Work in Progress of the Harrietsham sculptureThe Harrietsham sculpt also involved using hand prints of some of the pupils of the school. As it turned out this wasn't as easy as them pressing their hands into the clay as they just couldn't manage to make an impression that coud be seen. I decided to take plaster moulds of their hands and from them make resin casts which I could press into the clay.
Once all the illustrations were complete and the client approved the sculpt, moulding began. Making a mould involves building a dividing wall in clay around the sculpt. This is to create the separate pieces of the mould which allow it to be opened and closed, thus enabling the cast to be removed afterwards.
The first walled off area is painted in silicon rubber and built up to a thickness of about a quarter inch. This is then backed up with a strong jacket of plaster or fibre-glass.
