Life size portrait sculpture of Charlize Theron as “Ravenna” from Snow White and the Huntsman.
To start the portrait of Charlize as Ravenna, a particular look from the film was chosen. Lots of reference pictures were then collected of Charlize as herself, and picures from the film with the look we wanted to end up with. Having enough reference is key to getting a good likeness.
Working on a simple metal armature, water base clay was applied and worked on for several weeks until I was happy with the way she looked. The more subtle a portrait, the more difficult it is. We were going for a sort of doe-eyed look she has in a certain scene, and this was particularly difficult to get right and not make her end up looking mad!
Once happy with the sculpture, it was moulded in fibreglass from which a silicone rubber cast over a fibreglass underskull was taken, and painted to simulate skin. Then subtle makeup colour was airbrushed around her eyes and painted on to her lips. Human blonde hair was next implanted into the scalp, eyebrows and lashes also inserted one at a time. The eyes were hand made from acrylics and pigments. Lastly, the crown was sculpted in clay before being moulded and cast in rigid plastic. This was then painted to simulate the patinated metal look.
