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| 1. Creating the sculpture in wax | 2. Making the Mold and Pouring the wax model |
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| 3. Sprucing the Wax model | 4. Dipping- Building up the shell |
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| 5. Building up the shell | 6. Melting the wax out of the shell |
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| 7. The bronze | 8. Pouring the bronze |
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| 9. Braking the sculpture out of the shell | 10. Welding the Parts together |
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| 11. Chasing | 12. Polishing |
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| 13. Patina The coloring of the bronze |
14. Mounting the finished sculpture on a base for display |
Go to the next step » Mold |
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The Process of Bronze sculpting
As I mentioned on the first page I am often asked about the process of creating a bronze sculpture. So I would like to demonstrate the basic principal with some images and movies about the birth of a sculpture.
The basic steps of the Lost wax process are:
- Creating the sculpture in wax
- Making the Mold and Pouring the wax model
- Sprucing the Wax model
- Dipping the wax into slurry
- Building up the shell
- Melting the wax out of the shell
- Heating the bronze
- Pouring the bronze
- Braking the sculpture out of the shell
- Welding
- Chasing,
- Polishing
- Patina
- Mounting the finished sculpture on a base for display
First, I usually start with either wax or Casteline. I create the object exactly the way the final sculpture supposed to be. If I plan to create a mold I also could use Plasteline or Clay. Wax is a lot harder than porcelain or clay and therefore easier to create the small details. I however made several sculptures that are on of a kind and did not go trough the process of making a mold. In those cases I only use Wax, casteline or materials I can burn out of the shell. Sometimes I use materials like plant matter or fabrics.
Creating the object is the most fun. Depending on the details it can take Week or months to create the wax sculpture. In this stage it is fragile and does not like to be left in an environment that could get too hot. I had some setbacks because of heaters left on and such. My sculptures have often a life of their own. They evolve and change in their creation. The Giraffe "Kazi" a sculpture that was inspired by a visit to the "Wild Animal Park" in San Diego started out as about 14 inches long neck and his head was about 12 inches long. But it kept growing and grew up to be 4ft 3in tall. About life size of a juvenile giraffe. Mounted on his Base he will look down to the viewer from a proud height of 7 1/2 feet. I sometimes worked on the wax at the Palomar College Foundry and had people who were passing by commenting and interacting with me. He became almost like a public pet and when I made some drastic change like cut a big hole into his head to get some wax out and make him lighter they got upset asked shocked:"NO...what are you doing!!???"
I had so much fun.
