사티로스 흉상 Satyr's Head (2020)

Satyr - Wikipedia

Satyr Hollow

This Satyr bust was designed in late 2019, sculpted shortly thereafter and molded just before everything shut down due to the pandemic.   I spent the rest of 2020 casting, painting and punching hair into it as time allowed.   It's sculpted in Monster Clay, and cast in platinum silicone from Smooth On. Horns are sculpted in monster clay and cast in translucent urethane, with washes of airbrush acrylic paint over it and dry brushing. The horns are painted translucent resin.  It's life-sized to a human head.  I had a great time making this guy, and hope to do more silicone heads as time allows.   You can see the original maquette in grey chavant clay, I find it very helpful to start with a small 3D model, rather than an illustration.   However, it is also based on an illustration I did circa 2016,"Satyr's Hollow", which I am posting at the bottom of this group.

 

 

In-progress photos of my Satyr bust (finished early 2021).   The sculpt in gray/green chavant is the design maquette- I find it very helpful to do this step before starting the full sized version.

728x90

---

This piece was done in 2008. It's not that big, the face alone is about the size of a fist. I love satyrs, and have probably sculpted too many... I still have a whole bunch of faces I'd like to sculpt, possibly as full-sized models with individually inserted hairs, etc. Part of me doesn't want to keep repeating myself, but the other part has a strong desire to create more and better satyrs.

This guy was originally going to have a beard and mutton chops, which would be fine to do if he were cast in silicone or something. But he's done in polymer clay, and I haven't found a way to convincingly put `real' hair into a sculpture made in that stuff, or any rigid material for that matter. I could punch the hairs in before the clay is baked and airbrushed, in the way wax dummies are made (I think the hair is completed on them before they're painted), but I can only think that would leave unsightly holes where the needle inserts into the scalp. I don't know how it works to smooth the clay over in those areas, seems more trouble than it's worth.

At the same time, the total lack of hair does make him seem more of a bitter old bastard, which is what I wanted. Photograph by Steve Unwin.

---