“Daddy, do you have to go?” – Flat

By Dave Barrett

A note from Geoff

Now you may or may not know about ‘Flats’, but I have to admit that until recently, I hadn’t realised that they are becoming more popular among (mainly I guess) armour modellers. Essentially the object seems to be to create a three-dimensional ‘flat’ sculpture set in a frame. The results can be staggeringly good and I think what Dave has captured here is amazingly powerful and evocative.

So, this is Dave’s short story behind “Daddy, do you have to go?”

Over to you Dave…

Finding a painting

The first thing I did was to source a photograph that I liked, this came from a book that a mate has on First World War photographs.
It has a lot of very clear, posed and useful shots, ideal for what I wanted. I was originally going to do this in a small A5 frame but decided to go for a large A3 size instead. The next step was to get a clear enlargement of the photograph and proved nigh on impossible as every time it got scanned it became more and more out of focus.

So, I decided to use my O level art grade A* pass, and put it to some use! Taking into account I’d not actually drawn a person since the early eighties, I thought I’d use a little poetic licence on the piece and alter the pose slightly. As you can see, I’ve added his left hand onto his weapon strap and I’ve altered the hand with which the little boy is holding his Daddy’s hand. Additionally, with the little boy looking down it didn’t seem right so I lifted his head up so he’s looking into his Daddy’s eyes, possibly for the last time.

Adding fine detail

As you can see from the photograph I’ve added some fine detail on the drawing. This isn’t really needed as I’ll be working from the photograph for most of the work. I next got a clear, darker photocopy done of the drawing as this enhances the pencil lines. It was then placed it in the frame that I had made, this was then taped in place with little wooden wedges in the back to stop it all moving about. It will be fixed into place with proper frame pins when it’s complete.

The outside of the frame was covered in low tack masking tape to cover the black frame to save getting finger marks on it from the Magic-Sculp; the glass is then cleaned with a lens cleaning cloth.

Starting to sculpt…