Post #744143 by danlovestikis on Wed, Jun 3, 2015 11:49 AM

RVICTOR thank you, those photos are coming up soon. I'm enjoying your swap goblet in progress.

VampiressRN there's more to show on the sculpt coming up. I'm so happy you like it.

hang10tiki I'm working hard to be worthy of that remark!

============================

Sacramento Crawl mug is actually named Cap City Crawl since we are the Capital of California.

Here's the next four days of work.

Now I've skipped to the back of the mug to add Palm Trees.

This photo shows the foliage added to the left side of the tiki.

Next a smaller palm tree.

I smoothed out the small palm and

then I smoothed out the tall palm and added pieces to make a sign.

Now the sign is smoothed out.

Let's see how it's looking now. I changed the foliage on the right side of the tiki too. I've carved lines down the entire mug.

After confirming with VampiressRN that the name of the crawl is officially Cap City Crawl I added that to the sign.

Now the sculpture is finished.

It's time to prepare the sculpture for molding.

Often I have made mold where after the slip has sat in the mold for awhile I need to top it off with more slip. If I don't the top of the mug will not be as thick as the rest of the mug and this can cause cracking when fired. So now I make the top hole into the mug very deep. I found a plastic container that was just right for the job.

I added clay to seal it in place.

Then I covered it with clay.

All done.

Now I studied my sculpture to decide where the mold pieces would be made. These pieces must pull off without hurting the cast mug. I drew lines in the clay top that will guide me once this sculpt it put into the mold box.

Next I devised a way to protect the bottom of the mug until I'm ready to pour that piece.

Perfect fit.

Oh what the heck, I'll just make the bottom using the same kind of plastic container. It will make this mold very heavy. Poor Dan.

Tomorrow the mold photos begin.

Page 1 of this thread has those who has signed up for a mug. If you want one let me know and I'll add you to the list.

Cheers, Wendy