#675 Functional Art . . . bookends, con't

The serviceable function of a piece of sculpture is a time-honored and significant aspect of a sculptor's work.
Over the years, functional art such as bookends, fountains, sundials, hooks, door knockers and more
have been an important part of my portfolio and I especially enjoy designing bookends.

The figure emerging from mass has long been a favorite artistic theme and I have found that functional art such
as bookend design lends itself to this idea.  This blog depicts 4 of the many bookend designs I've created.

Below, is a design entitled 

"Golden Retriever Bookends"

8"H 13"L 6"D

3,600

Below, is one of my personal favorite bookend creations depicting a pelican.

"Pelican Bookends"

9"H 10"L 6"D

3,600

Below, is a work entitled, "Teton Tribute Bookends" which depicts moose, bison, elk, grizzly, and pronghorn.

"Teton Tribute Bookends"

13"H 14"L 8"D

3,300

My bookend designs require the suggestion of patterns and I reduce the subject to simple shapes and elements.
Even with a sculpture as complicated as "Teton Tribute",  detail can be reduced by squinting, designing with strong,
simple shapes and eliminating what's not important . . . detail.  Clarity is a must when presenting a  figure emerging
from the functional back of a bookend and I avoid unnecessary negative shapes and undercuts. . . mass is the goal.

I strive to make the figure or species recognizable from the silhouette by modeling simple, clear, and unified shapes.
I squint to make the strong shapes dominate.  Less is more and I don't weaken the design with unimportant detail.



Below,  "Quail Bookends" are an early design created in 1987 and will be included in my upcoming Retrospective.

"Quail Gamebird Bookends"

12"H 18"L 10"D

4,800

For more information about the Retrospective see Post # 651, July 12, 2015
https://www.post651

SANDY SCOTT: A RETROSPECTIVE

Traveling Museum Exhibition Produced by David J. Wagner, L.L.C.  

TOUR ITINERARY

October 1 - December 31, 2015

Center for the Arts of Bonita Springs

Bonita Springs, FL

artcenterbonita.org

January 23 - April 24, 2016

Brookgreen Gardens

Murrells Inlet, SC

brookgreen.org

June 1 - August 31, 2016

Sternberg Museum of Natural History

Fort Hays State University

Hays, KS

sternberg.fhsu.edu

October 22, 2016 - April 30, 2017

National Museum of Wildlife Art

Jackson Hole, WY

(Pending)

Go to the BLOG INDEX on the right for more information.

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

#442 In the studio: Roadrunner in progress

I have many sculptures in various stages of completion in the studio and I live with them as long as possible.
Over time, I continue to see the work with "fresh eyes" as I move around the models, making adjustments and "tweaking" until the inspiration and/or desire to finish or a deadline initiates the mold and foundry process.

Below is a clarified line drawing of a roadrunner.  

I begin most of my works with not only field work, but with drawings and photography.
Note the base design with the flowering cactus:
The bird's legs and tarsus are too thin to support the weight of the body when cast in bronze.
Therefore, a mass reinforcement for the figure is an important consideration but must present good design.

Below, I've blocked in the major shapes and established the essential feather groupings and concentrated on the large forms, correct proportions, and gesture.  Like all birds, the roadrunner's feathers grow in predicable sets and groups and I have arranged and organized the plumage patterns. 

Below, I am experimenting with a design alternative by putting a little snake in the bird's beak.  

The species typically feeds on snakes and lizards in the Southwest.  Although the snake works 

well in the composition, I'm not sure about using it . . . but will live with it.

Shown below, is a page from my sketch book.  Before I start a sculpture of a species new to me, I research, observe, photograph, and complete many drawings and studies of the subject.

Sculptors sculpt what they know while painters paint what they see.

#150 Remarque - "California Sunrise"

The California Quail, also known as the Valley Quail, is similar in size, shape and appearance to the Gambel's Quail but the two species have very little range overlap - the latter being more southerly. 


Formal sparseness of design, the use of negative space and clarity of silhouette was my goal while modeling this sculpture: Negative space balances and supports the subject and gives visual activity to the composition.  The arrangement of positive and negative shapes forms the design and creates a new dimension to the image.  Painters use the elements of color, perspective, value and shape to create a composition . . . sculptors design with positive form and negative shapes.

Trish's definition of negative space: "Where the sculpture is not".

I couldn't have said it better myself.

This work is one of five new sculptures being introduced at the
Autry Museum's Masters of the American West Show and Sale.

California Sunrise
12"H 12"W 9"D  (life-size)