Lifecasting is the process of making a mold from a person's body and then using it to make a reproduction.
This is as simple as sticking your hand in a bucket of alginate, then pouring plaster into the cavity. Or, this is as complex as making a complete casting of the head and torso.
Either way, somebody has to stand very still!
There are varied techniques for doing this:
The alginate method is relatively inexpensive, but the molds very short-lived and likely to only yield one casting before they are unusable.
Plaster directly applied to the body may be more durable, but it's more uncomfortable for the model.
Now, there are silicones available for lifecasting that enable the artist to make a permanent mold directly from the model. This is more expensive in terms of materials, but it also skips the intermediate steps required for alginate casting. So in the end, the silicone molds really aren't as expensive as originally thought. |
