How To Build a Wire Armature for Sculpting

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Learn How to Build your Wire Armature to Sculpt

With this fantastic video tutorial, you will learn how to build an anatomically correct wire armature easily! You should know that good armor not only works as a support but should also provide a guide on where to model.

We can think of it this way, the entire skeletal system is a structure that helps support and shape the skin. Armor works exactly the same way. Imagine that the armor is a skeleton and the clay is skin.

In this tutorial, you will also learn how to build beam support for larger sculptures.

The main purpose of the armor is to give the sculpture an internal structure and sometimes to augment it so that it uses less clay.

This prevents the clay from collapsing or cracking. In general, the larger and more complex the figure, the greater the armor.

For an extreme pose that requires a single point of balance between the figure and the base (running, dancing, etc.) all the weight and stress will be at that point, so it's very important to do it as hard as possible.

First, you need to create an armor guide for the pose. This is meant as a blueprint for building the armor, so be very careful with the proportions because if you make the legs too long here, they will be too long in your final sculpt.

Depending on the complexity of the pose, you may need to draw from multiple perspectives.

If you're drawing directly on paper, make it the same size you want your finished sculpture to be. If you are drawing digitally, make sure your canvas is large enough to print to the scale of your sculpture.

Once you have the sketch, create your armor on top of the sketch. Using a different color often helps. You will use the finished sketch with the rebar lines as a guide to building the rebar.

Once you have the pose you want on the flexible wire frame, decide where you want the sculpture to touch the base. This is usually a limb, so the rod will need to be bent into the shape of the limb.

To bend the bar to the correct shape, use a vise or sturdy pliers to secure the bar and use your body weight or a hammer to bend the bar to the correct shape.

Match the bent stem to the limb of the sculpture you are using and tie them together with floral wire. Once they are connected, mix 2 parts of epoxy and apply a good coat to the area. Once in place, you don't want the wire and rod to come apart.

Mark the spot on your base where you want your sculpture to touch. Drill a hole in the base with a drill bit. Fill the hole with 2 part epoxy and insert the bottom of the rod into the hole.

Epoxy usually sets in 5 minutes, but you should leave it at least 12 hours before sculpting.

If you want to see how to build a wire armature step by step, you can watch this amazing video tutorial! We are sure it will be of great help to you.

Images courtesy of Sofia Bue

Enjoy This Video Tutorial About Sculpture

Source: Sofia Bue

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