Doing something a little different here. This is actually something I've wanted to do for a while now, but have either not had a good opportunity for it, or have just plain forgotten to until it was too late.
But since I had a large commission come my way, it seemed a perfect opportunity!
I often get the question of "How do you come up with these ideas?" or "How did you make this?"
These are questions I secretly have a desire to ramble endless on about (because what artist doesn't enjoy talking about their work?), yet I often dread hearing them, because they are so... hard to answer concisely.
How do you explain the creation of something when it's something really obvious? Like my Horseshoe Frog. It's just a horseshoe with some eyeballs and legs stuck on it. What's there to explain?
Or conversely; how do I explain how I craft something complicated like my Beagle commission? It was based off the owners actual pet, and I spent a good, solid week putting it together, making sure the shapes were accurate, having to make adjustments on the fly, taking extra care to get the coloration correct and put fur texture on it, etc...
These questions have a lot of different answers. As many answers as I have designs and sculptures. But, I am not here to try and explain every single one. I am here to talk about my current project. And perhaps answer some of these questions for all you curious minds.
The Great Scraptrich
To start at the beginning....
Towards the start of summer (2012) I was given a commission from a local pottery yard where I sell some of my artwork. A customer was looking for a large ostrich sculpture, and the owner was nice enough to pass the request on to me.
The request itself was simple and open-ended in its design. The customer wanted an ostrich about 4-1/2 ft tall, and they sent me a few images for reference.
Both these designs are very different, but what I got from it was that they were looking for something with a lot of detail. Something that was going to be decorative and interesting to look at. Something more interesting then just a simple cut-out, or a wire frame. They also wanted an ostrich in a 'relaxed' pose. Head up, and either standing or walking.
I like getting commissions like this. It gives me a loose frame work on which to build, but leaves me free to do whatever I want with it.
So, with these design ideas in mind, it was time to get to work!
Time to bring out the time-honored brainstorming tool of any artist.
The Sketch Book
One of the most basic tools of an artist, the sketch book is where ideas are jotted down, designs are fleshed out, themes are experimented with, and in general, it's where an artist does much of their most important preparations prior to beginning on a project.
Of course, if you've been following my blog, you'd know that I am a terrible sketch-booker and don't bother wasting time with all that 'professional brainstorming' silliness.
Since I'd gotten the commission at the start of summer, and didn't actually start working on it till beginning of September, I'd had a lot of time to think over what I wanted to do with it.
I knew right off the bat that I didn't want it to be exceptionally details. There was no way I was going to sit there and cut out 49075642905705739-270 feathers for this bird. I highly doubted they'd want to pay me for the amount of work and time that would take, not to mention the hell it would be actually welding them all together.
Fortunately, I already had a design concept in mind. One I'd used several times before with great success.
I also wanted this sculpture to be partially found object. Not only did this save me from having to create patterns for specific body parts, but it made the overall sculpture more interesting to look at. People always enjoy seeing every day items built into a sculpture and used in unique ways.
Since they didn't say anything about what kind of base they wanted (or lack thereof), or where they were planning to put it, I wasn't quite sure if I should make it free standing or mount it.
I eventually opted to set it on a small, simple base. That would give it better stability then if it was free standing, and it would give the customer the option of adjusting the base according to however they wanted it displayed.
Once I had the general idea of where I wanted to start, I rounded up the materials I needed that I already had on hand.
Pic of my work table here with some of the stuff I was using.
Rebar for the frame.
The large domed lid was used as a template to mold scrap around it for the body. By welding 2 halves together, it makes for a sturdy, oval-shaped body.
The 13in x 1/4in round plate I used for the base.
Pair of 2-pronged tractor parts. Makes good bird feet.
Lotsa bike chain for the legs.
Pipe for the neck and legs.
Pair of pliers for bending the sheet metal.
Pile of scrap for constructing the body.
Assorted other bits and pieces and tools.
I started off building the body. I didn't have my camera with me, and didn't think to snag my phone, so no pics of that. But I built it the same way I build my Scrapowl/itty/puppy, by taking assorted bits of scrap from around my shop and bending them around the outside of this large serving lid. I welded a few more large scraps along the inside, which gives the body more texture and depth then if I'd left the interior hollow. Once the halves were done, I welded them together, and tada! Body done.
Next was making the basic frame. This is where the rebar comes in. I cut 3 pieces, each 3ft long. Two were bent in half for the legs, the 3rd was gently curved to form the neck. Once I had the rebar legs situated on the base where I wanted them, I set the body on top and welded it in place before attaching the neck. Since I wanted the whole frame to be attached for greater stability, I added a pair of bars branching from the neck to the legs. Then I attached the feet.
Or course, if I'd paid attention to the nagging thought in my head, I wouldn't have fully welded the legs to the body since I was going to string pipe on the legs. But paying attention to nagging thoughts was never one of my strong points. So I ended up cutting them off later.
At this point I needed to flesh out the legs and neck before I continued. Which meant tracking down pipe of the proper size. Too small and the neck and legs would look thin and spindly. Too large and they'd look thick and bulky compared to the body. The pipe also needed to have thin walls, since that would reduce weight. I didn't have anything at the shop, so off to my favorite steel yard I went! And as fate would have it, they had a bunch of pipe in their scrap section, cut at 10ft lengths in the exact size I needed.
Once I had the pipe, I measured it out in 3in lengths in preparation for cutting. I'm a big fan of making things that have a lot of texture and details without actually having a lot of parts or extensive designing. This is why I didn't want the legs or neck to be made with solid pipe. Straight, solid pipe is just not very fun to look at, nor does it lend itself to organic curves. I also don't have a pipe bender for making something like... oh, say, the neck.
So the pipe was chopped up. During that process though, I would take several sections and string them along the rebar to see how it would look. This is why I decided to chop several smaller sections. The 3in segments just didn't look very good when that was all you had. It didn't flow properly. So I turned part of the pipe into 1-1/2in segments, chopped off a few 2in segments for transition pieces, then chopped most of it into 3in pieces.
As you can see, even though the pipe is the same, it gives the legs and neck the impression of transitioning from strong and sturdy at the base, to slimmer at the top.
Once all the pipe was in place, I welded the legs back together (see above comment about having to chop them off the body) and started in on the fun details.
Since I wanted knee joints to be prominent, which also serves the purpose of giving the legs a defined angle, I couldn't use the pipe. It would make the legs look too... noodly. So it was off to my assorted junk bins!
Here is where I have to give my Uncle kudo's, because he had this old weight set he wasn't using and he let me scrounge a bunch of parts off it. At the time, I had no idea what I was going to do with these round, black, clampy whatever things. But I figured they'd come in handy for something. And it turns out, they were just the right size and shape for ostrich knees.
Last but not least, the coup de grace!
Ostrich are known for their powerful legs. So I needed to give his bird some impressive looking stompers. The pipe on its own just wasn't going to cut it. It's a good thing I like bike chain. There's just so many fun things you can do with bike chains! I've got a whole box full of chain! And in this case, they made perfect scaling along the lower legs, giving them that touch, rugged look you'd expect from a bird that spends its whole life running around.
Now that the legs were done, and the neck was done, it was time to start building the head and fleshing out the body.
To be continued....
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