Why Life Casting?

The human form is the ultimate work of art. Every one beautiful; every one different. A Life Cast (or Body Cast as it is also known)  captures a moment in time, preserving every detail of a part of the model's body.  The ‘bump’ during your pregnancy, the wonder of a new born baby’s hand or foot, your own body captured as you are now, created into a work of art for you to treasure for a life time.

Photos, videos and painting all hold amazing details but the they don't show the real size, shape and the fine lines of the skin. Life casting captures all those. Imagine holding the replica of your teenagers hand from when they were a newborn baby; or seeing a grandmother holding a grandchild's hand. There, for you to touch or pick up whenever you wish. If you've worked hard to get yourself in shape you might like to consider a life casting so you will have a permenant memory of the work you put in. 

On your wedding day, so much is put into planning the day. Choosing the photographer is a major part of that planning to create a record of that special day, a life casting of the bride and grooms hands is a wonderful addition to the memories.

Please have a look around and if you would like to know more please  contact us.

Life Casting: The process

The life casting process is fairly simple for the model. First an impression is taken from the body part being cast using alginate. Alginate is a safe non toxic powder, derived from seaweed, commonly used in the dental industry to take dental impression. It is mixed with water and sets in just a few minutes to a firm but flexible jelly.

There are a number of ways the impression can be taken.

For a baby hands for example, the hand is immersed into a container of alginate. The alginate sets in a couple of minutes; the baby's hand is easily removed by gently easing it out.  Although the alginate sets very quickly this can seem like a long time for a baby to hold the hand still. Feeding them or taking the impression when they are asleep is usually the easiest way. It can be very helpful to have another adult available to try to attract the baby's attention if they get restless. Once the casting is complete I take them back to my studio and fill them with plaster. 

For larger life castings such as a torso, the alginate will be spread over the area to be cast. As it is a weak material it needs to be supported to keep its shape. Plaster bandage, as used when you break a leg, is layered over the alginate to create a supporting jacket. Once the plaster bandage has set the alginate and jacket is eased away from the body. The mould is taken back to my studio and plaster is put into it to create the first stage of the casting.

The plaster life cast will need to be tidied up, imperfections corrected and edges smoothed. This plaster life cast can then either be the final life cast or can be used to create a casting in a variety of other materials.

One very popular material is cold cast bronze (also known as bronze resin). There are other options available such as copper, aluminium, iron, slate and marble resin and the process is the same for all of them.

Cold cast bronze was developed as a way of creating 'bronze' sculptures at a lower price than foundry bronze sculptures.  Getting a sculpture cast at a foundry involves more process and much more time plus, of course, the cost of the bronze. If you would like to explore the possibility of have a sculpture cast in real bronze I would be very happy to discuss this with you.

In order to create a cold cast bronze sculpture a reusable rubber mould is created from the plaster life cast. This mould also needs a jacket to support it as although it is much stronger than the original alginate mould it is very floppy. Once the mould is made it can be filled with cold cast bronze.

Cold cast bronze is the process of mixing real bronze powder with liquid polyester resin. A setting agent (called a catalyst) is added and the mould is filled. Once the resin has set and the life cast has been created the hard works begins. Wire wool is used to break down the surface of the resin and expose the bronze powder. Any imperfections are corrected and the sculpture is patinated and then polished. Once all the steps are completed the finished life cast can be very difficult to tell from foundry cast bronze.