to make the joints not break up when I moved the characters limbs; no matter how much plasticine I put there and no matter how much I knitted each bit of it together, there would always be tears and gaps. I need to find a way to fix the next time, but if it would be possibly to make some other sort of joint or to use harder clay, then that would work out a lot better.

Overall I am quite happy with my model, even if it isn't fit for use any time soon. I do not really have an interest in stop motion so it isn't that big a loss. The experience is fun and maybe one I will try again in the future.