(the above is photoshopped as I test out my tail idea & see where I want to nip off a little more)
[adding in this sentence an hour later - doh!] I was inspired by the liberty acts of Cavalia, Apassionata and less showy ones like Hempfling.
I may back off of the extreme Lusi profile features and traits and go more Andalusian though... it's too soon to say! :) I started this afternoon & just couldn't put him down he's been so fun & different!
Anyhow, he's under 3" tall. A first for me in clay too at this scale but I'm not worried as the widget details I've done are a lot smaller sometimes.. the brushes I sculpt with can easily remove an eye. This is sans solvents or oils too - just that my clay is soft and warm so it's a matter of patience and redoing things sometimes.. overall though despite all the redundant work it seems to be a ton faster for me to get where I want to go. At this scale though I have to freeze him (yup - right into the freezer!) more I've found already... 2x today to work on basic shaping.
So it would be fun to have a small work for sale in the nearer future. We'll see how /where this goes!!
I also haven't posted here about the next (this is the 2nd) Baroque horse head bust up on eBay;
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=290648897878
I'm sorta behind there on sharing that - it was a week long auction but it ends tomorrow- sorry! Anyhow, I am guessing that most people reading this blog though are members of my mailing list or yahoogroup.
Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday so far? We celebrated Christmas in NC with friends and with our puppies at home. It's been a cozy holiday so far... I've managed to not eat too many of my cookies (which is saying something because I baked more than ever before!). Anyhow, a belated wishing of holiday cheer to my blog readers here! Have a wonderful New Years too!! :)
Cheers and Joy to you & yours!! :)
6 comments:
Just curious, why does it seem that nearly everyone who sculpts a Lusitano insists that they must look over-bitted and over-bent at the neck?
BTW--Lusos don't have to have huge ugly jug-heads. They can still have moderate convex profiles (the whole head should make a gentle curve, not just below the eyes) that can be quite beautiful. Just saying.
I do know what you mean! This is why I wanted to be clear he is AT LIBERTY.
If you google up (or see it in person if you can!), Cavalia or any of the many liberty acts these spanish breeds do you will see they do like to tuck their heads up all on their own in a fiesty manner. :)
I am basing it on that. There's a slight tilt too.
I know that in the hobby collecting there's a real tendency to dismiss any horse with his head tucked as being abused but horses really do do this all on their own naturally quite a bit. It's a part of horse language - it's a defiant attitude. This is "why" I think sculptors like it so much. :)
As a breed too they tuck up quite a bit, it shows more too because of the bulk of their neck. I had a Lippy cross as a boarder and he'd "beg" every day by tucking his nose like this;
http://static3.depositphotos.com/1004191/191/i/450/dep_1917732-Andalusian-horse-portrait.jpg
:)
I hope my response came across as friendly! :D I totally meant it to be.
Also, didn't answer the bit about the profiles. Personally I love them. What many people don't know/aren't expecting to see is how the Lusitanos can have such narrow faces. It was a real surprised to me when I was stallion shopping - that to me was the most notable thing I saw between Andys and Lusos. :D
From the original pose, it looked like the horse could be ridden. In that case, he would have looked over-bitted. I'm just whining in general at the number of wonderful sculptures that seem to show up in this position.
Naw don't worry! I'm glad you said something because I'm sure it'll come up a lot. & I'm NO fan of rollkur & hyperflexion practices at all. In fact I turned to dressage initially to learn how to push a horse forward that did Saddleseat & dropped behind the bit & charged around. Then I spent a few years riding with no reins & halters & stuff that honestly scared me half to death a lot of time. Just to learn to have the all-coveted "independent seat".
Anyhow, it's a good dilemma. I tried contacting some photographers & they want usage fees (it's their living & I understand!), to share gorgeous photos I have of horses tuckign their heads up defiantly. I really love that fiesty "power" look they get.. and imo it doesn't always have to come with a spazed out body posture.
Check this guy out;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oHQczRbBHxI&feature=fvwp&NR=1
My horse & I used to do things like that & he was surprisingly collection-geared for a TB (he cantered around in very collected ways in his paddock playing with friends & preferred not to run all flat out like a manic). I've been sincerely dwelling on how to convey that horses get all "balled up" (as I liked to put it!), in play in these dressage gaits that are so often seen recreated with crank & spank methods. In other words I don't want to avoid certain things.
Then too there is what I read Michelle Grant say best as "trying to portray the reality of the horse, not a romanticized view" (Horses in Art cover article Fall 2011).
I may do rodeo or cavalry or some sort of sculpture some day where it's not all roses.
In general though I DO totally prefer to represent a horse's personality strengths. And with the spanish guys I really love how they get fiesty. :D
Btw, to be clear? I have no idea what so ever how to ride saddleseat. It was just an Arab I was given to ride... and simply couldn't mesh with in my combined training background until I got a real old school dressage instructor in to help us.
I must learn to not type whole novels in comments! Totally watch that video, if nothing else! :D
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