Introduction to Sculpture

     I've got a few pictures of each project this year, my final is about halfway finished so there are a couple in-progress pictures of that. We work in sulfur based wax modeling clay, the same kind you'll see if you watch behind the scenes interviews for any animation studio. Each sculpture has an underlying armature, so there's a fairly technical aspect to each project as well as the artistic process. The armatures consist of varying gauges of wire, hot glue, plumber's epoxy, styrofoam, hot glue, and any other materials I might need to MacGuyver. I don't have any pictures of the naked armatures, but I'm sure I will next semester when I take Figure Sculpture. The grades I got are noted, and although I'm generally an A student, I'm even proud of my B's as Thomas Applegate's sculpture classes are notoriously graded.

Project #1 - Master Copy of Rodin's Meditaton (B+)
The reference from Stanford's Cantor Museum Sculpture Garden

The copy I made, my first foray into armature and modeling clay.

Project #2 - Hand of God (B)

We were tasked with, using our own hand as live reference, creating a narrative about God's hand in any literal, figurative, silly, or serious sense we could think of. My piece started out as tendrils of energy catching falling figures to symbolize our sense of security in God as our safety net. The tendrils and figures developed into something far more creepy, and in my mind the concept changed to how entangled we become in religions and dogmas. Our respective belief systems can entrap us in life and separate us from those whose struggles are akin to our own.

Project #3 - Animal Morph (A-)

This time we were told to create a creature, mythical or realistic, that was a combination of three different animals. The mix was supposed to be 40/40/20 % but mine turned into a more blended amalgamation of a Ball Python head and neck and the body, tail, and arms of both a lion and a velociraptor. My beloved animal, dubbed the Pylocilion, was the only project so far that I got an A of any kind on.

Project #4 - Final: Creature/Mythological/Gravity (TBD)

As I said, this guy is in progress and due 12/15, I'll update this blog post with finished pictures and a grade. He's a stone golem who will be emerging from a rocky mountainside. I went the extra mile, as the last frame shows, and gave him led eyes and a lit geode in his belly. Going well so far, I hope he turns out as successful as the handsome Pylocilion!