9.11.20 - Preparing Gel-Flex Moulds

My intention with the clay figures is to make lots of plaster replicas which I can then paint and arrange into a potential floor piece or other installation. To make sure they wouldn't get stuck in the casts, I filled in any gaps and undercuts and then built little clay walls around them to minimise the amount of gel-flex required. Some of them had parts falling off, but I found this wasn't as much of a problem for the flatter objects because they could still be laid down with the parts in place, but the baby who's arms and legs wouldn't stay attached was harder to fix. I put clay underneath the limbs to help hold them in position and some in the cracks to help seal it where they join onto the body. I had to add clay to other parts of the objects such as under the pig's chin and between the dogs ears, but luckily I can carve this out of the plaster replicas, plus any extra detail I want to add. 

  

Next I cut up lots of gel-flex to be microwaved and poured over the objects, and I made enough to cover the butterfly and the bird shapes but I will need to continue making more tomorrow for the others, and I feel much more comfortable doing this now that I've had some practice.

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