Creating a Balancing Sculpture Armature
How to Make Your Sculptures Balance in Extreme Poses
By Sheryl "Noadi" Westleigh, published May 07, 2008
Published Content: 6 Total Views: 2,724 Favorited By: 8 CPs
Materials Needed
1/8" steel or brass rod
Drill or Dremel tool
1/8" drill bit
Bench vise or heavy duty clamp
Wire armature
Wooden base at least 1/2" thick
2-part epoxy glue
Step 1: The Plan
This isn't the type of sculpture where you can easily wing it. Bending the brass or steel rods is not something that can easily be done with only your hands so you must plan it out ahead of time. The way I go about this is to first make a rough sketch of my sculpture and then bend my soft wire armature into the pose I want.
Step 2: Preparing the Armature
After you have the pose you want in the soft wire armature, decide at what point you want the sculpture to be touching the base. This is usually a limb so the rod will need to be bent into the shape of the limb. You will need at least 1/2" of rod left below the balance point, this will be what is inserted into the base, the rod should extend as far into the sculpture body as possible.
To bend the rod into the proper shape use a bench vise or heavy duty clamp to secure the rod and use your bodyweight or a hammer to bend the rod into the proper shape.
Match the bent rod against the sculpture limb you are using and wire them together using floral wire. Once they are wired together mix up some 2-part epoxy glue and give the area a good coating. Once set you do not want the wire and rod to possibly move away from each other.
Step 3: Attaching to the Base.
Mark the spot on your base where you want your sculpture to touch. Drill a hole in the base using a 1/8" bit. Fill the hole with 2-part epoxy and insert the bottom of the rod into the hole. Epoxy usually set within 5 minutes but you should give it at least 12 hours before sculpting.
You now has a balanced armature ready to have clay added to it. Good luck!
Creating a Balancing Sculpture Armature
Diagram of the armature construction for my sculpture Odin's Runesong.
Credit: Sheryl "Noadi" Westleigh
Copyright: Sheryl "Noadi" Westleigh
Takeaways
- Create more dynamic poses in your sculptures.
Resources
- Building Armatures www.squidoo.com/armatures
- Sculpting Odin's Runesong Video www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5191oM5xCw
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Cindi Starr
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Posted on 05/08/2008 at 8:05:10 PM
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