I start my process by collecting a few images of inspiration for the subject I’m creating, sort of like a mood board. Then I brainstorm to conjure up an idea in my head and hash it out straight onto clay. Contrary to what people assume, I don’t sketch or design any of my ideas. It goes straight from my head into the clay in a very organic process.

Each new sculpture is an amalgamation of hundreds, if not thousands, of smaller micro-decisions made during the sculpting process. I’ve adopted a process that’s a modification of what you’d see in a special FX studio. By creating a matrix mould and casting it in a urethane resin, my materials allow me to replicate the look of steel, stone and bone. After the cast has been cleaned up, it’s ready for paint. Painting is the final step of the process before we package everything up ready to ship out all around the world!

As a self-taught artist, how have you seen your sculpting skills and techniques change over time?

I had zero experience in the art world when I first started. It’s meant that over the last decade or so, trial and error have guided me to develop every moulding and painting technique.

Every time I make a mistake, I’ve ventured into the unknown to explore untested processes based on curiosity alone. Sometimes I pull inspiration from techniques I learnt during my boat-building days. Other times from YouTube. And then there are the ones I’ve invented myself.

Over the years, my sculpting skills have evolved by experimenting with new mediums. What you see in my work today is the product of a decade-long evolution – an exploration of methods and materials, fuelled by my unquenchable curiosity to push boundaries and see what happens.

Source: https://www.habitusliving.com/articles/andy-frith-sculpting-skulls