19/05/2020
I created this a little while ago, looking back on all the hours and research it takes and the discipline in the sculpture to attempt to make it as accurate as possible. There a lot of steps that need to happen to get to that point. First I start with a specimen, molding anatomy and measuring just about everything I can, the foundation on which it is built. I make sculpting clay, and depending on the size of the sculpt and the level of detail will determine the hardness of the clay as harder clay holds more detail. Then comes the hours and hours of steady hands that bring life into it using photographs, video footage, studies, casts and the measurements I take. Once at the point in these photos a fiberglass and epoxy or polyester mold is taken from the clay sculpt which requires a fair amount of technical ingenuity so the mold will simply fall off the cast with zero effort and strain on the mold. Wooden boards are inserted into the top of the head of the hollow mold and the backing. Polyurethane foam is poured into the mold and expands and duplicates the sculpture. Once you have the foam form, you can start the taxidermy. Tanning the skin, repairing any holes or cuts, preparing and thinning it down to the correct thickness. Then preparing the form to mount, roughing it up to allow the glue to bond, sealing it, attaching the skull cap with the horns, setting the eyes in and sculpting the lids, blending in around the skull. Then glue I make myself is put on the form and on the skin, the skin pulled over the form and carefully sewed up. The face is then mounted and the skin is taxied into the correct position. Once we reach this step, washing and grooming happens, pins and strips of card are used to define muscles and prevent drumming. The mount is then ‘babysat’ as it dries working in details. When dry, epoxy sculpt is used to blend in the nose interior, base of the horns, around the eyelids and lips. Finally the finishing is done which is painting by hand and airbrush to restore colour, followed by sealing the paint. Once done it is exported across the world, who said this job is easy, it’s a labor of love.
@ Warmbad, Limpopo, South Africa
