Sculpting the clothed figure – I

The Cracker Packer from the current day – 2017/18 – is ready to be clothed. Sandra has ‘sat’ patiently – and painfully – in the pose for many weeks. At least now she can wear jeans and the pladis/McVitie’s white housecoat uniform. She even dons the rather unflattering blue hairnet without too many grumbles.

I build up the clothing layers, as if I was dressing her. The t-shirt goes on first, followed by the jeans and safety shoes, before I start sculpting the white housecoat over the top. What makes for convincing clothing? Of course the anatomy underneath is key. For me, its also observation. I like to have my models dressed in the costumes so that I can see how the fabric creases and falls on their body. A dressed mannequin is always the last resort, for when the model isn’t around.

There’s something rather satisfying about sculpting shoes – particularly when they are smaller than life-size – so cute.