Process and Materials

I learnt the hard way (from a previous project) the importance of making a maquette so this is what I started by doing for my Buddha polycarve.

I decided to sculpt, mould and cast so that the final model would be more durable than if I had just sculpted out of an oil based clay and left it at that. 

For the actual polycarve I wanted to use Celotex due to the fact that you can use resin and fibreglass straight onto it and it doesn't dissolve (unlike polystyrene) However, this material was not available to me and so I used Polystyrene instead and Jesmonite to cover it.
I am currently in the process of sanding the jesmonite back to make my Buddha look as smooth as possible. My plan is to then do a couple of layers of black paint before dry brushing him in a deep gold/bronze colour.
My aim is to make it look as though it is an old and worn statue.