Wire armature for clay figures: My first!

My first armature wire structure!

We stayed with artist friends Kitty and Bill Vielehr at the Aspen ShortsFest and while talking about my little project to make an animated video to go with one of my music recordings, Bill said, "you'll want to make an armature for your characters."

What? I had no idea what he was talking about. Bill is an internationally renowned sculptor and turns out he used to teach figure classes for animation students. I know!

Bill's sketch in my notebook.

He started to describe how to make a wire armature for the clay figures, then grabbed a notepad and a pencil. I pushed the notepad away and stuck my notebook in front of him! He drew as he talked. I couldn't believe my luck! A lesson from a master! Me, a novice; no, a complete and total beginner. As you can imagine, I hung on every word!

A few highlights of the lesson...

• Use aluminum armature wire.
• Make the armature to scale. For example, if the model is six feet tall and you want a one-foot tall figure, make everything 1/6 proportionally.
• Wrap the straight pieces of the wire with more wire, which helps the clay stay where you want it.
• Make an armature all in one sitting. Don't make half of it, then come back to it later.

I searched all over Grand Junction for aluminum armature wire -- Artists Haven, Hobby Lobby, Home Depot, Lowes -- but no aluminum armature wire.

So, when in Denver last week to see the Yves St. Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum, I asked Kitty if she knows where in Denver to find the wire and she said, "oh, go to Meiningers." What in the world is Meiningers, I asked.

"Only the most famous art supply store in Colorado" she answered, giving me the address. I entered it in my faithful GPS and ... I could have stayed in that store all day! Wow! And yes, I found all kinds of aluminum armature wire! I think I got about 120 feet! Had no idea how much I might need and no idea when I might be back in Denver.

Here is the link to Meininger's website; yes you can order the armature wire online http://www.meininger.com/. I used 1/16" which works really well; gives it enough strength but still flexible.

Last night, I parked my butt on the couch, pulled out my notebook with Bill's instructions, unrolled a bit of wire and after about 45 minutes... voila! My first character structure!

Bill suggested I make a few before adding the clay, so I will do that over the next few days.

I must say though, the wire is awkward to work with. I much prefer working with the clay, but certainly understand now why the armature is important! Maybe the wire will be less awkward after I've made a few and get more familiar with working with it. We'll see!