6. Sculpting Day 1

(this first day of sculpting was on the 20th of March)

Went to 3D lab 1 on the 19th and finally managed to talk to Karen, who told me all the things I needed to buy (clay, plaster, a mask) for the first part of making my heart which was sculpting the heart out of clay. On the 20th I set out to start. The day started out with making purchases at the uni art store (Approx £14 bringing the total expenses so far to £44.30), and I got to work. The rest of the post will be mainly photos, but I'll try to explain the working progress. 

I started out sculpting after looking at this tutorial, which is a cosplay heart made out of silicone (The Egg Sisters, 2018). The cosplayer sculpted out the clay, made a 2-part mold out, and rotocast the silicone, keeping the sealed mold in motion while the silicone sets to create a hollow heart. I didn't have the exact same materials the cosplayer did, but it seemed doable enough at this stage.

My work space, with reference photos printed out

 First, I took out some aluminium foil and rolled it into the approximate size I wanted. This was going to help me save some clay, lower the overall weight, and give some structure. 

I intended for the finished sculpt to be larger than a regular human heart, but kept the aluminium center to be about the size of my fist. 

Next, I covered the aluminium core with clay, and smoothed it out. 

At this point, I figured it's a good idea to explain what each part of the heart is, so I can better explain my working progression. 

Reference photos I printed out. 

Making a mental note to track each photo down and cite them, but for now this works.

At first I tried to add some clay to shape the upper atriums, as well as the pulmonary artery. However I was having trouble making things hold their shape. 

What I did next was roll out pieces of aluminium foil, and encased them in clay to build up each vein and artery.

I left the veins/arteries fairly long in the hopes that when I casted it I might be able to cut the end and have a hollow tube.

Assembly! I really liked the shape of it so far.

Added in some detailing and this was what I ended up with at the end of day 1.

I hope you didn't get too attached to this, because day 2 brought a lot of changes.

Reference:
The Egg Sisters (2018) CARDIAC COSPLAY: Silicone Beating Heart Tutorial [Online] Available at: http://cosplayculture.com/2018/03/20/cardiac-cosplay-silicone-beating-heart-tutorial/ [Accessed 24 March 2019]