Head in Stone Day III

I missed my post last night due to extreme lack of progress followed by extreme fatigue. (Although I did muster enough strength to go shoot some pool with Pascal and the boys) Didn't think I had much to share. Today was definitely turn the corner day and it is beginning to look like the model. Pascal loaned me his small air hammer with a small tooth chisel that worked great. There is still a long way to go and I will be surprised if I actually finish the carving. Bit off a little more than I could chew this time.

Day I of Carving the Head in Stone at Geislor Moroder 081511

I had three things to accomplish today: Sketch my idea, create the clay model, and pick out the stone. I managed to get through all three of these steps and am now wondering, "how the hell am I going to finish this carving in 4 and 1/2 days?" I'm reasonably satisfied with the clay model. It's not perfect, but then again I'm not Antonio Corradini. I don't think I did all that bad considering I've not done this kind of thing before. The goal here is the following: Create a carving in Marble of a veiled woman that gives one the sense of a very sheer fabric draped over the head of a woman. (Google Antonio Corradini and you'll see what I'm talking about) Pascal (our esteemed instructor), of course, knew exactly what to do: Sculpt the head without the fabric, and focus on building up the wrinkles and subduing the details on the other areas. It kind of works. Let's see if I can now do it in Marble!!

Final Blog Entry from Elbigenalp 010811

Wasn't a whole lot of time to work today, but I spent the last three hours refining the Acanthus Leaf and getting a lesson from Pascal in carving an S-Scroll. He of course made it look very easy, but it was not. It is very hard to get the long cuts that look so good when a master does it. He did show me one trick where you push down hard on the middle of the tool when coming up against the grain. It is a way of cheating the grain to finish a long cut. I tried it out and it kinda works, but kinda didn't. It worked for Pascal so I am assuming it is something I am doing wrong but I will practice the technique and see if I can figure it out. I am including some pictures of Ed finishing up his carving and a few pics from our two hour walk this afternoon.

Looking forward to getting home to my beautiful lady and cat.

Eric

010711

The last full day was a race for the finish line, but I am not going to make it. I am, although, very happy with the results. The carving came out exactly as I would have liked it to come out. Should be an easy finish at home. The barn beam now has one shelf support and one to go.

I've included a picture of George as well.

060611 Update

Today I learned some great techniques, from Pascal, on setting up and carving classical hair. He explained how to break up the forms into S shapes, followed by several basic planes and texturing with a small veiner and shadow cuts along the edges. You cross over from plane to plane with the veiner cuts from time to time, which breaks up the masses into smaller masses which can then be treated the same way for more texture if you like. He also showed me some great texturing techniques on the body using a 12 mm 11 followed by a large 9, which was used to blend in between the troughs left by the 11 (if that makes sense). I have one area of the body that he completed and I will leave his marks for future reference. This is the nice thing about doing a class here. They demonstrate techniques on your carving which is like 3D notes from the class. Today's job will be getting as much done as possible to both get some more weight off the carving and to bring it as close to finish as possible.

Geislor Moroder Trip 010511

What a workout it has been during the last two days. I felt a little behind after losing a day to the clay model. Last night I was thoroughly exhausted and didn't even have enough energy to make a blog entry. I've included pictures of George's & Ed's projects in addition to my Atlantes.

Pascal showed me some nice techniques, using just a wide flat chisel, to do much of the roughing. I really helps keep you from working on detail to early. I ended the day with a great lesson in creating a classical male face, Pascal style. I am very pleased with the results. Now if I can get the rest of the carving to look as good as the face I will have something nice to remember this week by. 2.5 days left and still a lot to do.

Ed's 2nd Childhood

Amazing what a grown man will do when nobody is looking.

Geislor Moroder Trip 010311

Carving the Atlantes

What's an Atlantes? It's the male version of the Carytyd. What's a Carytyd? Wikipedia defines it as a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar. The Atlantes is of course the male version. I have this old barn beam that someone gave me many moons ago and have wanted to carve a pair of ornamental brackets to hold it up. So here is the plan: Carve a male and female version of the Carytid to act as shelf supports for the beam. I should have a good start on the male version by the end of the week and with any luck I will find some time to make the female version. So in other words, by the year 2020 I should have the shelf in place.

Here are a couple pictures of the finished model I completed on Day I. I've slimmed the hips down a little since I took the pictures. The figure was looking a little female like so I made it a little less hippie.

The picture order is reversed. The last picture is the beginning of the clay model. The first and second pics are the more or less finished model. Tomorrow I start the carving.