The first project for Jeanne Oliver's Matisse class was to study a piece and interpret it in clay. Looking through my Matisse book I was intrigued by his series of bas relief sculptures called BACK, in which he begins with a realistic nude, then sculpts the figure progressively more and more abstractly until it is just the essence of a back. I remember the sculpture from my days on campus at UCLA - it was in the sculpture garden, so I felt an intimate connection with it. But rather than sculpt that, I chose Matisse's painting "Woman in Blue" as the piece I would interpret in bas relief.
I also wanted to choose a piece to sculpt in the round, and for that i chose "The Green Stripe"(Portrait of Madame Matisse).
Using Creative Paper Clay as Jeanne does in her videos (it's my favorite air dry clay, too - the one I use for doll making), I began applying the clay to an 8 x 8 board that I had sitting around. I had pre-painted it pink and yellow for some other project who knows when - not the color I would need in the piece, but good enough to sculpt on top of.
It was fun to add texture into the clay by pressing and scratching.
A bit of a challenge to do the rectangular composition on a square board. Her proportions are a skewed, but oh well. When she was done I rather liked it unpainted, but i decided to go ahead with paint for the experience of it.
First I sketched in pencil some of the shapes in the background,
then applied the colors from the actual painting.
I loved adding the Matisse-y sketches that were on the wall behind her!
And here she is finished. There is a lot I would change about how I applied the paint, because I think she looks too kitschy, but I still like the background.
It was good to work on two clay pieces at the same time. While one was drying, I would work on the other. (You can see the blue lady's pink board behind the armature below.)
For my sculpture in the round I chose to use one of my doll bases for the armature. (This doll base is one I originally stitched up to do a Diego Rivera doll - ha!) The muslin is stitched and stuffed and then covered with gesso.
As I work I moisten the gessoed muslin and begin to apply the paper clay in sections.
I covered each side of the base to make a shell. Once that hardened I could add more clay to build up the forms.
Here you can see how I elongated the doll form's round head to get a more appropriate chin for Mme. Matisse. She's looking rather like a Tibetan monk right now, don't you think?
I needed to elongate upwards as well to create her high forehead, and then added a LOT of clay for her coiffure!
Here is the finished bust. I've decided to leave this one unpainted, but I will probably revisit Matisse's painting to do a practice copy of it on canvas.
Next time: More Matisse practice in sketching.
I also wanted to choose a piece to sculpt in the round, and for that i chose "The Green Stripe"(Portrait of Madame Matisse).
Using Creative Paper Clay as Jeanne does in her videos (it's my favorite air dry clay, too - the one I use for doll making), I began applying the clay to an 8 x 8 board that I had sitting around. I had pre-painted it pink and yellow for some other project who knows when - not the color I would need in the piece, but good enough to sculpt on top of.
It was fun to add texture into the clay by pressing and scratching.
A bit of a challenge to do the rectangular composition on a square board. Her proportions are a skewed, but oh well. When she was done I rather liked it unpainted, but i decided to go ahead with paint for the experience of it.
First I sketched in pencil some of the shapes in the background,
then applied the colors from the actual painting.
I loved adding the Matisse-y sketches that were on the wall behind her!
And here she is finished. There is a lot I would change about how I applied the paint, because I think she looks too kitschy, but I still like the background.
It was good to work on two clay pieces at the same time. While one was drying, I would work on the other. (You can see the blue lady's pink board behind the armature below.)
For my sculpture in the round I chose to use one of my doll bases for the armature. (This doll base is one I originally stitched up to do a Diego Rivera doll - ha!) The muslin is stitched and stuffed and then covered with gesso.
As I work I moisten the gessoed muslin and begin to apply the paper clay in sections.
I covered each side of the base to make a shell. Once that hardened I could add more clay to build up the forms.
Here you can see how I elongated the doll form's round head to get a more appropriate chin for Mme. Matisse. She's looking rather like a Tibetan monk right now, don't you think?
I needed to elongate upwards as well to create her high forehead, and then added a LOT of clay for her coiffure!
Here is the finished bust. I've decided to leave this one unpainted, but I will probably revisit Matisse's painting to do a practice copy of it on canvas.
Next time: More Matisse practice in sketching.