Please go to blog #575, posted October 19, 2014 for more information about the Trumpeter Swan sculpture. Blog #575 focuses on field work and inspiration, #576 on bird anatomy.
This post focuses on artistic considerations and
art technique in figurative sculpture.
Making the swam mold will be discussed in a future blog.
Please go to the BLOG INDEX for
information about bird anatomy.
The goal of the figurative artist is to create a work of art as opposed to a specimen of the subject.
While there are outstanding works of art out there that show every detail, particularly in wood carving,
the more the artist knows, the more that can be eliminated.
Soft, buttery clay lends itself to a more spontaneous modeling technique and indicating every feather
on the surface of the sculpture can interrupt the sweep of the wing, the feeling of lightness, lift, and flight.
Too much detail can simply freeze the wing without creating the sensation of movement.
While quickly executed and direct modeling can give life and vitality to the work, the sculptor must refrain
from sloppy representation of form and surface,
Below, is an image of a Trumpeter Swan sculpture in progress.
Below, is a detail of the swan's lifted wing, I have exaggerated and suggested the placement of the underlying radius and ulna to indicate the bird's wing structure. I paid special attention to the thickness of the wing where the humerus joins the forearm in order to convey to the viewer the internal structural strength needed to raise the enormous wings.
The elbow is the thickest part of the wing.
Like most bird artists, I know every set of feathers ad every feather within the set and I know where they go: The primaries, secondaries, tertials, alula, coverts, axillars, scapulars, etc. My approach is to perceive and present the wing as a solitary shape or form COMPRISED of these feather groups. I'm careful not to add too much detail and arrest movement . . . typically, I simply suggest the different sets of feathers in their proper place. More can be said, artistically, with large shapes and form than with any amount of detail and I constantly edit out detail and overstatement.
While there are outstanding works of art out there that show every detail, particularly in wood carving,
the more the artist knows, the more that can be eliminated.
Soft, buttery clay lends itself to a more spontaneous modeling technique and indicating every feather
on the surface of the sculpture can interrupt the sweep of the wing, the feeling of lightness, lift, and flight.
Too much detail can simply freeze the wing without creating the sensation of movement.
While quickly executed and direct modeling can give life and vitality to the work, the sculptor must refrain
from sloppy representation of form and surface,
Below, is an image of a Trumpeter Swan sculpture in progress.
Below, is a detail of the swan's lifted wing, I have exaggerated and suggested the placement of the underlying radius and ulna to indicate the bird's wing structure. I paid special attention to the thickness of the wing where the humerus joins the forearm in order to convey to the viewer the internal structural strength needed to raise the enormous wings.
The elbow is the thickest part of the wing.
Like most bird artists, I know every set of feathers ad every feather within the set and I know where they go: The primaries, secondaries, tertials, alula, coverts, axillars, scapulars, etc. My approach is to perceive and present the wing as a solitary shape or form COMPRISED of these feather groups. I'm careful not to add too much detail and arrest movement . . . typically, I simply suggest the different sets of feathers in their proper place. More can be said, artistically, with large shapes and form than with any amount of detail and I constantly edit out detail and overstatement.
Below, is an image suggesting the forward thrust of the birds pectoral muscles and body as it lifts it's immense wings.
The bulge below the neck area indicates the crop and the pectorals are between the wings.
The figurative artist must always keep the subject's skeleton in mind . . .
my dear friend and great animal artist, Bob Kuhn once said: "If the artist knows the animal's anatomy,
he can create a moose sitting cross-legged at a bar drinking a martini".
Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.
The bulge below the neck area indicates the crop and the pectorals are between the wings.
The figurative artist must always keep the subject's skeleton in mind . . .
my dear friend and great animal artist, Bob Kuhn once said: "If the artist knows the animal's anatomy,
he can create a moose sitting cross-legged at a bar drinking a martini".
Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.
Blog, text, photos, and sculpture . . . © Sandy Scott and Trish
