Tuesday, June 21, 2011

A new face and a new base!


(Above bas relief) A work that is only a few hours old, and I'm not settled on the pose/angle as this distorts too weirdly for me I think. I'm also not sure if this fellow wants to be a Friesian or an Andalusian... I'm going for this demure / bemused expression, not so much a breed here. :) I thus far think of it at "3hr old 'fingernail sculpt'"


(Above) Little Man Mango artist's proof copy on a custom ordered base of pine green granite and (I hope I'm remembering this right?) walnut? Anyhow, I discuss this below. The finish isn't finished either although it's a lot more pale than the saturated yellow let it be. Below I was just playing in photoshop - inspired by some photography I've seen lately I added countershading. Really my photos are horrid though and simply need redoing!


OK! Soooo it’s been a few weeks here and I’ve done so much lately that sometimes I forget to share things that might be of interest… like black Apoxie Sculpt – great for prepping black resins, but the bronze is not bronze colored but rather brown… (I got a small sample but there is no metallic tone to this at all). So I guess that’s my consumer report there.

Since my last post I’ve been back to New England for a week, visiting and getting a lot of quality time in with some folks who mean a lot to me. I only wish I’d decide to spend a few days longer to spend more time with some truly wonderful people .. reason to do it again. I also got to see tornado damage up there and be around for yet another crazy storm system they had (I was there this past winter and got to witness record snow accumulation too). So my driving around 4 states while I was up was impeded a bit by detours in some spots, lines & power down in spots for days. That’s not so common for the area, crazy crazy weather.

I did get to see some hobby friends and I think my previous contest post was decided on a technicality (a safety reason). Sooooo I’m only waiting to get a particular object and then I’ll inform the “winner” if I like the result there. That’s the delay on that…!

We’re fully into summer here on this first day of it. Speaking of weather, it’s to hit 100 here today. I just got a new (16 year old but new to me) ;) car… it needs the AC repaired but blissfully it chose to work today on the way home from walking the dog this morning (it wasn’t really into the 90s by then but it was stuffy enough out there). I had to hang up my sweat soggy clothes (because they were too damp to put in a hamper – mildew & just plain eww!)… I haven’t had to do that since I cared for horses a little over a year ago now & it’s a really awesome feeling to be honest.


Btw, also since the last post I’ve created an online queue and have emailed everyone who has reserved a copy so that they are aware of the queue and can more easily gauge timeframes. I can also happily say that while I am unsure how he did it, the molds for this foal left hardly any seams whatsoever! It was a breeze to prep mine so however that crazy mold worked, it sure worked! :D

Ok, so the base pictures with the baby here were taken to show me something I’ve been going around and around about – does he need to (a) get lighter in color… (the photos actually are terrible and the colors not quite right all over)… and (b) should I sculpt nice soft footing around him..

I’m not sold on this base for Little Man Mango as an “official” look for him. Nor this patina color.

I will say that shopping for bases is fun (albeit expensive when you’re not buying cultured marble in standard sizes from trophy supply places). So anyhow, if I do do a small bronze edition (because I might be able to afford to do this one sooner or later)… well this may not be the base I chose after all… like I might do better with a lighter color… I may just hit up the discount supply place for ¼ the cost though if I experiment with another. Ideally I’m looking to enter these in competitions (and they have to be for sale in many juried shows). It’s a whole new world to me. :)

AND the new horse head image is something I did last night – this time I didn’t even really get out my tools so please don’t laugh. That’s what I call “fingernail sculpting” right there.

And this is all the news that really isn’t. Hope folks are staying cool!

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