On To A Mad Hatter

The last blog post updating the Mad Hatter Tea party sculpture project was August 7th. This was just days after the foam for the March Hare came in.  Much has happened in that short amount of time. Keep an eye on my sculpting blog or on the Finding Alice Facebook Page. I have created a notes section on the Facebook page with all of these updates.

Many people walk into the studio and say, “Wow, everything is coming along so quickly.” I look at the entire project and think that it is moving slowly.  That is because there is so much to do, and so many people to manage while sculpting.  Plus, it all depends on me, so I am pulled in many directions. However, I can’t complain. I am getting paid to create a Wonderland.   Let’s see what we accomplished in the last 30 days. Below is some of our accomplishments this last month.  I talk a lot about my process of creating using digital and traditional. If you are interested in learning more about this process,  I have a book that is coming out on the 28th of this month called 3D Technology in Fine Art and Craft: Exploring 3D Printing, Scanning, Sculpting and Milling. Y0u can order it on Amazon.

The March Hare

The March Hare came in around August 7th. He had to be dry fitted. We made an internal armature, and he was mounted. After that, I had much hand sculpting to do.   Because I revised the digital model in the computer for 3D printing, more detail was made on the digital model than on the Alice and the Mad Hatter figures. This detail was reflected by Synappsys Digital Services that provided this CNC (Computer Numerically Controlled) Foam.   Still,  there was a tremendous amount of sculpting to do.

After the carving on the foam, a layer of wax is put on the sculpture. This  seal the foam. Then finally a layer of clay and more detail is added to that.  I put together the video of the CNC milling and dry fit and love watching it. As of this date, the March Hare is nearly complete. I’ll save some photos for next month or follow along on theFinding Alice Facebook Page.

The Table base

We worked on the March Hare this month, but I also carved the massive base for the table.  The base was designed and carved in foam from Duna USA.  It is a new foam for me, and I absolutely love it. I’ll be writing more on that foam later. Then, a layer of wax and finally a we added a  layer of paint to that. The paint is the same color as the clay we are using which will cause less visual disturbance when people come to approve the sculpture. I almost hate painting the art as I love the color of the wax on the foam, and this wax color will be more true to the patina or color in the bronze.  We will be putting the table away for the time being as we proceed with the other figures.

The Hatter and Alice
The Mad Hatter was delivered, as was Alice. They were huge crates, and it was like Christmas when opening them.  Originally we were going to work on Alice first and then the Hatter, but the order of this has been changed.

The Workers

We had a team of six interns working this last month putting in various hours.  I hope to post more about these wonderful people in up and coming posts.  Interns come and go throughout the day and so that means that means I am working pretty much two shifts.

I guess in hindsight we have accomplished a lot considering we also had a couple other small jobs in the studio.

What have we hidden?  I think a more appropriate question is where will you hide things? Sculpting the table allowed me to create many nooks and crannies.  One of the last things to do on the table was to trace the table base onto the table top. I need to know how it fits together so that I know places to hide things under the table as well. I’m thinking of places all of the time, and, for the most part, will create these smaller items last and hide them within the pieces that we sculpted. Of course there is something to be said about buttons and tea cups. Well, I guess that is your hints for now.