1 Intro
2Starting out
3 You and me together again at last
4Product Design
5Rubber mold
6 Be a Sculptor
7 Marbleizing
8 Getting Ahead
9Paint techniques
10 Foam carving

Dan's World    Page 8

"Time flies like the wind. Fruit flies like bananas." 
--Groucho Marx 

                               Heads                   
  Try as you might you just can't get a head. I know the feeling.  Time just seems to slip through your fingers. And let's face it, a good head is hard to find these days.  All the great head shops have gone out of business and that guy you knew back in the woods who grew  his own homegrown... wait a minute that 's a different subject and a lifetime ago. The 60's are over now. I didn't just dream it did I ? They are over now. Right? I didn't know. My my how the times they are a changing.

         The point is if you did need a head or bust, the kind that you can put on a book shelf or mantel  you are a lucky time traveler. Your  interstellar transporter has touched down  at the proper point in the space/time continuum to allow you to fulfill your needs. This destination on your tour may look scary. Trust me the air has been deemed breathable for your species. 

  This  is Sigmund Freud.  Since he was not available for sittings I did the sculpture from photos.    
  I sculpted this bust in clay, then I made a latex mold of the clay sculpture. This sculpture was then cast in hydrocal and finished in a rich worn bronze  patina. The frames of the glasses are cast in lead.  Numbered and signed by the artist. (me)  This  life size head sculpture  will be available for purchase for a limited time. $400.

The heads below are studies done at different periods of my career. 

  Analyzing Freud's Head 

or:

Still crazy after all these years

  The cranial construction process starts with piles of research materials.  Your sculpting can only be as good as your pictures.  So it is necessary to gather plenty of books, drawings and photos before the actual sculpting can begin.

 The sculpting of a bust in clay is an entire book in its self. Since this is a portfolio not a treatise on sculpting a head let's just say that the next step is to sculpt the head in clay.

After a satisfactory head has been sculpted a mold must be made. I made a latex mold with a HydroCal back up shell.  Fill the mold with a well mixed batch of HydroCal.  I mix my HydroCal for 6 minutes in room temperature water. Just prior to pouring I spray the inside of the mold with a   50 / 50 mixture of Windex and water . This prevents tiny air bubbles from forming on the casting. Shake the mold when it has become about half full to jar loose the air that may be trapped on the sides of the mold. Then fill the mold to the top and shake again. Now comes the hard part. Sit and wait for an hour. I usually get tired of waiting after about 30 minutes and start the process of taking the mold apart.

This is the casting as it comes out of the mold. The weird blotchy looking thing is the latex mold. It is laying on its side in the plaster mother mold. The tall, weird blotchy looking thing is me. I carry my Freud head with me where ever I go.  You never know when you might need consultation. In my case it is quite often.

Dan Kijak  4308 Shankweiler Rd.  Orefield  Pa 18069

610- 391- 9277

e- mail me

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