Casting again today. I haven't been doing much work over the past few days, and perhaps this doldrum time of the year is for just that. It is also a time for planning.
Today's plaster experiments used thin packing foam, I think 2mm. No pencil would trace onto it so I placed the drawing underneath and could just see enough of the lines through the foam to enable me to cut out the holes I'd eventually fill. The results were not very even. It's just not possible to "sandwich" a mould without giving the excess plaster somewhere to flow. If it flows down, which it seems to want to, it makes huge holes in the casts.
Lots more to try. My next plan might be to go right back to the earliest solution, to the Moons and Keyholes, and carving. I'll decide later.
I aim to enter this painting into the John Moore's competition so I'll begin painting it in January. That means I'll have to complete my casting soon, as well as paint a study. It's not a large picture, fortunately.
