St. Peter's Relief - Details

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The St Peter's Pieta

The following images and notes outline the various stages of the 'St Peter's Pieta' sculpture (gifted to St. Peter's Church, Morningside, Edinburgh to celebrate its centenary) from conception to final artwork, which took approximately one year to realise.

My intention was to sculpt a large scale relief, inspired by traditional and classical styles and techniques, whilst possessing a contemporary feel and slightly minimal composition.

PLANNING AND PREPARATION

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The images above show (from left to right):

1. My first sketch (pencil and watercolour) after 'Pieta' by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (French 19thC) and in the Classical tradition.
2. In my second small scale sketch (pencil and watercolour), I chose to focus on the relationship and tension between the torsos of Christ and his mother. The Virgin's drapery symbolically cradles her child like swaddling clothes. These in turn are substitutes for her arms.
3. Image three was the first of my 'actual size' drawings in graphite. This allowed me to form an understanding of the scale of the final sculpture.
4. From 2D to 3D - the small scale maquette model saw a development of the folds, anatomy and landscape - helping to form a narrative. The composition was modelled in plasticine (shown here) and then cast into plaster.
   

CLAY MODELLING

The image of the maquette was electronically scaled-up and transferred onto a wooden board. As can be seen, some alterations were made in pencil, like the position of Mary's head for example. The first of 65 kilos of clay was crudely applied, before the painstaking smoothing down took place.

... A long modelling process lay ahead.

The modelling proceeded well - one month into the sculpting, the superficial 'skin' of clay went on. Attention to detail was the priority. Big changes took place on a daily basis at this stage of the process. Most notable was the reduction in size of the Madonna's headdress. The over-simplified curving forms of the veil were replaced by more flowing and thin looking material (see below also).

CASTING

The images above show (from left to right):

1. Liquid plaster is poured by hand onto the prostrate relief sculpture and smoothed down, to give the mould an equal overall thickness.
2. Scrim fabric 'bandages' and a wooden frame are added to back of mould to give it support and strength.
3. The mould is inverted and the clay original is torn out - there is no way back now! The forms of the sculpture are now in the negative. The damp mould is allowed to dry for a couple of months.
   

The images above show (from left to right):

1. The dry mould is coated with shellac and wax to provide an impermeable seal between the porous plaster and resin fill.
2. Final preparations are made to the plaster with a hardboard edge to give the relief depth.
3. A gel coat resin is mixed with catalyst and colouring.
4. This thick white mix is applied to the inside of the mould, which is in turn backed with a fabric impregnated with liquid resin to a maximum thickness of 5mm.
   

The images above show (from left to right):

1. The thin resin cast is filled with expanding foam and wooden frame to provide a sturdy backing.
2. The cast is allowed to cure for 24 hours. The 'waste mould' is chipped out using blunt chisels so as not to damage the thin resin.
3. Slowly but surely, more and more of the sculpture becomes visible. It becomes difficult to control my enthusiasm at this point, as I am desperate to see the creation completed...
   

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