» Morezmore #20 Fortuna – Goddess of Abundance, Luck and Fortune (Part 1)***

Morezmore #20
Fortuna – Goddess of Abundance, Luck and Fortune (Part 1)
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Posted By Natasha Red October on March 8, 2008

March 8, 2008

Here is what I have so far:

a lovely victorian image of Fortuna by Jean Bernard (”Fortuna”, Bridgeman Art Library, London, England – thank you, Colleen, for doing the research and digging it out (!!!)

and a hope to win a small vintage old world globe that I am bidding on

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 2 (March 11, 2008)

First thing would be to make an armature. Fortuna will have the Morezmore Modular . I will take as many pictures as possible and outline the step by step process to show what it is all about.

I will be using:

– 8″ tall skeleton image. If you don’t have it, you can grab it in the link below – compliments of Morezmore: http://www.morezmore.com/links.html

– 17 gauge and 24 gauge galvanized

– 3/32 + 1/16

– long nose pliers, flat nose pliers, wire cutters, mini , awl (you can use )

– and epoxies

All right, first I bend the wire on this handy armature peg board (you can do by hand, following the skeleton bones). The objective is to have something like that:

These are the tools, by the way. I am starting to tie the pieces together, trying to make it tight and secure, so that nothing rotates, rocks, shifts, moves or wiggles in the hip area:

Same thing for shoulder/spine connection – tight and secure. Flat nose pliers help to straighten the and make defined bends.

Here it is, tied up together. I like my fantasy women long-legged and long-necked, so my does not exactly follow the skeleton proportions. Now bending the spine to give it the curves in the lower back, shoulder and neck area.

Now, with the , I am cutting 3/32 to make the head, hands and feet modules. Measure to the armature, make a little dent on the tube with wire cutters, insert into , tighten the knob, rotate a few times, tighten the knob again, rotate again a few times and so on. Gently try to bend the end sticking out of the , when the it is ready, it will snap off. The tube opening will come out sort of smaller because the cutter will push the walls of the tube inwards, straighten it out with an awl or (insert into the opening, tap a few times and rotate and work it open).

Here are all the modules and armature. Notice that the leg wires are cut under the knees. Assemble all and pose.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 3 (March 12, 2008)

Fortuna is 8″ tall sculpt. The combination 3/32 + 1/16 will be too flimsy for her weight-bearing leg. So I am going to step up and go with 1/8 + 3/32. To keep the connection snug and tight, I am going to keep a little piece of 3/32 and put 1/8 tube over it. Here is what it looks like. I am using a temporary base – – while I am waiting for my globe.

Before applying the epoxy over the armature, I wrapped the main thick wire with thin – the little “teeth” will help to adhere better.

Now, removing all module tubes and covering the armature with – keeping the areas where tubes slide on clean. Adding bulk to rib cage and hip bones. Pushing Magic Sculpt into the wire so that there are as little air pockets left inside as possible.

Then wrapping a bit of thin over the head module tube and making something like a bit of a scull – flat on the face area with a bump on the back of the head.

It will need to be curing for at least 12 hours before I can continue. So this is what I have now – see below.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 4 (March 13, 2008)

This morning was spent on trying to insert into the sculpted head. Rather frustrating process – I would sculpt a beautiful face, try to insert the eyes and mess it up. Start again, same thing. Another option – sculpt the head around the eyes – did not work either, the eyes move and shift around and the goddess is either cross-eyed or has a lazy eye or something. So finally I came up with this idea. The eyes are set onto the scull and baked. Will try again – at least the eyes are looking straight, aligned and not going anywhere and I can sculpt around the eyes. I will let you know how this goes. Meanwhile, does not look like a classic beauty, does it.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 5 (March 14, 2008)

Scratch that idea – did not work. Inserting the the old-fashioned way.

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Day 6 (March 15, 2008)

The head is done and baked – my first time with , first time with a smiling face, first time with (I guess I felt like I needed an extra challenge) a classical roman profile. Something like that:

Well, here is the result. I hope you recognize the winning smile of Fortuna, commonly known as Lady Luck

Oh, incidentally, I did win that globe! Great price, too!

One more thing that I bought – 400 hundred miniature Gold Coins! Tiny shiny 3 mm brass disks (they are locksmith , look at second bag on the picture, #1 and #2 will work as coins). When they arrive, I will take a better photo:

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 7 (March 16, 2008)

Putting the bulk on Fortuna’s torso. Will define and smooth and hopefully bake tomorrow.

My “coins” () have arrived yesterday. Quick rinse in a tarnish remover restored the brass shine. Here they are drying on a paper towel:

Forgot to mention, for anatomy reference I am using this website – check it out:

http://www.female-anatomy-for-artist.com

The subscription is not cheap, but the photo references are very helpful.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 8 (March 17, 2008)

Packing weekend purchases, did not sculpt. But I am not complaining. Thank you for shopping, dear fairymakers. Tomorrow is another day.

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Day 9 (March 18, 2008)

Good morning! It is 6:50 and I already put in a good couple of hours into sculpting, so I have something to show. The torso is shaped and smoothed with (TLS). I also added more clay to the belly and pelvic area and shifted the belly button down, as the whole belly area was too high and looked wrong. I think it looks better now. I will probably see more mistakes AFTER it is baked, but this is just the way it goes. But, it is all right. Progress, not perfection.

A few people asked how to smooth a sculpt. You can do it with your fingers first, then with a flat and (TLS) or .

Here she is, ready to be fired. The clay is (Rose) straight out of the package, so the baking temperature is 230 degrees F. This is a thick chunk of clay, so it will stay in the for 60 minutes. The temperature will be fluctuating between 230 and 240, but as long as it does not go over 260, it is ok (according to the Fimo manufacturer).

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 10 (March 19, 2008)

After I baked, I realized that her bottom and belly are still too high. Added more clay and rebaked. I am going for that corpulent Roman Goddess look, but I might have gone overboard. Those are some Olympic-size thighs! She might need to undergo an exacto knife cosmetic surgery, but I am going to wait until I sand down that cellulite on her behind. The upper body is sanded already. Here is what I have:

I also made the cornucopia. Searched on google for the material that would be suitable for it and found this:

Cornucopia

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The cornucopia (Latin: Cornu Copiae) is a symbol of food and abundance dating back to the 5th Century BC, also referred to as Horn of Plenty, Horn of Amalthea, and harvest cone.

In Greek mythology, Amalthea raised Zeus on the milk of a goat. In return Zeus gave Amalthea the goat’s horn. It had the power to give to the person in possession of it whatever he or she wished for. This gave rise to the legend of the cornucopia. The original depictions were of the goat’s horn filled with fruits and flowers: deities, especially Fortuna, would be depicted with the horn of plenty.

Great, so we need a goat horn, or any horn for that matter.

The Magic Drawer…

produced this:

It is a bird made out of natural horn. Awesome find.

A bit of clay, fired up and voila! The cornucopia:

I think I like the idea of adding fruit and flowers to the horn in addition to gold coins. Can’t beat fruit and flowers for decorative effect. And it is consistent with the legend of Cornucopia.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 11 (March 20, 2008)

Good morning. The globe arrived and was immediately dismantled to see if it will work – it does!

Here is what was used for the base – a heavy brass candlestick base, the globe, a rod, a large wooden bead to keep rod in place and . Here it is curing:

Cornucopia is almost done, will add coins when dries. There will be a few random coins down her gown (mental note – buy white silk gauze) and on the globe. It looks a bit silly right now, I think because she is holding the cornucopia with a missing limb, but I needed to finish cornucopia before I sculpt the hand that holds it.

Here is what I have now:

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 12 (March 21, 2008)

More on globe – I added a blob of inside the base – to secure the rod even further. is heavy and will add some additional weight to the base to eliminate a chance of Fortuna toppling. Closed the bottom with cardboard and finally glued a piece of green felt with for a finished look.

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 13 (March 22, 2008)

Feet day. I took a few step by step pictures, not enough to make a tutorial, because I don’t have a set procedure yet – I am still learning anatomy and it is a lot of pushing, pulling and dabbing and correcting. It is more of a general outline.

So, feet modules start with little boot like shapes. Then brass tubes are inserted in the heel area.

I made a little Feet Widget which consists of a wooden bead, a magnet and same 17 gauge , all put together with epoxy. I find it helpful to do both feet at the same time and the Feet Widget keeps them together for easy comparison. It is also posable so I don’t have to drag out the main sculpt every time I need to check the position of the feet. The magnet is helpful to keep it upright for storage and for firing, and securely sticks to any metal surface.

After many chaotic manipulations, if I am lucky, the shape of human feet starts to emerge. Good anatomy reference pictures are exceptionally helpful.

I need to do more detailing on the toes and smoothen everything out. But I reached the point that I cannot go any further without destroying what I already accomplished. The clay is warm and wiggles under my tools. I need to set it aside and allow it to cool off and settle down. Actually it is in the freezer right now, I wonder if detailing might be easier to handle if the core of the feet is frozen. Here they are posed on the globe. Also you can see the book I am using – an excellent anatomy reference – .

Freezing helped! Not long though before it got warm again, but I managed to finish and fire them up, here they are:

More work in progress pictures can be found here: http://www.morezmore.com/Fortuna.html

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Day 14 (March 23, 2008)

The hands. Again, I cannot give a step by step instructions, as I am still learning, but I took a few pictures of different stages of hands, just for general idea.

I hope you remember the Feet Widget you met the other day. Well, here is his brother – the Hand Widget. He is taller and just as good-looking and helpful. Here is the family photo:

Final position check on the main sculpt and back it goes to the Hand Widget for baking.

Rose is used for the main sculpt, except the hands, which are 1 part of and 2 parts of Rose. adds flexibility to the clay (that is what Fimo manufacturer says). The mix ratio is a mystery which I would need to unveil myself.

To test Fimo manufacturer’s claim, and to test the experimental 2:1 ratio without putting my hard-earned hands at risk, I made one additional ugly test hand of the same size and I am planning to bake together with the other hands.

By the way I used the same mix ratio for hands in my last sculpture (Mistress) but did not dare bending and twisting fingers too much. So this time, I made a spare hand to torture.

I will keep you posted, how that worked out.

To be continued – Part 2 can be found here:

http://morezmore.com/myblog/2008/03/23/fortuna-2/

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This post first appeared on Ebay Blogs. As Ebay is not supporting blogs anymore, I am moving all archives here, including all the comments – Thank you!

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