AGEING WITHIN THE FAMILY
As the project brief states the outcome of this ageing task is to sculpt a version of myself between the ages of 60 and 70. I therefore felt it would be important to research into my own family history to see how close memebers have aged particularly within the target range . I have collected a range of images from my parents and grandparents to see their progressive ageing both male and female. First I collected the photographs of my grandmother, Jacquie, on my mother's side. The photographs show her development in age from early childhood to present day.
 Aged 2 |  Aged 5 |  Aged 21 |
|---|---|---|
 Aged 22 |  Aged 44 |  Aged 30 |
 Aged 31 |  Aged 36 |  Aged 37 |
 Aged 44 |  Aged 62 |  Aged 63 |
 Aged 65 |  Aged 68 |  Aged 77 |
 Aged 80 |  Aged 82 |
This second selection of photographs depict the progressive ageing of my Grandfather from a young age to present day. My grandfather has a similar shaped eyes tp myself therefore will allow me to get a good likeness to the shaping mine will take later in life. Similarly to my grandmother he lived in South Africa till roughly the age of 30 with a large amount of sun exposure, he was also a heavy drinker therefore these factors will have a large impact on the way in which he has aged. Another element of his ageing may be due to the fact he smoked for 30 years which would have added to the ageing process and given extra circumoral striae wrinkles (around the lips) from puckering. Men are more affected by their environments than women, which I will have to take into consideration as I will not age in the same manner as my grandfather.
 Aged 21 |  Aged 38 |  Aged 40 |
|---|---|---|
 Aged 48 |  Aged 47 |  Aged 70 |
 Aged 77 |  Aged 80 |  Aged 83 |
 Aged 84 |  Aged 85 |  Aged 85 |
 Aged 85 |  Aged 86 |
These photographs show the ageing of my mother till present day, however currently aged early 50s means that she is not the correct target age for my sculpt. I will be able to compare my mothers' photographs with her mothers' to see any differences between their facial ageing at the same point in their lives. This will hopefilly give me grounds to establish what my facial features will look like at the target age of the brief. My mother moved to England at a very early age, however travelled to Australia for a year and did not take care of her skin therefore meaning that sun exposure is also a factor in the ageing of her face. The modern world has also had an impact on the ageing process through generations, my mother looks less aged than hers at the same point in their lives, this may be due to various factors in current environment, the levels of pollution in the air and technology that allows us to complete certain tasks with better ease. Looking at these photographs I will be able to deduce what I will look like at an age before the target age and the add some more slight features of ageing to bring it up to the right age.
 Aged 1 |  Aged 2 |  Aged 5 |
|---|---|---|
 Aged 5 |  Aged 6 |  Aged 6 |
 Aged 7 |  Aged 8 |  Aged 10 |
 Aged 17 |  Aged 46 |  Aged 48 |
 Aged 50 |  Aged 53 |  Aged 54 |
I have found that looking at photographs of my grandmother
has been the most helpful for the creation of my sculpt as we have similar lifestyles and facial features. My grandmother lived in South Africa until around the age of 30 therefore she had a lot of exposure to the sun, which is a major influence in the way in which skin ages. I will take this into consideration when using these photographs for inspiration. In many of the photographs I can see traits which have been passed down to my facial features, these areas I will focus mainly upon as I can get the best reference for these. These areas are mostly the eyes and facial shape, which will have a big impact on the way I age as it is the structure for my face.
Overall it has been very helpful to look at the ageing process of my family members, as their genetic sturcture is very similar to that of mine and therefore I will not age to differently from them, environmental factors excluded. I will have to consider my type of lifestyle in the final sculpt as this will have a major influence to the degree of ageing needed and also certain specific wrinkle zones. I have printed off the photographs of my family members at the age closest to that of my recreation in order that when I am sculpting I will have constant refrence to the ageing that occurs. However that being said I will have to ensure that I account for my own way of living and the advances in the modern world and environment that will affect the way in which I age.