Large Johnny Cake Sculpture - Part 1

I am doing a quick post on the construction of my Johnny Cake face.  This project is made from poster board, aluminum foil, masking tape, newsprint, flour paste, white glue, and acrylic paints with a high gloss sealer.  I began the sculpture by tracing a circle on some poster board.  I used a dinner plate to trace the circle.  It has been some time since I made this project.  I think I cut two circles from poster board and glued them together with white glue.  This made the base thicker and more stable.

I am trying to replicate from memory a Johnny Cake face that my mother owned when I was a child.  I cannot say that it is identical or as well done, but it was as good as I could do at the time.  I think my skills have improved over the last couple of years since I made the face.  Maybe I could do a better job on it now. 

This type of sculpture is built up rather than carved down.  It begins with sketching the face on the flat surface of the poster board.  Last blog post I mentioned that if I were making this project now I had a couple of things I would do differently.  After examining it today, I have added one more thing to that list: I would start the face lower down on the circle.  Well, live and learn.  To grow as an artist is to try something and then try it again and see if you can improve upon it.

I am sorry now that I did not do more documentation in my early years.  When I first started out I was not taking any pictures of my projects.  My photography has improved over time as well.  I was not even any good at taking a picture when I started.  I only really became interested in taking pictures when I started to document my work.  Before the blog, I used to keep a written journal of materials and formulas used on a project.  One day I thought that it might be quicker to make entries if I was typing the information rather than hand writing everything.  So I started a blog for my own personal record.  Then people started reading it.  Now I have a number of repeat readers.  The more people read it the more detailed the blog became.  It just goes to show that taking a step in one direction can take you in another.

Check back on Thursday for the rest of the build on this project.