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Garden Reverie (Work in Progress)
January 2nd, 2013 | Posted in Sculpting tips | 
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Garden Reverie (Work in Progress)
This is a similar post to what is on Napa’s Cordair gallery blog. Since I always post on my personal blog, I posted it here below as well. Stay tuned for updates to this work in progress …..
Hello to you all! And thank you for allowing me to open my studio to you and share my passion for sculpture. Now to the story of Garden Reverie and how she came about……
Garden Reverie has her first hair tendril added.
It all started with this old rusty garden chair:
Rusty scrolly garden chair
This simple chair was constructed a few years ago and used as a prop for a clay portrait of my dear friend Luisa (at 90).The chair was just sitting on my studio shelf, begging for a lovely lady to sit upon it. I was in the mood to do a quick clay sketch and got carried away (as usual). I often start out a sculpt that way, without any serious intent, just for fun and see where the creative whirlwind leads me. In the end, I made a sculpture that I want to go into bronze with and refine (no quick sketch any longer!).
From my pencil sketchbook, I found my drawing of a lady in a somewhat coquette pose, dreaming of something that’s made her happy, hence the name “reverie” which literally means “a state of pleasant dreamy thought or musing.” Inspiration for the scrolly garden chair comes from my backyard antique furniture.
A live model was used as a reference for her. Working from life is recommended so as to “see” and not just be guessing at anatomy. Sculpture is the equivalent of 360 drawings (degrees of a circle) and even more than that when you consider all the different vantage points showing even more angles. Looking good from every angle is the challenge, but with a model it can be accomplished with confidence. Searching for the reason behind the hills and valleys of the body, recognizing and understanding the bone structure, muscles and fat beneath the surface is a great help in making a realistic figure, one that looks alive.
Garden Reverie’s body here below is beginning to be refined. Here she is with reference marks on her face to aid in lining up her facial features.
On a side note, some people like to know what kind of clay I use. Working with natural earth clay (some call “water” or “ceramic” clay) is what I love to sculpt with. Organic textures, lively modeling, ability to smooth out the surface easily with water and sculpt a quick sketch literally in a day, and then fire it if I want to in my kiln, are just a few reasons I love working with it. Masters of old used earth clay to sculpt figures and portraits and from the earliest times, pots and utensils were made from the earth. By using earth clay I feel a connection to the artistic roots of the past.
Around my studio, you’ll see black bags; these contain clay sketches (sculptures) waiting to be finished. Earth clay sculpture needs to be kept moist in order to be workable so I keep them sealed in black bags tied up with a twisty and water mist them once a week, like my garden plants! Now you know why the garden chair is so rusty, from being sprayed a lot.
With moist earth clay, the basic shape of the body is laid in first, and then allowed to stiffen to create an armature, of sorts. Upon this firm, leather hard clay, I can add more clay and form the body without it collapsing. Hands, feet and head are detail areas requiring time and I often finish them out last.
Didn’t know what she would look like at this point, just knew I wanted her to be beautiful, with a soulful, emotional quality.
I try to keep the reference line down the middle of her face as long as I can so that I won’t sculpt her face crooked. Perfectly symmetrical faces don’t really exist in nature and I want her to be natural and alive; so a little variance on each side of the face is okay and even desired.
Next I’ll be creating her face and giving her an emotion.
The past few sessions I’ve been working on getting the basic facial features of eyes, nose and mouth and started first with the nose. Originally I wanted a larger nose but then decided to bring it back to a petite nose.
She has the beginnings of a smile, so I went with it and brought out that emotion even further.
Her eyes are too wide open for the mood I was aiming for. I did a Photoshop mockup to see how I might adjust her expression. This is better than making changes on the actual sculpt and then deciding I want to go back to the earlier state, which is difficult to redo.
Mockup shows that I’d like to lower her eyebrows and upper eyelids and widen her cheeks. Also, I put in a few scribbles to see what kind of hair I want for her. I guess curly. What goes with a round face and button nose? Curls do, I think.
Adjustments have been made to her eyes, cheeks, and her mouth expression is softened.
Next studio post will show her hairstyle being figured out with the aid of Photoshop. Then her hair will be added, followed by her dress, refining of her ankles, feet, and hands.
Thanks for following along.
~Tamara
(See Garden Reverie’s finished clay pics and promotion and bronze photos)
11 Responses to “Garden Reverie (Work in Progress)”
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It’s got a very nice feel to it Tamara. I like it very much…
Thank you. BTW- Congrats on your new grandbaby girl! This sculpt is now all finished and can’t wait to share the pics.
Thank you! She’s adorable… 8lbs 6oz and just wonderful. I am looking forward to the pics of your finished piece.
– Bill
Another amazing combination of delicacy and grace!
It’s great to see the different stages of the creation process, thanks for sharing this joy.
Can’t wait to see the finished work!
Another lovely lady! I love all the zigzags in the pose – it gives the piece a sense of motion even though she’s relatively relaxed. Thanks for sharing your process – do you have Photoshop Limited Edition or the full thing? I have the LE version – just got the new one (11) – I’ve been working with 6. I don’t know that I can mess around with photos the way you can to see other possibilities. Wish I knew how! I just take photos to help me see with fresh eyes, then adjust the clay and take more pictures . . . not as fast a process as yours, I’m sure. Thanks for sharing! I’m looking forward to seeing the finished piece!
Thank you and that was a new way of thinking of her with the action of zigzag.
I’m using Photoshop CS5 Version 12. I wonder about Z-brush and whether I could alter my photos with it? That would be the best because it really is digital sculpting.
Thanks for your comments!
What’s z-brush? You are SO far ahead of me with technology!!
The zig-zag reminds me of that thing in painting where it’s good to do diagonal lines to lead the viewer’s eye around the canvas. I try to incorporate as many S and C curves in my sculptures as possible – horses don’t have lots of zig-zag potential (in sculptures anyway – unless I do something more abstract . . . hmmmm. . .)
I’ve never had the full Photoshop, only the LE version. It does what I need to do with photos, for the most part. I’m not a 2-D artist and am not into manipulating photos, so I’ve never worried about not having the full version, but what you’ve done with this piece using PS has me wondering if it would be of use to me. Or perhaps that Z-brush would be easier for me to use or something?? So much to learn, so little time!!!
Love it. It’s beautiful and it’s a delightful journey to view the process. keep it up.
Tony
Lynda- I wish I knew how to use Z-brush but so far just have seen results. Check out Cicero D’Avila making sculpts with it and then 3-d printing lifesizes!
Tony- You are so kind. Thank you!!
I tried looking for D’Avila but didn’t see anything showing him using the Z-brush. Is there a site you can recommend?
Try Facebook!