Modroc

Last week my 11 year old sisters came home from craft club with models of animals. From first glance I assumed they were made from the papermache technique. I have never been one for 3D, in school I had problems even making a 3D flower out of cardboard and since then I have never gone back. However seeing these models triggered off an idea; lets go back to basics. I questioned my sisters on how they were made and I learnt they were made by a fabric called Modroc. It is a form of plaster that hardens quick once water is applied to it. After creating the shapes of a giraffe, lion, rhino, monkey and an elephant, I applied the Modroc to create a definite shape. Once dry, I applied acrylic paint to each animal, this made them look a great deal more complete. I know they are not perfect and I know I don't want to proceed with sculpture work however this has been educational for me. It has opened up new ideas. These models can be photographed and the photographs can be the final chapter of this experimentation development. I had an idea that I could place the models in front of a crisp white background of which I will have illustrated onto accordingly. For example, the drawing I did of an elephant blowing bubbles can be translated to this idea with the elephant sculpture in front of a simplistic background consisting of bubbles. Again, the giraffe could have a simple tree drawn behind it as well as the character, Daisy, sliding down the neck. This has also inspired me to work with plasticine in the same way.

Artist Emma Beszant has made work using Modroc, I noticed she hasn't painted hers. This fills me with regret that I didn't experiment with the blank canvas of the sculptures before painting them however I have left the elephant white to see what I can do with it on the developed photographs.