Monday, November 19, 2018

All of our ideas start with a concept idea, like my 2019 Pony for Christmas unicorn sketch shown here. We may do a story board with more photos or sketches to show the inspiration behind our idea also and help “sell” the idea. The next step is to actually sculpt the ornament in a special wax that is made for us here in-house. I use a hot tool designed originally for dental work. I can also start by melting a larger piece of wax in a toaster oven (not used for food!) and pinching it to shape first. Then I can add and subtract with the hot tool or dental hand tools. My favorite tools are actually made from old paint brush handles and exacto blades that are ground to a point. The wax can also be smoothed with sand paper, nylon hose, and chemicals. Then finally I clean the sculpt surface with rubbing alcohol.

We also separate out parts of the sculpt so it can molded properly by our Prototype studio. I have photos here of the display they have set up to show their process. They make a rubber mold of our sculpt, cast a “white body” in that mold for us to paint, and then make a gray mold sample to make a permanent mold from. So finally I paint the “white body” ornament and share my design with the team for final approval. This painted piece is the master that is followed in production. Every artist has unique methods they use in their work process. And as you can see, this process is a team effort.