Armatures and finishing Whitetail

I know that we have touched base on armatures before but it seems that maybe everyone else is as bumfuddled with them as I was and still are often.   They are something that you have to be able to produce a molded piece of work but you can not let it dictate direction to you.

  In other words it has to be able to support quite a bit of movement and weight but yet give you enough flexibility to not have a pipe or wire sticking out where you do not need it to be interfering. There is nothing more frustrating then to find that after you start claying up, your animal looks really stiff because you have followed the lines or the demands of the armature rather than bending to the nature of a leg or neck and it will be  sickening when you already have it in metal before you wise up.

All starts with scaling your figure to where you can break it down into inches or 1/4 inches where you can be accurate.

This is a basic store bought armature versus a picture of one that can be constructed with pipes, T's, and L's and using wire that is either wound with more wire for strength or a single strong art store purchase of armature wire. You do not want something you can not move at all.

this is just beginning we already covered this in previous blog dated 5/5/15

several days later while trying to decide position I desired

 

this is trying to figure out exactly what I wanted in antlers

This is finished piece without the antlers actually attached because they will be molded separately.

I have cheated and upon finding a wire in a bad spot and needing to eliminate it I have waited until it is a wax and trimmed it where the wire was visible in the molding process. I don't suggest this if you are like me and are absent minded...it might go through the foundry process like that.

I don't care what anyone says you may change a piece or tear it down and redo five to eight times before finding the angle or position you want and that looks good to you. Remember my story about covering up a piece between working on it so that your errors jump out at you as in this piece it was redone many times because I chose a different position than ordinary, it is called the "sneak" so you have to change to accommodate the neck, head and entire body language  making it more difficult. It is the position of a buck when he is in pursuit of a doe. It is so beautiful to watch hopefully I got it to come across in clay. Much like having a baby this won't be out of the foundry for a few months and I will show the finished piece at that time. Thanks for dropping in hopefully I have shown something you enjoyed.

Finally down to the last show, I think

Sorry I have neglected this part of my keeping touch with everyone but during the summer I am usually so busy with art, shows, family and etc. that it is difficult to keep this current.
On top of that my daughter had another grandson for me (making it three boys) my husbands mom passed away and he had total knee replacement (not due to spousal abuse).

I have my last show September 19-20 in Boulder, Colorado on the Pearl Street Mall and I pull down my Estes Park show October 25th then I will close out 2015 unless I get into the Lone Tree Art Expo 2015 which I will not hear until later. It runs 9/24/15 until 11/09/15.

But did want to call attention to you artist that shows are already being posted for 2016 and the cut off dates are earlier than ever.

My option is still open for a class to be taught this Spring (I do not usually set the date until I get my show schedule) for only four days and only one person and to remind those that do not know me I only teach one person at a time because I like to develope not only friendships that have my complete attention during the class but also because this is when I donate my earnings to Operation Smile (so little can change a child's entire life). Four days for 375.00 what a deal, from clay to finished piece or close to finished plus I get to see a miracle in a child's smile.

Busy but touching base

Been busy with shows but wanted to leave you with something again from one of the books I read. Walking In This World, The Practical Art of Creativity by Julia Cameron

This was written 10 years after Artist Way

"Making art is making love with life" Julia Cameron
"Instead of thinking about conquering an art form, think instead of kissing it hello, wooing it, exploring it in small, enticing steps. A small beginning is exactly that, a beginning. Whatever you think you can do, or believe you can do begin it, because action has magic, grace and power in it." Goethe
"If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies, and so a man." Henry David Thoreau

"It is only by risking from one hour to another that we live at all." William James
"Let the world know you as you are, not as you think you should be, because sooner or later, if you are posing, you will forget the pose, and then where are you?" Fanny Brice

Today isn't like any other day you have known, create it.
"What a man thinks of himself...determines, or rather indicates, lies fate." Thoreau
"Every exit is an entry somewhere else." Tom Stoppard

It is so easy to become discouraged as an artist that we must all gain courage from the thought that we are able to create, not everyone is given that gift. To express a feeling in clay, paint, pastel, pencil whatever medium you choose or you purchase from an artist to create a mood or setting in your home or office...that is you pure and simple.

My last show is in September and you will have to be patient with me on my blogs and I will try to keep you updated. I realize I have not added to my armature post so that will be my concern when I find the time. Thanks for dropping in....enjoy your summer so far mine has involved around 4000 miles. Two more shows to go closer to home, Golden and Boulder.

Quotes 2015

If you have read me at all you know I love my sculpture but I love to read and love quotes. Here are a few more that impressed me.

"It's only when we truly know and understand that we have a limited time on earth-and that we have no way of knowing when our time is up-that we will begin to live each day to the fullest, as if it was the only one we had". Elizabeth Kobler-Ross

"We are the hero of our own story" Mary McCarthy

The one above I dedicate to my friend Deb

"If you want to see God laugh, tell Him your plan." John Lennon

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you imagined." Thoreau

Thanks for enjoying these....I do. If  only we could focus on them in the midst of mindless chatter.

Helpmates in pouring wax and packing for show

As I have explained before I have two cookers that I use and vary the temperature from 200 degrees for the first two pours (or if it is a tiny piece or relief 220 degrees) and the other stays around 160-180 degrees for the second two pours.

I have finally gotten smart concerning some of the safety issues of pouring wax.

These are inexpensive silicon gloves sold at WM for less than 5.00 and have saved my hands from getting the usual splatter and splash of hot wax during the pouring and rolling process. Love them!

saves the skin...silicon cooking glove

Also not shown is the can I pinched the lip into a dent to be able to dip into the hot wax and deliver it into even the smallest pour holes (believe me when I say some of mine seem to be smaller than a pinky finger tip.
Also always remember that I keep a large bowl next to me in case I do get splashed to put the skin into to relieve the pain and also hardens the wax instantly.

Below are some of the tips I have been shown by my base maker to protect the bases. I had no idea that bubble wrap can leave the same impression on wood bases as that of rain or water damage. He explained to me that you must wrap pieces in some type of soft absorbent cloth before you cover them with the flat wrapping pad (not the huge bubbles).

 

  

Take an old t-shirt or piece of soft flannel and wrap your piece carefully.

 Then after you wrap the piece in soft cloth, wrap them again in  flat pad plastic wrap but not bubble wrap. Then you wrap them lastly in a regular packing blanket.

 To add even more protection to any bumps or rattles and rolls I add a piece of Styrofoam packing sheets 1" thick to bottom of the tub.

Hopefully these tips will help you along the way and not have to be learned the hard way along the way.

Remember burns hurt and damaged pieces must be repaired before showing and that is all out of your pocket. Let me hear from you if you have run into any other problems that I might have already stumbled into. Thanks again for dropping in...

Thanks also if you have left a message..love those!

 

Finally...Introducing Rocky Mountain Thunder (bighorns)

I can finally post a picture of the new Rocky Mountain Thunder, depicting two bighorn rams fighting on a rocky ledge trying to gain the rights to breed the females.

This was fun to do and I loved the research as this is one of my favorite animals to watch (if you missed the post where I created this one go back a few  months) it was actually November 21st.

 

 

 

Creating new work...Whitetail Deer

I had so many people checking out the post on armatures that I thought I would take you from the start of the piece as I did in the beginning of this blog.

This will be a large piece of work and hopefully it will be clear, I used a standard armature for a sculpture around 15 inches high.

 You will notice all the wire coming off the pipe and T for legs, neck



This shows where I have measured for all my leg joints which is very important to do before adding any muscle or movement to the figure.

Book that I could not do without during research as to the position I want my animal and whether he be standing, running, walking etc. Muybridge was fantastic

Here I am actually beginning to see the form, notice I have marked major muscle in rear and shoulder, the head is just stuck on to give me something to visualize while I get the "sneak" or following a doe look.

Antlers have always been a problem because you have to have flexibility, strength, and strong hands to wrap the tiny wires (or unwrap if you are not lucky to get it the first time) and I always have to play with this so that I get what I want. I always run into the fact that my wrap ends up being wider than I want the clay to be so it gets unwound and rewound many times. I make my antlers separate from the animal just where they do not have to be cut off in the mold process. I place a small clear tube (Home Depot) in the head so that I can insert the antlers as I work to make sure they look correct.

I will follow this up later because I am experimenting with different wire and may end up using different ones. I may tear a piece down several times before I really feel that it is coming together the way I want it. This may happen over a period of months.