Matisse study, Part 2 - Studies in Clay

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.