Re(Calibrator) Phase6

Z-Brush, as I have mentioned before, is a digital sculpting software and as such, I speculated that it should bare some similarities with the analogue sculpting technique that has been around for so many decades. To find out, I decided to get some hands on experience with clay modelling and made some interesting observations.
1. Z-Brush by default works with an initial material called MatCap Red Wax, which was very similar looking to the actual clay, and it had the same tactile feel to it.

Conventional Earth Clay

Z-Brush default material similar to clay

2. When manipulated with move or scale tools, the ZBrush model behaves just like a real physical clay model, without changing its physical "weight/integrity" it stretches across the respective axis/force.

Manipulating the clay with hands and tools

Deforming the Z-Brush material with graphic tablet

3. There are certain sets of tools/brushes, to work both with clay and ZBrush models. There are numerous amounts of these tools and they all produce different effects. The differences are, while working with clay, you keep a close eye on your instruments, in case of the ZBrush, on the other hand, you do not actually see the brushes.

Carving tools of a clay artist

Z-Brush brush set

4. Any clay model needs an infrastructure, a sort of a skeleton that is the basis for the clay to put on later. ZBrush model however is supporting itself.

Clay model supported with a wireframe

Z-Brush model unaffected by gravity or any other force

Now, in order to create bigger sculptures, the structure of the clay model is filled in with lightweight material, such as paper, fabric etc so that the final model does not weight too much, since clay is a heavy material on its own.

Shaping the form with the chicken wire

This was a great exercise to compare the digital and analogue methods of sculpting. The latter is of course very physical and has a very immediate impact on a sculptor, as the millions of sensors located on human hands create a whole array of rich information about the form that immediately reaches the brain. There is also the temperature and smell factors of the real time hand sculpting that is absent in the digital world. It is also true that the digital sculpting program requires certain intelligence to be able to use the software in the first place, whereas anyone who is illiterate with technology and use of computers can create something out of clay. The digital sculpture never dries or cracks and it does not need to obey the gravitational low. However, I am more interested in the synthesis of these methods, and finding ways to fabricate a computational geometry that will involve an old school craft making.