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Is a Wax Sculpture a Life Cast?
Having a wax figure dedicated to you is one of the ultimate signs of success. Indeed, the famous Madame Tussaud's wax museum has a motley of wax sculptures of famous people from the pages of history as well as some contemporary personalities. Some of the prominent ones feature Albert Einstein, Pablo Picasso, Nelson Mandela, The Queen, Spider Man, Barack Obama, Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rafael Nadel and so on.
Each sculpture is depicted in a lifelike pose and is wearing real clothes. We just love to see these real-looking statues and everyone clicks pictures with their favorite personalities.
But do we ever pause to wonder how these lifelike sculptures are really made? Does it require making a mold and does the sculptors have to make two part molds to get the final cast?
Making a Wax Statue:
Well, the procedure of making a wax sculpture is a bit different from regular life casts. But many life casting techniques are incorporated in the process.
Rather than making a mold directly from the model's body, wax sculptors take detailed measurements and use them along with photographs to create a perfect likeness in clay. A pose of the model is decided and the artist then captures the right expression, posture and gestures of the person complete with each mole, freckle, dimple and wrinkle on the skin.
This clay sculpture is used to create an alginate or plaster mold. Then molten wax (petroleum-based wax or beeswax or other specialist wax) is slowly poured into the mold to create a thick, even coating on the inside of the mold. The wax is left inside to cool and harden before removing the mold covering to get a wax cast of the model.
This is a rough sculpture which has to be delicately carved, buffed and refined to remove the seams and carve the facial expression finely. Eyes, nose, ears and lips require careful attention and the finishing process can take days.
Once the base sculpture is ready, different artists work on it to 'bring it to life'. Hairstylists carefully insert real human hair that is a perfect likeness of the model's original mane. They work one strand at a time for eyebrows, eyelashes and on the head.
Makeup artists slog it out to replicate the exact skin tone of the subject that looks translucent and realistic in every manner. Experts work hard to create a spitting image of the model's real eyes, down to the color of the iris, the shape and the veins running through the eyes. Teeth are reproduced from porcelain to match the original. Clothes and props are also made to look realistic.
The whole process takes months before the final sculpture can be put on show.
So, making a wax sculpture is as complicated as making a mold for a life cast. The procedures may be different, but both require lots of skill, practice and patience - be it making a wax figure or two part molds.
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