Casting a face is a whole different ball game than that of a body. First of all you can’t cast hair or eyes and it is also kind of important not to suffocate your model. Luckily after working at the studio for almost a year and a half I had the knowledge and confidence to do this... on a very close friend. Prior to casting I did warn her of possible death and made absolutely sure she knew what I was doing, to relax and not to panic once the process was underway. Covering hair with cling film and moisturising eyebrows I began the process, slowly covering her face from top to bottom with a rather wet mix of alginate. Carefully leaving her nostrils free. Applying plaster bandage for support and waiting for this to set I then finally released her, discovering to my joy and relief she was alive and well. Then plugging the nostrils with more alginate I cast the mould with plasterline ready for trying my hand at sculpting.

By watching our in house professional Vicky Ball sculpt many faces throughout my time I had learned a trick or two about how to approach such a task, this certainly didn't make it a walk in the park however. My biggest trouble was of course the eyes and the hair, finding this to be quite the trial and error process, not giving up however I eventually reached a look I was happy with.