What is an armature in sculpting?

Children especially wonder how statues and many other sculptural figures are able to stand firm such that whether it rains or the wind blows they still remain because all that is visible on the outside is the clay or the mortar covering. 

An armature is a structure that is mostly made of strong metal wires and it is the framework for any sculptural work. Imagine a body like an animal body without a skeleton, there will be no support system for such an animal and absolutely that animal cannot exist. This is what an armature is, the support system of any sculptural figure or piece. The skeleton of a human body, for instance, provides the framework unto which muscles are attached which makes a human complete. Like sculptural pieces also, armatures, which are frameworks are made for every sculptural work. 

Before an armature of any sculptural piece is made, the sculptor must have an understanding of the internal composition or framework of that figure or object to be created. 

For example, the sculptural work of dinosaurs displayed has a metal part (the armature) made before the stones were attached. The sculptors had to get the postures and expressions of the animals right and be able to show them in a drawing before the start of the project. 

In an interview and discussion section with some student sculptors in order to get expert knowledge of what an armature is it was made clear that a drawing of the framework has to be made to serve as a guide for the construction of the armature. The construction process they said can take about six months per their observation to complete. For some reason, we wanted to know how much the cost of any kind of an armature could be but no amount was mentioned which was based on the fact that the nature of the piece to be created and the cost of materials at a particular time are some of the determining factors of the price. 

It is so amazing seeing artwork like this that shows a great deal of creativity put at work. This ant is a full sculptural piece because it has the armature component and the body covered in mortar to give it form. The legs are without any covering like the mortar but were left as armature due to the size and it has to be so. The work which is specifically the body has been covered with pieces of garments joined together that also give this work a special artistic look. Artist are not restricted in the creation of their artworks so they freely express their feelings and share with the world.