Life size Bronze Portrait- Designing the Plinth

Plinth, now thats a funny sounding word.  The plinth in sculpture is made of the same material as the subject and in a sense, presents the figure.  Its not the base.  A base is made of a different material and sort of "frames" I guess you could say, the sculpture.  Then of course, theres the pedestal.

I decided to start with a box form and I wanted to make it out of a smooth material since the Plinth, now thats a funny sounding word.   I remember when teaching sculpture my students would have me say it several times and spell it.  A plinth is used to present the figure and is made of the same material as the figure. So in this case it will eventually be made of bronze.   A base sits under the plinth and is made of another material, like wood or stone etc. and then theres the pedestal which everything sits on.  

I decided to begin the plinth with a simple box design.  Since this sculpture will have a smooth surface when finished I needed something smooth for the plinth.  I looked around the studio and  I found some ceramic tiles and constructed this box with hot glue and used clay to hold it for me. Like I said earlier, even though the plinth is made of tile, this will eventually be bronze as well.

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