Sandra Dwiggins on tue 10 jun 97
Toni---
Plaster casting of faces is actually quite easy. I believe there is a section
on body casting in the book "Ceramic Sculpture" by Ian Cameron(?) not
sure about the last name---
The important thing to remember about casting is to cover the person's
face and especially the eyebrows and eyelashes with vaseline. Plaster
will pull off hair on the body and will definitely pull out eyelashes if they
are not protected. Also, you can protect the person's hair by cutting a
face hole out of a piece of heavy corrugated cardboard and put this
around the person's face in front of the ears, not behind the ears,
before casting. This provides a "shelf" for the plaster. Mouth should be
closed, of course.
Now for the nose and breathing....There are two ways to handle
this---you can leave the nose uncast--i.e. do not put plaster around the
nose and just sculpt it afterwards when you take the clay from the mold.
OR--you can put straws or other hollow breathing tube things in the
nose of the person you're casting and build the plaster around the nose--
you can also put straws in a person's mouth, and put plaster around that
too, but you may not get a good mouth cast.
People sometimes get very nervous when they feel their faces getting
covered with plaster, especially when it begins to heat up as it hardens.
So it really takes either courage on the part of the person being cast, or
someone to hold their hand and hold their head still.
The plaster has to set before you remove the cast. It should take only a
minute or two to set up---you'll have to be reassuring during this time.
Then--and this is VERY IMPORTANT--you must tell your castee to keep
THEIR EYES AND MOUTH CLOSED UNTIL THE VASELINE and PLATER
BITS ARE WASHED OFF!!! Plaster in the eyes is a definite problem. Lead
your castee to a sink and immediately wash off the vaseline with soap
and water--or let them do it---before opening their eyes.
Vaseline is Petroleum Jelly, by the way.
The plaster is mixed just the same way you always do for a mold---use
#1 pottery plaster for a softer mold, it holds up fine. I remember trying
some body casting with hydrocal, and trying to use it as a form in a
pot--no way to disguise the body part, it always looked like an upper
arm no matter what. The mold shows every jot and tittle on your
face--it's quite a shock to see your face as though you were face to
face with it...you never see yourself really in a mirror....
You can also do a face cast with bandages coated with plaster, but that
mold, while easier on the person being cast, doesn't hold up very well.
Good luck---sounds like a great idea!!!! Hope this helps!
Sandy
sandra@icic.nci.nih.gov
| |
|
