Sans Souci Studios
Follow us on Facebook!
  • Home
  • Gallery
    • Fursuit Heads and Partials
    • Paper Mache Masks 2000- 2014
  • Blog
  • About
    • About
    • Embarking on the Road to Furry Fandom
  • Contact
  • Thanks to Our Supporters!

Points of Reference

6/7/2022

0 Comments

 
Half Arnold and full Arnold Armature by Monster Makers
Here we have Sans Souci Studios' armatures and Best Boys, Arnold Full Armature and Arnold "Han Solo" Half Armature. (Seriously, his name is Arnold. That's the name of the person from whom this was live-cast.) Other than being a handy place to put clay while sculpting, Arnold provides valuable points of reference. Especially Half Arnold. While building a sculpt on Full Arnold is a good way of seeing what a sculpt will look like in motion on a real wearer, Half Arnold provides a perfectly flat plane from which to build a system of reference points and angles. Invaluable, as otherwise reference points have a maddening way of seeming to shift on a 3D sculpture.
sculpting a fursuit wolf head base in plasticine
Above, finding the center of the sculpt, and making sure it's at a 90 degree angle to the armature back. I measure to find the center of the armature, mark the line on both the top and bottom of the head, and trace the center line around the sculpt, as shown above. At any point where the sculpt doesn't meet the armature back (here, at the throat)  I mark the center on masking tape and then extend a line up the tape onto the sculpt. I use various measuring tools to keep the line as perpendicular as possible to the armature back, but there's always a certain amount of eyeballing and guesswork involved.
making a template for the back of a wolf head fursuit base
Above, creating a "template" of sorts for the back of the sculpt, to help ensure its symmetry. First, I lay down that good old patterning material, duck tape over aluminum foil, on the armature base under the sculpt in progress. Then I trace on the tape along the edge of the sculpt, mark and fold it at the halfway mark, and trim so that the two sides of the template are symmetrical.  Then I lay the template back down on the armature and clay up the back edge of the mask along it. There's still a certain amount of eyeballing and guesswork involved, as the template can shift and stretch, and little bits of clay on the armature can put it out of whack. But still, it makes a pretty good guide.
sculpting a wolf head fursuit base in plasticine
Now I have a sculpt with a symmetrical back and a centered and perpendicular nose. Getting the sides of the sculpt to match is a lot trickier. Each side can cave in, bow out, or do some evil combination of those things in its own special way. The back template can help  address this by placing "landmarks" on the sides, to make specific areas on the sides easier to compare. For example, I can mark where the cut out is for the lower jaw on one side of the template, then fold the template, mark the same spot for the jaw cutout on the other side, then transfer the mark into the clay. 

Once I've placed the landmarks I can make a gizmo to compare the angles at specific points of each side of the head. Here, I have cut out a little piece from a cereal box, preserving one original corner so that I have a handy 90 degree angle for reference. Then I carefully cut a thin slot into the sculpt, press one edge of the box in, and trace along the side of the sculpt to get the angle of that specific spot, making sure one side of the 90 degree angle is flat on the armature back. I trim along the line I've traced and then compare the angle of my gizmo to the angle of the sculpt on the other side, again being careful to line up one side of my 90 degree angle with the armature back. Then I adjust the sculpt as needed. I don't have too long to play with the gizmo though, as being made out of thin cardboard the edges start squishing down and losing their shape fairly quickly.
making reference points for eyes for a fursuit wolf head base
And here we have my Glorious Goggles, my Reference Point Piece de Resistance. The goggles will help ensure that the eyes will be equidistant from the center line of the head, lie along a line that is at right angles to the center line of the head, and are both set back the same distance into the head. They will also help ensure that the eye bed I sculpt on my head will be parallel to the back of the mask and not tipped forward or back. Plus, if I'm fairly certain that my eye placement is accurate and even, I can use the eyes themselves as further reference points for sculpting the head.

How I made the Glorious Goggles. I've traced the backs of correctly sized eye cabochons onto a piece of thin craft plastic and cut the circles out. I've measured the distance between the eyes on my original resin head, cut down a disposable chopstick I got from Chinese takeout to that length, and carefully hot glued the plastic circles on the ends, lining up the outside edges of the circles with the ends of the chopstick. Then I marked the center of my contraption with a Sharpie. Next, I measured the distance from the armature back to a point a little bit in front of its eyes and cut two more pieces of chopstick to that length, thus making the "arms" of my goggles. I hot glued them on as well, taking care to hold the arms at more or less at a right angle to the front of the goggles until the glue cools. 
adding reference points for eyes on a wolf head fursuit base
Above, beginning to set the glasses into the sculpt. I've started carving out holes into which to insert the arms of the glasses. These holes need to be pretty roomy so they don't force the arms out of their proper alignment. 
Picture
Adding a slot to the sculpt, into which I'll set the bridge of the glasses. I insert a skewer through the bridge of the sculpt's nose at the inside corner of each eye, keeping the skewer as perpendicular to the center line as I can. Then I cut a slot into the sculpt by pulling up on the skewer and removing clay along its path as needed with clay tools. 
adding reference points for eyes on a wolf head fursuit base
Above, the glasses have been added. Now just to fill the clay back in around them. It's already easy to see adjustments I need to make to the cheeks and brows, with the right hand brow being raised higher and there being more material on the outside edge of the right eye. 
wolf head base for fursuit in progress
And, here we have the goggles completely clayed over, with a pair of acrylic eye cabochons resting on top of them, and a more developed sculpt in general. I'm happy to have this pretty solid point of reference in the sculpt, though it also makes me think how sculpting software makes symmetry so effortless!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I make masks. Because art is more fun when you put it on your head.

    Categories

    All
    A Day In The Life
    Airbrushing
    Artemis
    Casting
    Cat Masks
    Color Design
    Deer Mask
    Ears
    Eyes
    Fur
    Garm
    Handpaws
    Head Base
    Horse/unicorn Masks
    Jawsets
    Lips
    Maxine
    Methods And Materials
    Moldmaking
    Moving Jaw
    Noses
    Painting
    Paper Mache
    Patterning
    Photography
    Rabbit Masks
    Resin
    Rip
    Sculpting
    Sewing
    Shaving And Trimming
    Silas
    Silicone
    Strapping
    Studio Announcements
    Tails
    Tongues
    Videos
    Wolf Masks

    Archives

    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    July 2020
    November 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    August 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    March 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    March 2011
    November 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    June 2010
    October 2009
    September 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    February 2008
    June 2007
    April 2007

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly