Tonight is one of my live sculpting events where I actually sculpt somebody's bust in two hours. And I'm going to be sculpting Sir Derek Jacobi, a great great actor.
Jacobi:
It’s just a headache. It's just noise inside my head doctor. Constant noise inside my head.
Tennant:
What sort of noise?
Jacobi:
It's a sort of drums.
Frances:
And after two hours you will see the finished piece.Jacobi:
Well I think it’s almost unique. I've never been to something like this. Ever. You know it’s wonderful.
Frances:
The process is this pressurised sculpture, so you need the person there. It’s very very important. You cannot do a sculpture without the life sitter. Every single photograph he looks so different, so I haven’t got a clue how his structure is. Basically it will take me months from a photograph, whereas from doing it from life is something you can see more clearly and you can turn it round and see it from the side. It’s, it’s vital.
So I'm going to be doing this so much it will drive you insane but…Jacobi:
Don't worry.
I don’t know what's going to happen. I mean, but it’s two hours, which is very, very fast for a sculptor.
Are we off?
Frances:
I get the first part of his head on, and then I'll turn him sideways and I'll start doing the profile, and I'll be thrilled with it. Then I'll turn it to the front and I'll think oh my god - no it's not right. And this is happening all the time, all the time you're moving round and each time you do one part you're changing another part. And then each time you change another part it's making something else wrong. So it’s like a jigsaw puzzle. Only towards the end it all starts coming together.
I've been doing it for an hour, and I'm not completely happy with it yet. I haven’t had time to go back and have a look. So I need to step back and I've been so intense I haven’t done it, because then I'll know where my mistakes are. Tremendous pressure at this stage.
Frances:
How do you feel?
Jacobi:
Yeah fine.
Frances:
Are you sure?
Jacobi:
Mmmmm…
I can see myself. I really can. The eyes are gentle, and I like that. I like that. It makes me look so distinguished. And if she can do that in less than two hours, it’s extraordinary.
Video summary
Watch Frances Segelman at one of her live sculpting events
She is producing a bust of actor Sir Derek Jacobi in just two hours.
As she begins the artwork, she explains that when sculpting from life, the process is much quicker than working from photographs.
Time-lapse photography shows all the different stages, with Frances sculpting and reshaping and modelling the clay.
She turns the bust around looking at it from all angles; each time she does one part it changes another part.
What will Sir Derek Jacobi think of the final sculpture? Will he agree that it resembles him?
Teacher Notes
Students could have a go at sculpting a figurative bust in clay experimenting with photography to record all angles of the sitter and then recreating.
These clips will be relevant for teaching Art and Design at GCSE/KS4 in England, Wales and Northern Ireland and National 4/5 or Higher in Scotland._
The topics discussed will support OCR, Edexcel, AQA, WJEC GCSE in England and Wales, CCEA GCSE in Northern Ireland and SQA National 4/5 and Higher in Scotland.
Professional sculptor Frances Segelman. video
Sculptor Frances Segelman introduces her artwork and talks about her career in this resource for secondary and GCSE Key Stage 4.
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Frances Segelman demonstrates her sculpting technique
