#454 In the studio: The Briscoe Museum sculpture project, con't . . .

Fragmented sculpture design lends itself to some subjects but not to others . . . most important, 

is the pose which gives both high and low relief sculpture its outline, form, and negative shapes.  

The entire light-and-shade pattern formed by the figure or figures is what matters most.

Least important when creating fragment and relief design is excessive detail.  

The figure's eye, however, is very important because typically, the viewer looks at the eye first.  

The eye should be modeled with boldness and understanding.  

The eye should not be presented as a blank, rounded orb.

Below, is the eye in progress. The sculptor must first concentrate on the round form of the eyeball
and next, the dark circular opening in the center iris called the pupil.

    

The deeply excavated eye in its entirety produces a loss of form, creates a deep hole, 

and gives too abrupt a black shadow.  The accepted practice is the incised pupil shown above.

 While modeling the eyes, I created a negative shape - called a lunula - which is a half-moon device that picks up a shadow and highlight in the eye of the horse.  This technique was used in Roman sculpture of the fourth century AD, continued during the Renaissance, and is used by modern figurative sculptors.

Below, I've photographed the eye using light source from different angles.  This is important . . . the sculpture will be viewed from different angles and under different lighting conditions.

Below is a drawing depicting the half-moon shape called a lunula.

Note:  Notice the delicately traced outline that suggests pupil in both the drawing and the sculpture above.

I rely on drawing as an indispensable part of my sculpture studio procedure.

Blog, text, photos, drawing, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott