In my 3D illustration class we had to create a bust of a person "in the news"... sort of a 3D editorial cartoon. So of course I chose Hitchens. His cancer diagnosis was relatively new, and I had just completed his book on Thomas Paine. He had recently completed an interview discussing his cancer, and his hollow, haunted look wouldn't leave my mind.
But he just looks so sick here. I just hoped he would get better and write more books and articles, and host more debates, and... well, just be Hitchens for another 10 years. I hoped I could file this project away during a triumphant rebound and never have to remember just how discolored the flesh is, or how sunken the eyes are, and that glassy look of a man who has not just glimpsed his own mortality, but has realized that the outcome of the fight might be determined within the hour. But unfortunately my sculpey bust remains relevant, and here it is.
Materials and methods: I used flesh-colored sculpey on a wire and tinfoil armature. Color was added in thin washes of acrylic, and the shirt was hand sewn from scrap fabric.
