Old Wax Models Ecorche Revisited

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

This past weekend, I was planning a post on my bronze sculpture series but when I was going through a box of old wax models, I came across the original wax Ecorche figures.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art Di Lella

Even though they were damaged during the moulding process, I still find them a pleasure to look at after all these years. Wax is one of my favorite materials. I love it's fluid quality and it's versatility. It can be used either as an intermediate model or as a finished sculpture. It's easy to work and it requires less complication in armature building than clay. It's worked up with hands, steel tools and heat. I find it a very relaxing activity to sit in a comfortable chair and play with some wax. I have in the past made many small wax models to work out ideas for different sculpture projects. Some have survived such as the Ecorche figures and others are simply melted down to be used for new ideas.
Meanwhile,back in the studio I'm working on a number of moulds this week so I won't have much to report on BB, but there is a chance. We'll see.
Talk to you all later this week. Take care.

Hyper Realistic Reconstructed Sculpture in Review

As I mentioned in the previous posting, I thought it would be a good time to have a review of BB.
Here we go.

This is early on in the process whereby the muscles are being applied to the skull.

The complete clay model, by the way went through several revisions before it got to this stage.

The beginnings of a very blue mould

The completed but unpainted silicone cast.

The first stage of the painting process.

This is the last stage of painting with a few touch ups to done later.

All the above images are copyright  Art  Di Lella

Finally, the first few stages of hair punching. It's been quite a journey so far with a few steps to go. I wanted to give some idea as to how the process works. But, I don't want to give the idea that this is strictly a form of linear art making. There is a lot of back and forth, constant reassessment of the sculpture itself. Does this piece work with others in this series or should it be on it's own or both? I try to not think too much as this can paralyze the entire project. It's always best to move forward and not let the critical voice get too loud.
Meanwhile, the studio as I mentioned at the top of this post, is very busy and I'm hoping to publish photos of these new sculptures as well and perhaps return to my bronze series.
We'll see. Talk to you all next week, cheers.

Hair Punching Hyper Realistic Sculpture#3 Part 3

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

It's been really hectic lately with a number of different projects on the go simultaneously.  I can't complain because work is what a studio is all about and it 's great to be able to work with others helping them in part with the production of their projects.
During all this activity, I had a bit of down time and made a concerted effort to finish punching in all the head hair on BB. The hair,by the way, I'm using for the entire sculpture is real. That is different from the two previous pieces in this series because OW and OM used a combination of real and synthetic hair. The main reason for only using real human hair for this particular sculpture is colour.I wanted a reddish or ginger colour for BB and that was only available in natural hair.  The other reason,it's easier to style,especially if I choose to keep the beard.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella 

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

The hair at this point is just "roughed in" at this time. It will give me an opportunity to figure out which direction to go,hair length,style etc. and to make corrections as I'm working. The beard,eyebrows,eyelashes and body hair still need a lot of attention as well.
The next post will have a review of the entire process of BB from the beginning through to the present.
Until then, have a great week.

.

Studio Work and Concrete Casting

Hi, this week has been busy. I've been continuing the hair punching on BB as well as working on some new silicone moulds and concrete,so for a change of pace, the subject for today's post is about concrete.

Concrete is usually thought of as a common building material,sidewalks,roads and foundations for buildings. But on occasion it's utilized as an art material.  I'm currently working on a concrete project for a local Toronto artist.
Unfortunately,I can't describe the art piece at this time but it will be in an upcoming show this November. I will be able to give details at a later time.
Anyways, in the above images will show a part of the process. Concrete, for those who are not sure is made up of cement, gravel and sand in specific proportions which is mixed with water to make a sluggish, thick,dark grey paste. This material is then troweled or poured into a mould(form) and then allowed to set or cure for a couple of days. Afterwards,the form or mould is removed from the concrete cast and voila! a finished sculpture.
This material has a stone like quality and that is no surprise because all the ingredients are derived from stone. It's a fairly easy material to use so long as the caster's work area is properly prepared. It can also have other materials added to the mix including colour. Concrete doesn't have to be grey or uniform. It can be polished and have sophisticated finishes applied to the surface as well. This material is long lasting unlike materials made from organic substances.

But like all materials,concrete has a few drawbacks,first it's heavy, a cubic foot will weigh 130lbs and second it's best used with objects that are compact in shape. The other problem is concrete has a tendency to trap air during the casting process which will leave small little air pockets on the surface of the cast . This problem can be reduced with vibration but it's not perfect.

In sum,with appropriate use,concrete can be another viable option for sculpture and installation work.
Next post, I will have updates on BB and other news as well.
Have a great weekend, I'll talk to you on Monday.
PS  special thanks to Barbara for the pictures.

Hair Punching Hyper Realistic Sculpture #3 Part 2

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Fall has arrived in Toronto. Cold and wet. Yuck! But on the bright side the fall colours are slowly arriving with their brilliant reds,oranges and yellows but unfortunately too short lived.
It's was a quiet weekend for me so it gave an opportunity to work on BB  I've been advancing the hair insertion on the sculpture so I thought the change was sufficient enough to warrant  another post.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

I've haven't made any decisions regarding hair length or styling and whether to keep the beard or not. I just want to keep my options open for now. I also mentioned in the previous post that it was likely that there would need to be some additional skin colouring or perhaps a bit of tweaking.  I noticed while working on the hair,it became apparent that some painting adjustment will be necessary, so I'll fix it after the hair is completed.
I'll be back with more news later this week. Cheers.

Hair Punching Hyper Realistic Sculpture#3 Part 1

I have to apologize for being late with this post . My usual pattern is to post on Mondays and Thursdays. There has been lots of activity in the studio this week with some new moulding projects arriving as well sneaking off to Algonquin Park on Wednesday with Barbara so there was not enough time to publish on Thursday.

Meanwhile, I did have some time to work on BB.  I've just started to punch in the hair and below are the latest images.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

As you can see the process begins with facial hair. I started at the neck and worked upwards. The hair after it's punched in is left longer than needed and will be trimmed later. Also, I'll start working on the head hair on the weekend and might be able to finish the insertion sometime next week. We'll see.

Painting Hyper Realistic Sculpture #3 Final

I hope everyone had a good weekend. It's unusually warm in Toronto this past weekend, the so called" Indian summer". During the past few days I've spent some time finishing BB. As I mentioned in the last post. BB needed some blemishes added to the skin. Although  in the photos they appear to be rather subtle, I wanted to avoid overdoing it.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

 In the above image, you can see my palette,a sheet of plain wax paper with several colours having been already mixed plus the small containers holding the various silicone pigments. The pigments are mixed with the silicone rubber and then applied  using a brush sometimes a sponge or it can be sprayed on as well on using an air brush. It really depends on preference,which method you'll feel comfortable with.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

I've definitely given this sculpture a very fair complexion. Although,I've stated that the painting is complete that is a bit misleading because the final touches can't be done until the hair is punched in and completed.
So the next obvious bit is hair punching. I'm hoping to have time to at least start it this week otherwise there will be other studio updates that I will report on instead.
Talk to all later this week.

Painting Hyper Realistic Sculpture #3 Part 3

These are the latest pictures of BB. I've been experimenting with the painting because I wanted his finish to differ from the other sculptures in this series. Which of course makes sense, no two individuals have the exact same colouration and this should be reflected in all the sculptures.
Anyways, I want the complexion to be extremely fair and ruddy perhaps similar to some people from northern Europe.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

 The painting unfortunately is not finished but it's close . It needs some blemishes plus other additional tweaking. I was hoping to finish today but other projects in the studio needed attention.
Next time, I'm hoping to report on a finished paint job.
Till next week, have a great weekend and to other Canadians,have a great Thanksgiving weekend!

Peruvian Porcelain Final

I hope everyone had a good weekend. I spent most of my time in the studio working  on BB. I'm still working out the final colouration and hoping to finish it this week.
So, I thought as a bit of a break it would be a good time to bring out images of the final pictures of the Peruvian Porcelain.

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

Image copyright  Art  Di Lella

 The unglazed porcelain for me has a stone like quality which gives it a more classical look. The head itself with it's deformed cranium was an interesting departure from the so called "normal" head forms that are usually sculpted.
This was my third attempt at porcelain and I still have a bit of clay left so perhaps a new piece is in order.
In the meantime, I should have updates for BB next time. Till then,have a great week.