This example is of the gold medal winner at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, Oana Ban.

After the client's request, the first task is to design the pose used from various photographs as shown to the right.

The Concept Drawing - From photo to clay.

  

Here is the finished concept drawing of Oana Ban.

Particular attention was paid to the photo of the medal since it is being used as the base of the bobblehead.

Above are the pictures of the medal and the clay base that was made from the medal.

The Sculpture

This can be tricky because the subject is going from a two-dimensional picture concept drawing to the monotone three-dimensional object. Not only that, but it will have a head six times too large for the body. The likeness of the subject is determined by the client's direction and a lot of time is spent on capturing the correct body language and facial characteristics.

Painted Prototype

Once the figure has been sculpted and approved, the process enters the final stage and is painted. Each color is assigned a Pantone number. (Pantone is a reference system for assigning numbers to colors). After a number of color changes, the final model is approved.