A Lesson in Plaster

So the first casting in plaster turned out okay for a first attempt. I was pleased to see that it stayed as one piece when it came out of the mold (although it was clearly fragile because I broke it later).  Couple of things I learned about plaster:  you have to shake the mold very well if you are trying to cast skinny pieces; black foam core is does not come off cleanly- it leaves black specs.  As far as the model is concerned, the main void was not deep enough and the model looked very addative instead of cast.  I think this is partially because the mold was built in pieces and plaster is extremely sensitive to changes in the edges. 

First Attempt

The second attempt was also a learning experience with the plaster.  I tried to be more precise with the mold, but unfortunately I don't think it mattered much in the end.  I was mixing a batch of palster and it started to harden in the bucket, so that was a nice waste of plaster.  I tried again to mix plaster but this time  I didn't have enough to fill the mold and I had no extra.  Unfortunately I didn't decide that I didn't have enough plaster until after I started to pour.  I tried to get as much plaster out as  I could so I could still try the mold still, but that meant the edges wouldn't be crisp. 
As far as the spatiality of the model, the main object (theater) is way too small and out of scale. The void reads better, but I think it's still reading as a series of added objects.  Perhaps the pieces other than the void and the object need to be closer closer in depth, or broken up to allow for more layers and a more gradual change.




Second Attempt

 Final note on plaster:  precision in the mold and use white foam core!