a new series on meditation - Gyaan Mudra

 I am posting the hands as I work. Below is the larger Gyaan Mudra I sculpted and will soon take to the foundry. In addition to that I have decided to do three smaller hands, all in the size range of my blessing and offering hands.



In this picture I am still working on the larger hand. I have my original blessing hand there as well, so I can see what size I want the larger one to be in comparison. I did the original blessing hand in water based clay and had it fired. Once molded (you can see the green marker from the mold making) the bronze piece is 8 to 10 % smaller then the original.
The hands I am currently sculpting are made with oil based clay, so I will not need to fire them. This will decrease shrinkage, since there is also some shrinkage from firing clay.
Nice part about working small I can work out of my studio and multitask as well. Here I listening to a lecture on my computer as I sculpt.

Here are the four hands to be. The largest is done, I am still finalizing the smaller gyaan. I will take more pictures of the process so you can see it.  Here I have pinched off a piece of clay that is the approx. size of the sculpture I want to make. I started shaping one with my hands. Once I get a very rough shape I use my tools.

(back in the studio now) I use vasline to smooth the final piece, here is the larger one ready to be delivered to the foundry.