Wednesday 30 April 2014

#526 In the field: Brookgreen Gardens workshop, con't . . .


Start this series with  #522,  April 16, 2014.  http://www.brookgreen.org

 During the morning of day 1 of the class, we visited Brookgreen Garden's excellent aviary and zoo and observed and photographed birds such as the Great Horned Owl, Barred Owl, Red-tailed Hawk, and Bald Eagles shown below.









The plan was to model a simple head study and learn about making molds before
beginning a more in-depth study of bird anatomy and structure.

Upon returning to the classroom, we used the aviary experience along with computer searches as reference
for modeling a head study.  Shown below is a workshop participant preparing a sculpture for molding.



All birds have the same basic feather groups around the head and the sculptor must
identify the individual feather sets and shapes while modeling a bird's head.

Below, is a clarified drawing of a songbird with the individual head feather groups identified.



Below, is a drawing and a clay model head study of a Great Horned Owl that I created in class as a demonstration.
I invited the workshop participants to "follow me" while constructing a simple armature and building shapes to form
the owl's distinctive head features.   Plunging in and modeling in clay on the first morning of the workshop
was enjoyed by all.  The afternoon session of day 1 began the exploration of bird anatomy, wing structure,
feather groupings, and armature building and will be discussed in the next blog.





Below, is a bronze sculpture depicting head studies of a Red-tailed Hawk.


Reflection and Resolve
7"H 8"W 6"D

This year, we had a small class for the Brookgreen Gardens 5-day bird sculpture workshop and therefore were able to introduce mold making to the class.  I've taught bird sculpture and anatomy for 28 years and have had many requests
to offer the mold making experience . . . a small class presented the opportunity and Trish Smith - who has made my molds for over 20 years - was on hand with material and expertise to lead the way.
http://www.brookgreenworkshops.com

Below . . . throughout the week, Trish explained and demonstrated rubber
mold material mixing, shimming, and rubber application.





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Blog, text, photos, drawings, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish



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