Bronze Commissions: 2008

Tuesday 2 September 2008

Horse Portrait Sculpture details

The Clients have seen the finished sculpture - an emotional time - and the clay has been taken to the foundry.

The reins and martingale have been added and the details to the mane and nose are finished.

Now for the reins and other fine work

Many long hours have passed and the details of the drop nose band bridle have been carefully made and applied.

How much better the horse sculpture looks with the mane added.

You can see a patch on the neck that needs working in, and that more has been done to the character of the mouth and nose.

The eyes have been made and added, and some of the horses unique expression and special attentive look, little by little defined.

We are a long way from the bent steel rod, here the developed front view.

Saturday 2 August 2008

The Making of a Faithful Companion

The Very Beginning

after consultation with the client, designing the armature and setting all together.

The above image is important to the particular pose of the piece, and although many images will be studied during the making of the portrait sculpture, this photograph captures an essence the client wants to celebrate.

Steel rod bent and fixed....a long way to go, but already the sculptress has in her minds eye the finished pose, and next the wire support for the clay is added, and the first build up of the top line profiles begun.

Wire is added down the nose and then clad with the first clay, working towards the profile under the throat.

More clay is added moving towards the top profile.

The lines of the bridle are sketched on as a quick reference.

First build up of the neck muscles and the jaw bones and cheek...

Second build up of neck and nose bones and early sketches of positions of nostrils and ear.

Working on the details of the bones of the front of the nose

Bringing the offside of the sculpture up to the shape and detail of the nearside, but always checking with the images of the horses offside to keep accuracy.