Coarse

Designed and sculpted by 2 German artists these figures are made using traditional sculpting methods. Mark Landwehr and Sven Waschk began working together in 2003 producing a range of figures from small to large in size. The original sculpts get turned into vinyl toys which are made from resin and fibreglass.

In an interview with ArtBox magazine Landwehr says...

"My software is wax, silicone resin and fibreglass and my hardware includes a large range of sculpting tools, airbrushees, a micro motor - like the one dentists use - and a band saw. Oh yeah! Lots of sandpaper too. Honestly the figures are entirely handcrafted, even though it might look like they aren't. That's why I initially stated sculpting. I wanted to create things with my own hands."

http://www.artboxmag.co.uk/
http://www.coarselife.com/

Design Works Revelations

After all the researching into tools and buying different things, I go on a company visit and find that most people for the small sculpts use a variation of a cocktail stick! Most stick to one or two small tools that they use all the time. For the small scale character modelling that they do the sculptors like to use the ball tool frequently to get into all the nooks and crannies. Tiranti number 46 is also one that a few of them like to use. I guess it depends on the individual and what they get used to and find helpful to them.

With digital technology coming into being such as haptic arms, freeform sculpting and 3D printing|I asked whether traditional methods are used less and about the type of skills that they look for in a sculptor. And although there are advances in 3D technology frequently, I was told that it is still important to have traditional hand skills. Programs like Freeform are still designed for sculpting. You could not put an engineer on it and expect them to create a good sculpt. There are projects that simply can't afford to use this technology so a sculptor must have the knowledge and practical handcraft skills.

Design works visit

To gain more insight into the sculpting profession I visited a company called Design Works. Design Works is a company that works with many different clients on an array of projects, ranging from product design, concept development, modelmaking and sculpting. The business has studios in London and Australia and a mass production unit in Hong Kong.

During the visit to Design Works my questions were focused towards the sculpting side of the business. The company is employed by production and advertising companies to make toys and figurines for Harry Potter, Doctor Who and other well known characters in the television and film industry. They also work with clients who want prototype toys sculpted. 

At Design Works it is estimated that it should take a professional sculptor around 5 days to finish hand sculpting a likeness for a toy figure. Not everything is hand sculpted though. Depending on the budget and the time factor 3D scanners can be used to get a turnaround of an actors head. This can then be worked on in a program called Freeform which is a computer sculpting program which uses a haptic arm so that the user is sculpting on the screen but can feel the virtual clay using the stylus. 

With the digital sculpting side to modelling it also means that a master copy is 3D printed. This is done using a photo polymer wax which then goes through a UV oven. A prototype is always made in England which then has to be signed off by the actor and or advertising company. The digital version and physical model, gets sent over to Hong Kong for mass production, where they put in the joints for it to move. Of course the sculptors and designers have to think about the manufacture when then are doing their job. You cannot make changes to a sculpt without knowing how it will be made. Hundreds and thousands of pounds go into getting a toy through mass production efficiently so that It can be sold for £7.99. It takes 9 to 12 months to get a figure in to store and on the shelf.

http://www.designworksgroup.net/

Aardman

Aardman is an award winning studio famous for its model animations, short films and more recently feature films. Started by Peter Lord, David Sproxton who were lated joined by Nick Park, it has become famous through characters such as Wallace and Gromit, Morph and its series Creature Comforts. These films are all made using stop frame animation. Most of the characters are sculpted around a metal ball and socket armature so that they move but hold their position. Some models have pre-sculpted and cast parts to their bodies, for example the chickens in chicken run had lots of different mouths which had different expressions so that they could be changed easily.

http://www.aardman.com/

Millenium Fx

Millenium effects is a company which was founded by Neil Gorton who is an industry renowned prosthetic artist. The company works mostly for films, television and advertising being part of shows such as Doctor Who and Little Britain. They have specialist make up, moulding and casting and fabrication facilities which make them one of the leaders in the industry.

http://www.millenniumfx.co.uk/index2.php

Tools

Here are some of the key tools that I have been using for this project and that sculptors find useful.

Boxwood tools are light and easy to use. the smooth surface make them brilliant for carving fluidly

Calipers are important for measuring distances. They are used extensively for head sculpting to obtain as much accuracy as possible.

Loops come in all different shapes and sizes you can get sets with multiple loops or one handle with interchangeable loops. They are good for scraping and removing material.

The dentist tools and the shapers are good for getting into all the smaller areas and parts that need more detail. The shapers can be used to soften lines. Some of the sharper and more pointed dentist tools can be you to cut material away.

The Making of the Sea Monster

I started my sculpt by making a wooden armature which I could then build onto, giving it a sturdy frame for the clay to sit on. Next I bulked out the main shape which was easy to do using the WED clay as it is soft and smooth to work with which meant that I could do it faster. Then I began refining the sculpt, putting in the gills roughly and shaping the brow and jaw. After some advice from a tutor about the brow bone looking too heavy I decided to slim it down more, making it more skeletal. I studied pictures of Cats skulls for reference and also had some fish pictures to study for the lips and jaw. 

Another thing which I did was to draw centre lines on the sculpt to help me recognise what was lop sided and uneven. I messed around with the jaw line quite a bit after I did this, trying to get the undercut of the bottom lip right and the jowls at an even level. 

After some deliberation, I decided to build back the brow bones again as I felt that they should be more fleshy and more similar to the original sculpt that I had done as a test. Once I did this I was much happier with the sculpt. I used a mixture of wooden tools, metal loops and metal sculpting tools to work on this model. I found that I got attached to certain tools and would use them for more or less everything although a lot of the time I used my hands and fingers. 

Next I put in all of the wrinkles and saggy skin, using a cocktail stick to get in to the folds of skin and paintbrush and water to smooth things out and give it a smoother finish. I also added the nostrils and eyes which took me a few attempt to get right. The eyes were inserted as clay balls which I positioned and filled in around the edges. They had to be shaped with a scraper once they were in as they didn't match each other properly at first. The nostrils were difficult as I had to get all four of them to line up properly and be the same shape.

The last step was to create scales on the skin as this monster sculpt is a cross between a fish and a lizard. I got pictures of various scales and lizards but the best was of a monitor lizard. To create this texture I squashed on tiny balls of clay to the surface, starting with the face and working my way round the jaw line and eye sockets.Once they were all lined up and on the surface I went around them blending the scales in with each other and making them more of the hexagonal shape that they were in the reference pictures. I was doing this at first using a cocktail stick to roll the edges down but i then changed my tactic to using a flat head screwdriver which happened to be the exact shape and size that I needed. This shows how it is up to you what tools you use and what works best in certain circumstances.