Design Brief
In this exercise we applied the technique of wet felting from the previous task to create soft sculptures. The requirements were to produce a series of sculptures from Life Drawing classes with an outcome that demonstrated the knowledge and skills acquired.
The sculpture was to add depth to the textile so it became an
object in 3D space
Design Process
I was unable to attend the class so I took my observation from a book of nude studies. I drew a nude female form in a reclining position.
(the images seen below are of the second soft sculpture)
The image was increased three times in size to be used as a template. A felt bat was selected for the base and put onto a Solar mat. This particular design below was created using a few sections of felbi shapes.
Referring to the template design detail was added with wool tops, overlaying in many directions to create the thickness and desired design.
A patting down of the fibers was applied.
The Felting Process
Netting (I used muslin cloth) was placed over of the completed design, this was wetted down with soap suds. Circular movements using the tips of my fingers and in some places the palm of my hands were used to massage the fibers, till I reached a skin effect - silky and smooth. A drop sheet was placed on top and then rolled up and tied with stockings at each end and rolled back and forth about 300 times. This method was done again after unrolling the design, rotating it 180º and rolling it up again.
[I experimented using the smooth and rough side of the mat with different designs, both resulted in different surface appearances. The smooth side I used good quality wool tops and was a pleasing result, it didn't spoiled the design but I did use the rough side with less quality wool tops and this worked very well as you will see with the result down below]
The pattern was thin stitched together, stuffed with old woolen jumpers and molded with warm water to develop the form.
With such a large construction this takes a long time to dry.
I placed the sculpture in the sun on a cake rack which was a way of ventilation, allowing the air and warmth to circulate. I also put it in the oven around 130º for 7 to 8 minutes.
