Copper enhanced, horse head sculpture (2010/2011)
Following on from the previous 'Tetrahedral' post. This is, what I will call a
free-form slab sculpture. I envisioned the profile of an art-deco inspired horse - simple, minimalist curves. From earlier small tests I knew could achieve a certain shape that would echo a horses neck very closely.
This is an important project for being my first ever figurative sculpture.
Construction 'Green' Phase
The starting slabs, cut, gently bent, joined with thick slip. Don't remember much but I think it was tricky and needed an extra pair of hands. There was no way of making the front 'apron' until the first parts were joined, since it would have an unforeseeable shape. I used a large sheet of paper to capture the true shape of the space, tracing the edges. From that template I was then able to cut a shape that fitted (almost) perfectly.
I neglected to take progress photos of the head section. This part caused me a lot of problems. I originally had the face as two whole sides, but I was not happy with the way I was having to join them together, and they simply did not create a horsey essence. My solution was to split them up into sections. I used my original drawings to cut the 'cheeks', and using a gap filling slab made a partial cylinder. The cheeks joined straight onto the neck. The muzzle parts were then joined with straight slabs, and the snout closed over with an off-cut, as seen below.
The ears were an interesting problem. Normally horses ears stick up, but in the context of my sculpture, that just didn't work for me. After some consultation with Sam, I/we arrived at the swept back look. Horses do flick their ears back, apparently.
Now adding eyes and snout after excess trimming. This perspective above shows what I consider a weakness in the design - a narrowness at the base of the head. Not a major issue though, as the final result was strong enough to outweigh that shortcoming.
The mouth turned into a bit of a creative issue with Sam. I was ready to go with the nose shown above, can't remember if I had settled on the mouth, but I must have because Sam argued, successfully, that a horses mouth is kind of droopy at the corners. Frankly a gash for a mouth was letting it down, and the nose just didn't work. This needed a rethink
Nose re-sculpted, droopy bits added for the mouth. Looking back, I did not do enough preparatory design work on the nose. I had to make room for the mouth as it got too crowded. The photo above shows the slight step I added to the mouth near the end of the green stage. It was flat, originally, and seen in the round, the droops just looked awkward. Now it made sense. Also, I reshaped the eyes, creating a smooth blend with the cheek.
Very final part of the green stage - drilling holes for the pins that would support the mane.
Fired
Safely surviving the bisque stage... looking good and it just about fit the kiln. I was aiming big with this piece.
With the head safely hard, I could fit the pins and and get a preview of the mane...
And hence with the mane segments bisque fired and dry fitted...
The mane had a sharper texture from this side, my preferred view.
But this was not how I wanted it to look. I had wanted the strands to be
streaming backward, in a unifed direction. I realised that there was not enough 'give' in the structure to allow that, even though I planned for it. Sam thought it looked good as a fan. I agreed to certain extent, but I could already see another drawback. Being sticky-outy, it would be a nuisance if they got snagged, mishandled, whatever. Breaking means replacing. I was already thinking ahead though - I would use copper sheet instead.
Finishing Off
Jumping ahead a bit now. Horse is safely home so I could finish it in my own time...
Horse painted with graphite powder and shellac. This was recommended (I thought) by Sam as an undercoat for a top finish of bronze (seen in photos below). It turns out I didn't need to bother 8'p
I ordered a couple of copper sheets. The price of the stuff was maybe two or three time higher than sheets I ordered a few years previous...
All cut, getting the absolute max by zigzagging across the long length of the very modest copper sheet. Was about the size of an A4 sheet. I couldn't waste anything. Next step was to gauge the bending line, tidy up the thick ends with round offs, then commit to bending - no errors allowed! Measure twice is an excellent motto...
Fitting brazing rod as anchors for the copper ribbons.
The direction that the holes made was an issue, being perpendicular to the neck profile. I had to make sure that the wire stayed in place, but without gluing them permanently. They had to be free enough to allow them to be taken out so the head and mane could be properly cleaned if need be. Once I had set the curvature into the rod, which is very stiff, it was critical getting the bends of the penetrating bits just so - out a fraction and the rod could not follow the neck profile. With the upper rod it was a close thing. The lower rod fitted flush perfect.
Another critical stage - I had to get the welding exactly right first time. Here the upper bar is complete. I put in a double bend as the ears were getting in the way. Hmm, on the other hand maybe I was getting ahead of myself. Bending copper is a pleasure, being highly malleable, but totally unforgiving if you make a mistake. With soft curves, corrections can be made easily. I used my finger - I forget which one 8') - as a form for curvature.
And the solder welding underneath... a fun exercise with a small blowtorch and pre-cut lengths of solder.
All welding completed. The spacing had to be perfect. The sticky point was bridging the gap between the upper and lower sections - there could not be any break or inconsistency in the overlapping pattern. All strips with double bend, as you can see. Ah yes, and the copper is polished, no, rubbed down with wire wool to clean off oxidation and my fingerprints. The next stage was to artistically arrange the strips into a flowing movement around the neck, as seen in the heading photo. Judging by the beautiful and subtle curves, I think this was perhaps the most satisfying part of the whole project.
And here he/she/it is, the finished article in the low light of desk lamps.
I cajoled my dad into making a plinth from an off-cut, otherwise the stone hard clay at the base would make a mess of polished wood (and glass and metal). A couple of days after finishing this, 'he' was put on display at a local art gallery ("What If...?" in Dartford). And a few weeks later he found a buyer.
Final thoughts
A massive learning curve, challenging, frustrating, satisfying.
~J~
