Name: Joseph Lester
Birth date: Very late 1960’s
Studio name: The ImageWorks
Headquarters location: Chicago, Illinois. USA
Experience: I’ve been sculpting since around the age of eleven, but only professionally since the early 90’s
Material preferences: The very first sculpting material I ever used was Sculpy. Later I got into oil based clays, and tried a few I didn’t like until I found Roma Plastilina, an absolutely lovely medium to sculpt in, or at least it was, I understand that the quality is slipping lately, so be careful. A good substitute is Chavant NSP, but it smoothes down differently. It wasn’t until 96 that I tried ceramic clay, and I was surprised how much I liked it. I soon upgraded to WED clay, but a good water based ceramic clay can still work very well for larger pieces. I still enjoy Roma and Sculpy for various different purposes.
Sculpture’s size: I feel that my strength is in heads and busts, rather than full figures. I greatly admire the work done by others in the figure kit industry, but I don’t think my figure work is quite dynamic enough, so I concentrate on full size, and half size, (and sometimes quarter size) busts and heads. Contrary to some, one of my favorite things to see at a figure kit show are the busts, rather than the sixth scale figures. I love the amount of personality and character that can be captured in the busts, and one of my favorite artists of busts is Tony McVey (Menagerie Productions).
Influences: Dick Smith, Ray Harryhausen, Rick Baker, Steve Wang, Frank Frezetta, ……etc. (The list goes on and on). And among the newer generation of artists, Casey Love and Arturo Balsiero are two that really inspire me.
Companies: I have done work for the Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation, the Chicago Architectural Foundation, Steve Johnson’s XFX, Head First Communications (an ad agency), Darkside Studios, Design Toscano, Facsimilies Inc. (Historical reproductions for museums), and other numerous freelance jobs.
Expectations: I would like to build up a portfolio of work I can someday look back on and feel a sense of accomplishment in life. I would like to find other creative people and work with them in positive, collaborative endeavors. I would like to find opportunities to entertain and perhaps frighten people in a way that makes their lives more fun and interesting.
Advice to new sculptors or amateurs sculptors: One thing I’ve noticed is that the people who have gotten really good at what they do, are the ones with the most enthusiasm. For them, creating art is not something that is just another hobby, or a traditional job, it’s something that really drives them, it’s a major part of their lives and personality, the way they look at the world; also it’s something they do for fun, even if they’re not doing it as a job. Not to be discouraging to anyone, but if you’re not really into it, you should probably try your hand at something else. Another good thing is to be original. I know, we’ve all sculpted existing movie characters, but if you want to show the variety of your talents, don’t just show you’ve done yet another Predator. Also, study the work of others, and pick out the things you like, and really think about why those elements are there, or why a certain artist did what he or she did. And study nature a lot! You should be cutting out pictures of animals, humans, whatever, and saving them. Even the most far-fetched monster or alien has to have anatomy that makes sense, and skin that wrinkles in a natural way. Don’t say it’s “supernatural” and that’s an excuse why it doesn’t look realistic! It has to make some sort of physical sense.
Get your hands on all the various types of clay you can and try them out. Find what works best for you. Use quality tools. And keep studying people and anatomy!
Others: Have fun!.