#686 New sculpture: "Silver Wings - Trumpeter Swan"

   "Silver Wings - Trumpeter Swan" is a new sculpture introduced in Cody this fall.  Please go to the search box and type in trumpeter swan for more information about the creation of this work . . . drawings and photos are shown. 

 Below are images of the work in progress in clay and the finished sculpture cast in bronze.

Shown below . . .  the flexible rubber mold in progress.

Shown below . . . silver nitrate being applied during the patina process at the foundry.

Shown below . . . two images of the completed and based bronze casting.

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  

See post #616

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

#672 Africa Portfolio 1 . . . "Recumbent Giraffe", con't

Please seen the previous 2 posts for more information about this blog.

A Giraffe has only two gaits:  Walking and galloping.  Walking is done by moving the legs on one side of the body at the same time, the doing the same on the other side.  A galloping giraffe is a wonderful sight to see . . .  

the hind legs move up past the front legs BEFORE the front legs move forward while the long neck and head rock 

forward and backward to maintain balance!  The obvious pose for me to choose for my first Giraffe sculpture

 would have been a standing, walking, or galloping Giraffe as I had plenty of reference material

 from my trip to Africa but I chose a recumbent pose with more Giraffe sculptures planned in the future.


Below, Note both legs going forward on the same side while going back
on the opposite side . . . similar to a pacing horse.

Below, are photos of "Recumbent Giraffe" in progress in clay, cast in bronze, and making the mold.

  

It's important for the artists to understand how and in what direction an animal's limbs are folded when they are in a recumbent position.  Typically, the limbs are arranged in such a way as to enable the species to rise with the greatest facility.  By observing wild animals in the field and photographing and sketching them, invaluable information can obviously be obtained.  However, much can be learned by studying domestic animals which are much more readily available to study and scrutinize.  For instance, a house cat has the structural arrangements - supple spine, etc - as a lion.

 Dogs resemble wolves, fox, etc;  cattle resemble bison, etc;  and goats resemble deer, Giraffe, and more.

The artist must know how the skeleton is arranged,
 how the bones articulate and identify bony landmarks and waypoints.
All quadruped skeletons are fundamentally the same but some species have limited mobility
in the reclining position.

Below, is an early work depicting a recumbent cow. . . useful observation and information for modeling wild species.

For anatomy reference, see posts #616 and #655

Go to the BLOG INDEX and Reference Page for more information.  

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

#635 "Jake"

Please see the previous post for more information about this subject.



Wild Turkeys have a distinguished ancestry and are truly an all-American bird.
The big bird has survived since early pioneer days and our forefathers once
feasted upon its delicious meat just as we do now.

For wariness and cleverness, it is unsurpassed by any other bird but it's possible
to get relatively close to them in the wild at Brookgreen Gardens because
they are used to human activity.

 www.brookgreen.org


Over the years, the species has been one of my favorite subjects for not only sculpture,
but for etchings and drawings.   Brookgreen Gardens in Murrell's Inlet, South Carolina offers
an "in-the-field" experience and a great place to observe, sketch, and photograph Wild Turkeys.

Below, are images of a new sculpture entitled "Jake".  The bronze will be introduced at the 2015 Prix de West Exhibition
in Oklahoma City next month at the  National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum.   The show opens June, 13.

"Jake"

3600

Shown below, is the clay model in progress.

Below, our Brittany, Penny joins Trish in the mold room while making the flexible rubber mold of Jake.

Below, I'm at the foundry placing the sculpture on a base plate for welding and the addition of terrain shapes.

 Below are two photos of Jake on the patina rack . . . after patina and before wax.

A Jake Turkey is an immature male turkey.  A Jake has shorter feathers on each side
of the tail fan and a small snood above the beck.  A snood is a flappy piece of skin that hangs over a turkey's beak.
All of the tail feathers on a mature Tom will be the same length and will appear as a symmetrical semi-circle
when he struts.  See the previous post for an image of a strutting Tom and the sculpture entitled "Tom".

Below, are photos of Wild Turkeys taken last month at Brookgreen Gardens.

The photos shown below are of a mature male gobbler or Tom. . . . a Jake's beard is short and grows with age.

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

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

#611 In the studio: "Stealth"

I am fascinated by the motion of all cats including Africa's big cats such as the Cheetah, Leopard, and Lion - see blogs #479 through # 483, posted Nov. 17, 2013 until Dec. 1.  I  have several sculptures of the subjects in progress which will be introduced at an upcoming show in August of this year.

http://Blog 479 - 483

Shown at right is Trish with our cat, Ziggy.  Much can be learned about big cats and cats in the wild such as Cougars by observing the locomotion of a house cat.

Recently, the North American Mountain Lion - also called the Cougar - has captured my imagination and

 I have created a new sculpture entitled "Stealth".   In America, Mountain Lion has become the most common name used,
but the proper name used by scientists is Puma . . . (Felis concolor).  There is actually an all black Puma
sometimes seen in Florida.  Below, are two views of the new work. . . "Stealth".

Below, are images of "Stealth" with the first coat of rubber mold material applied including a picture looking down on the sculpture. The rubber presents a sleek and smooth appearance of the clay model, reducing it to an abstract impression lacking modeling detail.  Viewing the sculpture in this manner is akin to a painter "squinting down" on their work!

Animals and animal groups are special unto themselves and each have their own variation of anatomy in motion. 

 Next Wednesday's blog will explore a more in-depth look at cats and how nature designed the beautiful creature.

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

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

#610 In the studio and in the foundry: Flexible molds, con't . . .

The focus of this blog is two-fold:  1. Creating a plaster mother-mold after five coats of rubber

                                                           mold material have been applied to the clay model of the sculpture. 

                                                       2.  Pouring liquid wax into the finished mold at the foundry   

                                                            thus creating a wax replica of the clay model. 

To review the initial steps for making a flexible rubber mold, see the previous post then

 go to blog # 572, posted October 8, 2014 and Blog #574, posted October 15, 2014.

Blog #572                      Blog #574

Shown below, five coats of rubber have been applied to the clay model of "First Season Promise"
 and have cured.  Before hot, liquid wax can be poured into the mold,

the two sides of the rubber mold must be encased in a plaster "mother-mold" to give support to the flexible rubber.

Below, is an image of Trish making the first side of the rigid plaster mother-mold for "First Season Promise" in the studio.  

Shown below, Trish has covered the other side of the mold with plaster.

Shown below, the plaster has cured overnight and the two sides are opened.

Shown below, the flexible rubber mold is peeled away, exposing the artist's clay model of the sculpture.

Below, are images taken at the foundry of a technician pouring hot, liquid wax into the mold.

After the liquid wax is poured into the mold, the wax is sloshed and the excess is poured out.




After the wax has cooled, the two sides of the mold are then separated revealing the wax copy. 

the flexible rubber is peeled away and an exact wax replica of the artist's sculpture is removed.  

The technician carefully pulls the flexible rubber from deep undercuts and refrains from tearing the rubber mold.

The flexible rubber mold is now ready for another wax to be poured in order to produce another bronze casting.

The wax replica of the clay model will be used to initiate and expedite the lost-wax bronze casting process at the foundry.

Below, is view #2 of "First Season Promise" cast in bronze.

First Season Promise
11"H 15"W 9"D

The next steps which involve casting the sculpture in bronze at the foundry will be discussed in a future blog.



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

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

#609 In the studio: Flexible molds

A flexible mold is the term commonly used for a rubber mold and is the type of mold used by most sculptors today.  

For an in-depth discussion about flexible molds, please go to blog #572,
posted October 8, 2014 and blog #574, posted October 15, 2014.

Blog #572              Blog #574

Flexible molds have a varied longevity or "shelf life" which refers to how long the completed mold will last in years.  

Note: Some sculptors refer to shelf life as "library life" or time in storage.  My molds have been made in the studio by 

Trish for over 25 years and during that time, while using Black-Tuffy, Smooth-on, and other products, we've experienced numerous mold failures or loss of mold usage due to the rubber liquifying and turning to an unusable goo.   

Keep in mind, the possible short shelf life of these products is printed on their labels and after losing

some of our older molds before the edition was cast, we've changed to a newer, more stable product. 

Inexplicably, we have 20 year old molds made from Smooth-on that are still good while some have failed after less than 4 years of use!  Most of the old ones, however have failed.  For the past six years, we've been using a product called Polytek
(see blogs #572 and #574) and so far, have experienced no mold failures.

       http://www.polytek.com

The sculpture shown below, entitled Takers of the Anasazi Sun was introduced and sold at
 Prix de West in 1994 and another one was cast and consigned to Knox Gallery in Colorado.

The sculpture is listed in the book about my work - Spirit of the Wild Things - The Art of Sandy Scott -
as an edition of 35 but only two were cast before the Smooth-on mold failed after less than 3 years.
The clay model of the work does not exist nor is there a wax replica of the piece in existence.

http://Spirit of the Wild Things

While works such as the sculpture show above will never be cast again, another older work has been given new life.
In 1999, I created a sculpture entitled, Promising Pup.  After only a few castings, the mold failed but a wax replica
of the clay model was retained before the mold had to be discarded.  Last summer, I totally remodeled and
reworked the wax and Trish molded it into a similar but new sculpture entitled, First Season Promise.

Shown below, is First Season Promise in clay and Trish starting the mold.
More about flexible molds in next Wednesday's blog.

Shown below is view #1 of the new bronze, First Season Promise which will be introduced at two upcoming shows:
The Briscoe Museums's Night of the Artists on March 28, 2015 and
The Cheryl Newby Gallery's The Power of Three show which opens April 25, 2015.

More about both shows in upcoming blogs.

http://Night of the Artists

http://Cheryl Newby Gallery.com

First Season Promise
11"H 15"W 9"D



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

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