Classical Horse Head Carving by Sculpture Studios

Welcome to Sculpture Studios. Another classically inspired piece of art here for those of you that enjoy our classical work, and here in this project we're collaborating with fellow artist Laura Jean. As well as being a singer and a musician, Laura specialises in beautifully painted, dreamlike portraits of horses. She's requested for us to create some life-size horse heads for her to decorate that are made from glass fibre, and this is to add to her equestrian collection. In terms of presentation, whether Laura wants a plinth that starts from the floor or for this to be mounted on the wall, we can create whatever she'd like as we'll be making everything from scratch. We've sent over a few different concepts to inspire a few base ideas, and she's opted for a low, rectangular plinth that she can decorate later on along with the horse heads themselves. For this sort of carving, or modelling as we're going to be working with clay, we've started with a wooden stand to start building onto. Aidan's not going to be using any fancy modelling materials, just a standard clay that we allow to keep moist in its bag to reuse on numerous projects. We've created horses in the past, but as this is specifically tailored to Laura's requirements, we're going to be following concept images at all times so that we don't deviate from what she's after. The general feel needs to be a regal, Andalusian-style horse, proud and handsome. To create two of these for her, and perhaps a spare one for us to keep in the studio, this is going to be modelled in clay, then moulded, and finally cast in glass fibre. Feel free to sit back and relax, and watch this noble steed take shape. This is very much a process of refining the form slowly, being true to the concept images, and in this case, paying particular attention to creating symmetry on either side of the face. A benefit of using clay, though you do need to keep it soft and workable, is that you can add and take away the material to your heart's content. It's a great medium to work from, as it allows you to really take your time, but you can also make quick changes. This can come in handy when we eventually invite the client to the studio, as we've invited Laura here, as usually they know exactly what they're after, and if something needs to be moved or altered, they can add their own personal nuance quite easily. As Laura's had a lot of practice, and knows the particular details and the form a horse like this should have, we're making these small changes before we prepare the master pattern for moulding. This is something that's a little harder to do with a process like 3D printing. Yes, it's very accurate, but where you might need to make changes, usually something needs to be created again in full. Besides, where's the fun and that gratification if you're putting something into a computer for a machine to cut? Here at the studio, we find it's much more enjoyable to create the art ourselves. With this particular mould, we've started by building up with multiple layers of silicone rubber. The different colours that you could see going onto the job were all the different pigments that we've added to the mix, and this is so that we can see what areas we've already covered. This is advisable when working with any material that you're intending to build up in layers, so that you know you've covered the whole job with each application. We've started with a very liquid layer to get into all the detail, and gone over with another 5 or 6 in this case, finishing with a more buttery thickness at the end. Rubber tabs have also been added, and these will eventually work as locators once a gel coat and a glass fibre has gone on top. The glass fibre creates a jacket that helps the rubber retain the correct shape, and the locator tabs that stick through the glass fibre ensure that it sits in the correct position each time. Once the gel coat and the fibre glass has set, the interior clay pattern is removed from the inside, and it goes back into the bag for another day and another project. The interior of the mould is then cleaned up, and we go in with a white gel coat of resin to begin the casting process. This will provide a nice smooth finish, and it provides a white base for any primer and artwork that's going on top. We add a couple of layers of glass fibre behind this, which will be nice and strong, but relatively lightweight. For something that could potentially look like a heavy marble or a stone or even a metal, this will be easy to move, and it has the added advantage of being able to be repaired if it ever gets damaged. Using sandpapers and car body fillers, the seam lines from the moulds have all been cleaned up, and we go over with a 2K car body primer for a nice strong first layer of paint. We're keeping everything neat on the underside of the job too, so that everything has all-round quality and no untidy areas. We're also adding little felt feet underneath, just to protect any surface that these will be sitting on. With all the work now finished, and the steeds looking lovely and majestic in their primed white stage, it's time to invite the client back down to the studio. Hopefully they look loved up! With a very happy client picking up the work from our studio, this is always a rewarding moment for us, as it's a true sign that we've done the job proud. With many of our projects, our already existing clients come back for another piece of sculpture, so it feels great that we have a client base that trust the work we do, and feel they can come back to us for more. Now that everything's complete here in the workshop, it's over to Laura for the artwork. Say hello to Tudor Warrior and Tudor Rose, now ready for exhibition. We'd like to thank Laura Jean for approaching us with this project, as a brand new client, and for sending us these fantastic final shots. We hope they go to a good home. We're ready to saddle up for the next project, if anything else comes along in the pipeline. Please feel free to leave any comments below, as they're always appreciated, and hit the subscribe button for our latest videos. You can like Sculpture Studios on Facebook, and follow AtAidanHines on Twitter, and for more of our work, visit SculptureStudios.co.uk Thank you very much for watching.