Sunday, June 27, 2010
Finished him
Have now officially finished the big man sculpture. OK then. Now i can get sick & fall over.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
Updating webshite
Today using the tedium of a rare lack of work day at work, actually got my website updated. (Updated is a big word, perhaps bigger than needed for adding 2 sentences and 1 photo.) Updating a website sounds like an easy task one wd think well within the capabilities of an IT professional, but I just never can remember my password. The reason being that they don't allow anything memorable for a password, the web hosting mobs security demands in that dept are extreme. So in the end I just never remember what I set last time & each time i get to reset another ludicrously unmemorable password. Which tends to take about 15 minutes of just figuring out a new password let alone all the rest of it all. Today being at work I installed an FTP client and over a longish period toiled away & finally Ash told me that the proxy at work won't let me do FTP anyway.
Eventually I found the web hosting has a file management tool so I did it thru that. Wouldn't want to do much thru that though it's a pain doing 1 file at a time.
So yes it's never easy to update the website. For stupid reasons, usually. But that, and other niggles like how using Highslide JS (that makes yr photos pop out nicely) is fully annoying hacking the code each time just to add a photo, well that's why I thought I might like to run it with a CMS. So i can just click 5 times to add some pictures and crap, eh. Anyway reckon I won't, cos I don't need all that bumpf, but i might use something like ZenPhoto, which does a nice gallery thing. With the opportunity to add like bloggy things there too. That's about all I want. Using a real blog like Ben does, awesome as it is, is not really that good for me, cos I don't have much to say about each sculpture, usually. I like little words to go with my pics. I can't really say much about how they're made, cos mostly they are all made the same way.
Eventually I found the web hosting has a file management tool so I did it thru that. Wouldn't want to do much thru that though it's a pain doing 1 file at a time.
So yes it's never easy to update the website. For stupid reasons, usually. But that, and other niggles like how using Highslide JS (that makes yr photos pop out nicely) is fully annoying hacking the code each time just to add a photo, well that's why I thought I might like to run it with a CMS. So i can just click 5 times to add some pictures and crap, eh. Anyway reckon I won't, cos I don't need all that bumpf, but i might use something like ZenPhoto, which does a nice gallery thing. With the opportunity to add like bloggy things there too. That's about all I want. Using a real blog like Ben does, awesome as it is, is not really that good for me, cos I don't have much to say about each sculpture, usually. I like little words to go with my pics. I can't really say much about how they're made, cos mostly they are all made the same way.
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Sickie
Chucked a sickie today. I reckon I was maybe over tired. Sleeping till 2 seemed to help a bit though. I dunno I try to muster all my resources so that I got enough strength for the day job.. I been going to bed by 9pm for ages. But I guess I burned out a bit. I dunno though after yesterday at work, it's like mental torture to go back. I know I should use the slow bits of the day better like update my website or something but its like doing time, u sposed to suffer. the best thing I can do is go make another cup of coffee, and I do that heaps.
Anyway after having the shits with the sculpture yesterday, I did a couple hours this evening on it, I got the angle grinder on it and made big dust storm. Squared off some muscles, cut the bigger looking arm right down, cut some clothing wrinkles in. It's improved.
Anyway after having the shits with the sculpture yesterday, I did a couple hours this evening on it, I got the angle grinder on it and made big dust storm. Squared off some muscles, cut the bigger looking arm right down, cut some clothing wrinkles in. It's improved.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
Not happy
Not happy today. Ratty day at the office. Wasted most of the day attempting to get something done that in the end was under control - well maybe - but a loose unit who never updates any docos had as usual failed to update any docos. That sort of person makes big fail when forced to use ITSM. Or rather, causes big fail to much fucked off co-workers and it's not the first time I've wasted large amt of effort like this.
Could not wait to leave work, got to studio at 4.02pm.
Unfortunately I think my big weekend took a toll and then the shitty day at work just finished me off. Went home a couple hrs later thinking the sculpture is absolute rubbish and unrecoverable. Woe.
Not happy :(
Have been looking at old photos, and I think it's been over-worked now. It's too smooth and too finished. Each body part has become separated, it's not one sculpture anymore, it's a bunch of body parts tied together. As well the anatomy and wrinkles have become too rounded and pretty when it should be notated, squared and precise but look messy like handwriting. Or something. They like em a bit smooth you know, but this is where I call artistic interpretation and whip it off to the foundry when nobody's looking.
It's gonna be hard to cut it back, I'm gonna need power tools. Much dust.
Could not wait to leave work, got to studio at 4.02pm.
Unfortunately I think my big weekend took a toll and then the shitty day at work just finished me off. Went home a couple hrs later thinking the sculpture is absolute rubbish and unrecoverable. Woe.
Not happy :(
Have been looking at old photos, and I think it's been over-worked now. It's too smooth and too finished. Each body part has become separated, it's not one sculpture anymore, it's a bunch of body parts tied together. As well the anatomy and wrinkles have become too rounded and pretty when it should be notated, squared and precise but look messy like handwriting. Or something. They like em a bit smooth you know, but this is where I call artistic interpretation and whip it off to the foundry when nobody's looking.
It's gonna be hard to cut it back, I'm gonna need power tools. Much dust.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Too smooth too rough... i need two heads
OK finally got his face on, about 4 days later than i'd hoped. Considering i only got so few days, thats a bit stressful. It seems to fit though, which is always a worry this point in the game. That its the right size n all. Luckily i seem to have got to a smart ass proficiency stage where things seems to just work ok like that. Big relief, that. Imagine if it was too small or too big. Geez.
The studio is littered with heads now. I think there is like 5 or so. But the one going on is the one moulded off the clay as discussed earlier... the mould weren't too excellent cos the one drop of thixo i put in the rubber to thicken it just made it solidify like f***, much like when i put in 10mls of it. That was a bit disappointing, it was not wanting to go quite into the eye sockets & stuff, but in spite of a few bubbles it come out ok.
With the rest of him, I've somehow smoothed him out all over, which isn't good really, cos now he's too smooth. Before, he was too rough. You cannae win this fight very easily. But i did bring the big gun to the studio today, the electric die grinder. The mofo in the cupboard, that is. When i start that baby up, its all over, red rover. Whatever i want to eliminate is annihilated pretty much as if it never was. Of course u need to direct that kind of power responsibly.
The studio is littered with heads now. I think there is like 5 or so. But the one going on is the one moulded off the clay as discussed earlier... the mould weren't too excellent cos the one drop of thixo i put in the rubber to thicken it just made it solidify like f***, much like when i put in 10mls of it. That was a bit disappointing, it was not wanting to go quite into the eye sockets & stuff, but in spite of a few bubbles it come out ok.
With the rest of him, I've somehow smoothed him out all over, which isn't good really, cos now he's too smooth. Before, he was too rough. You cannae win this fight very easily. But i did bring the big gun to the studio today, the electric die grinder. The mofo in the cupboard, that is. When i start that baby up, its all over, red rover. Whatever i want to eliminate is annihilated pretty much as if it never was. Of course u need to direct that kind of power responsibly.
Early queens birthday monday
Had a rough day yesterday it seems, cos everything hurts today. I think I worked too long, got very tired, and I was hella grumpy on the way home, tho I stopped off at the supermarket which means I was physically still able to function. Mentally not so sure judging by the food I bought, but anyway.
It's come time I think to make a list of all the broken bits of the sculpture and just go thru the list one at a time. Or at least it will be once I get the head on there. That's a big task...
So head first, then I make a list n work thru it every evening after work this week. Next Monday the foundry guys come to mould him in rubber n i guess I get a weekend in there but that is literally the last second... Think I'd rather tick things off each day and goodness me I might even get a moment off on the weekend to try to find a new car. My old car will run out of rego on the 30th n it's not gonna pass again. I think I'd like a van. Dunno, to tell the truth any vehicle will do if I don't have a large commission on the horizon. Any bubble car can carry bags of plaster. Long lengths of steel maybe not but I can ask them to cut em shorter. So ... Any car... Any car that'll carry stuff, and they all carry stuff. This probably requires more than an hour of weekend to choose.
It's come time I think to make a list of all the broken bits of the sculpture and just go thru the list one at a time. Or at least it will be once I get the head on there. That's a big task...
So head first, then I make a list n work thru it every evening after work this week. Next Monday the foundry guys come to mould him in rubber n i guess I get a weekend in there but that is literally the last second... Think I'd rather tick things off each day and goodness me I might even get a moment off on the weekend to try to find a new car. My old car will run out of rego on the 30th n it's not gonna pass again. I think I'd like a van. Dunno, to tell the truth any vehicle will do if I don't have a large commission on the horizon. Any bubble car can carry bags of plaster. Long lengths of steel maybe not but I can ask them to cut em shorter. So ... Any car... Any car that'll carry stuff, and they all carry stuff. This probably requires more than an hour of weekend to choose.
Saturday, June 12, 2010
New post..
Hmm found out iPad can't modify a blog post cos u can't scroll inside a box. That's pretty crap.
Anyway.. What I was gonna pop on the end of that post was that the drawings I been doing actually suck, cos I tend to do em without bothering to hold the sketch pad straight. So they all angled and stretched out when u look at em. You got to look at them from the same angle as I made them, for them to look like a decent drawing. How freaking stupid.... Sometimes it feels like I don't need extra problems, I can make plenty trouble up for myself. :P
Anyway.. What I was gonna pop on the end of that post was that the drawings I been doing actually suck, cos I tend to do em without bothering to hold the sketch pad straight. So they all angled and stretched out when u look at em. You got to look at them from the same angle as I made them, for them to look like a decent drawing. How freaking stupid.... Sometimes it feels like I don't need extra problems, I can make plenty trouble up for myself. :P
Anatomy
I just been drawing some bodies while watching the footy on telly. Pleasantly surprised to find I can draw *loads* better just cos I been studying anatomical things so hard lately. And I can see very clearly what parts I do know from what parts I don't know. Im drawing all confident some areas and fudging others and its painfully obvious which. You'd think I'd know most of it by now, but shit I've only been studying it not much more than 20 years... Giz a break, eh. Reckon I've learned and cemented a lot in the past few weeks though. You can think you done 20 years by doing the same day over and over again, can't ya. Much like riding a motorbike. You can ride for 20 years the same commute, and then crash when you go thru the Nasho. You hain't done 20 yrs, u done the same yr 20 times.
Anyway I got the back, trunk, arms, some parts of the legs. Got them so i can quickly make a drawing out of the muscles. Don't have the arse sorted yet. Arse is difficult for some reason. I think there's some complicated stuff going on there when the pelvis and the torso and the legs all get twisted about. Hmm it's another challenge innit. Those muscles that come down the sides of the stomach are intriguing. (Is it possible to be geeky about muscles???) They give the profile of the lower torso really. How do they work...
Regards the head thing, the people came to see the progress, and they liked the clay head. It's had the surface ripped off it when the rubber mould come off it, but that somehow did give it a good useful surface texture. They like it better than the detailed one that come out of the mould. I agree though. So just some quick repairs to the clay head and I'm making another mould off it.
I'm 2 days into a 4 day weekend and not much has changed.. Scary. Got to get up and get on. My intention was to finish it this weekend, though I do have next weekend too. The Monday after that, the very next day, the foundry starts moulding. It's gonna happen in my studio cos the armature is groaning and flexing and getting some cracks in the plaster. Bit of a worry but if I can just get it finished without it falling to bits.. Fingers crossed.
Anyway I got the back, trunk, arms, some parts of the legs. Got them so i can quickly make a drawing out of the muscles. Don't have the arse sorted yet. Arse is difficult for some reason. I think there's some complicated stuff going on there when the pelvis and the torso and the legs all get twisted about. Hmm it's another challenge innit. Those muscles that come down the sides of the stomach are intriguing. (Is it possible to be geeky about muscles???) They give the profile of the lower torso really. How do they work...
Regards the head thing, the people came to see the progress, and they liked the clay head. It's had the surface ripped off it when the rubber mould come off it, but that somehow did give it a good useful surface texture. They like it better than the detailed one that come out of the mould. I agree though. So just some quick repairs to the clay head and I'm making another mould off it.
I'm 2 days into a 4 day weekend and not much has changed.. Scary. Got to get up and get on. My intention was to finish it this weekend, though I do have next weekend too. The Monday after that, the very next day, the foundry starts moulding. It's gonna happen in my studio cos the armature is groaning and flexing and getting some cracks in the plaster. Bit of a worry but if I can just get it finished without it falling to bits.. Fingers crossed.
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Another long day
Today I made the best wrinkle. Doing wrinkles is a major bit of making a life sized dude, cos in the end you can get a lot of movement n life out of your drapery. In fact yr drapery can hide a few good sins in there n distract from other dodgy bits. Or it can also totally ruin the whole thing, if u muck it up. And it can give it more sense of reality or it can jar your viewer right out of believing anything at all if u do it absolutely rubbish. Anyway this wrinkle just totally makes the left shoulder area n brings the whole back up to a pointy wrinkle n also it points in the direction of the dude's travel kinda sweetly. With a nice little curve in it. Way coolarama. Very pleased with that wrinkle.
I was pleasantly surprised with the whole back actually, when i accidentally walked round the back (i'm a professional sculptor though, really), and saw it's come good, I reckon. With the big footy number on it - love doing the numbers. It's all getting there. The head, maybe not quite there yet, but I did make one in clay n moulded it. I popped out a facsimile today but after a bit of a look I realize the mould were not set right n his nose got shortened n one eye was like sunken, and generally twas buggered. I poured another one n hope that one worked. See tomorrow when I pop it out of the mould.
I was pleasantly surprised with the whole back actually, when i accidentally walked round the back (i'm a professional sculptor though, really), and saw it's come good, I reckon. With the big footy number on it - love doing the numbers. It's all getting there. The head, maybe not quite there yet, but I did make one in clay n moulded it. I popped out a facsimile today but after a bit of a look I realize the mould were not set right n his nose got shortened n one eye was like sunken, and generally twas buggered. I poured another one n hope that one worked. See tomorrow when I pop it out of the mould.
Times a passin
Have kinda lost track of things a bit. I know time is passing, cos it is, but it seems to be moving both fast and slow at the same time. Deadline is fast approaching, yet i seem to be spending many hours in the studio. I guess those two are not mutually exclusive. But there seems to be a lot of time packed into this deadline. Not that i feel like i got enough, but rather i'm fitting a lot in, u might say. Still know what day it is though - every day. Which in itself is unusual.
I tackled the head the other day. Sunday. Out of quite a long day I think i was standing there about 6 hours straight just flogging at this clay head. It didn't want to do anything useful for me but i beat it into submission by sheer force of will. If you put in the hours, many of em, it must get there. I had a sore left leg all night so i guess i had a left leaning sorta day. LOL. Otherwise it was unpolitical.
Days pass slower too when u live alone. I like it, but maybe just cos i'm not at home much, and if i was home all evening i might get depressed. But if that were the case then i'd go to the studio & make something, wouldn't i. Like i'm doing now. Or i'd sit about getting depressed. Nah i'd like to think i'd go to the studio. I think everybody should have a studio.
I would like to do more heads. Would like to get a model, but only if i can get one who'd be unoffended by my failure to make it look much like them. Though if they could sit there 6 hrs, maybe it might get there. I'd have to drug them i guess. There's a guy at work with a fantastic head, and he quite likes my sculptures, so maybe he'd be willing, but i should practice first before i ask him, cos i don't wanna waste that great head by maybe doing a substandard job. Gee listen to me. LOL i think i have a problem, Houston, my brain is stranded out there in the art nebula.
Speaking of f***ed up interpersonal relations.. not that we were.. i thought i'd ask this dude at work out for coffee.. i didn't have any ulterior motive particularly except that he does interesting things out of work time so i thought he might be good to get to know a bit better. I love to find people who have a life, u know. Cos u can always learn something from a fanatic ha ha. Anyway i think i scared him off. He's gone all weird. Damn shame, guess i mucked that up. It shouldn't have been that big a deal. I guess i creeped him out. Or something. I dunno. Maybe its the politics. I don't have any, but other people might. Think too much, not good for anybody.
Been downloading old Life episodes, season 2, of which i never caught any episodes. 'They probably never showed it here' would be a cynical thing to say. Weird zen dude with a past solves murders. They got to have an angle these days, simple alcoholic self hatred doesn't cut it for a detective anymore. I watch an episode whenever i need a lunchbreak in the studio. Having OSX on the little Dell min 10v is awesome. Its better than Win Xp in so many ways, but one important one is that the sound can crank to at least double the volume it used to, so i can actually hear the show even in a noisy studio environ :)
I tackled the head the other day. Sunday. Out of quite a long day I think i was standing there about 6 hours straight just flogging at this clay head. It didn't want to do anything useful for me but i beat it into submission by sheer force of will. If you put in the hours, many of em, it must get there. I had a sore left leg all night so i guess i had a left leaning sorta day. LOL. Otherwise it was unpolitical.
Days pass slower too when u live alone. I like it, but maybe just cos i'm not at home much, and if i was home all evening i might get depressed. But if that were the case then i'd go to the studio & make something, wouldn't i. Like i'm doing now. Or i'd sit about getting depressed. Nah i'd like to think i'd go to the studio. I think everybody should have a studio.
I would like to do more heads. Would like to get a model, but only if i can get one who'd be unoffended by my failure to make it look much like them. Though if they could sit there 6 hrs, maybe it might get there. I'd have to drug them i guess. There's a guy at work with a fantastic head, and he quite likes my sculptures, so maybe he'd be willing, but i should practice first before i ask him, cos i don't wanna waste that great head by maybe doing a substandard job. Gee listen to me. LOL i think i have a problem, Houston, my brain is stranded out there in the art nebula.
Speaking of f***ed up interpersonal relations.. not that we were.. i thought i'd ask this dude at work out for coffee.. i didn't have any ulterior motive particularly except that he does interesting things out of work time so i thought he might be good to get to know a bit better. I love to find people who have a life, u know. Cos u can always learn something from a fanatic ha ha. Anyway i think i scared him off. He's gone all weird. Damn shame, guess i mucked that up. It shouldn't have been that big a deal. I guess i creeped him out. Or something. I dunno. Maybe its the politics. I don't have any, but other people might. Think too much, not good for anybody.
Been downloading old Life episodes, season 2, of which i never caught any episodes. 'They probably never showed it here' would be a cynical thing to say. Weird zen dude with a past solves murders. They got to have an angle these days, simple alcoholic self hatred doesn't cut it for a detective anymore. I watch an episode whenever i need a lunchbreak in the studio. Having OSX on the little Dell min 10v is awesome. Its better than Win Xp in so many ways, but one important one is that the sound can crank to at least double the volume it used to, so i can actually hear the show even in a noisy studio environ :)
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Side torso
OK it looks like each day i'm working on one massive Problem & sorting it. This could be really good. Today i worked on the underneath torso to the side which is difficult to explain but since i can't show it to you either, you just have to believe me that it was really sucky. I cut away a ton & made it concave instead of convex. Awesome, now it looks 10 times better. Or at least, it doesn't stand out as grotesque anymore. Not longer does it have a dogs' balls torso side. So to speak.
Its not the chippin & filin really, its Deciding that u need to reverse an area, thats the hard work part.
I'm stronger now from all this hard work (not deciding, but rather filin) & i can carry a 20kg bag o plaster from the car into the studio without feeling anything, 2 weeks ago it was a back straining experience. Cool huh.
Speakin of studio, the studio is really quite well insulated downstairs (i don't understand why, cos i was expecting to freeze) & its not cold. Its amazing. We also were cool in summer down there. The poor painter types upstairs - heh - they are freezing their butts right off now, and they suffered horribly in the heat in summer. Downstairs, we may feel ignored and shunned, but actually - we rock :) We have climate control u wouldn't believe. And guess what - nobody's telling em upstairs hee hee.
Its not the chippin & filin really, its Deciding that u need to reverse an area, thats the hard work part.
I'm stronger now from all this hard work (not deciding, but rather filin) & i can carry a 20kg bag o plaster from the car into the studio without feeling anything, 2 weeks ago it was a back straining experience. Cool huh.
Speakin of studio, the studio is really quite well insulated downstairs (i don't understand why, cos i was expecting to freeze) & its not cold. Its amazing. We also were cool in summer down there. The poor painter types upstairs - heh - they are freezing their butts right off now, and they suffered horribly in the heat in summer. Downstairs, we may feel ignored and shunned, but actually - we rock :) We have climate control u wouldn't believe. And guess what - nobody's telling em upstairs hee hee.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
More thigh
Well i been working ridiculously hard lately. I think if i knew i was gonna redo the *entire* sculpture each time i did one... well i'd have to just do it wouldn't i. But it mightn't come as such a surprise each time...
Being at home alone has been good. I been able to work late as i want in the studio & not think about anything much. I don't eat much but work hard. I guess this is good, i feel good so there u go. Taking my vitamins & eating healthy stuff. The house is a tip, i have stuff everywhere, but i can find everything which is unusual. The constant rain over the past few weeks means i've worked out how & where to hang my various items of clothing so that each has the ideal drying position based on its shape & material. Jeans dry when hung upside down off a clip hanger attached to a belt tied to the top of the stairs. Very funny eh. Its all working well though.
The sculpture's been a bit of a wildly swinging pendulum, some days i dread going in there, cos its so wrong. But then i just force myself to go in there & hammer at it till i can't go on, like 8 or 10 hrs, & every evening when i can lift my head i go there from work. Somehow this effort is getting it there. Thats always the way. Put in the hours & u get there.
Tonight i got one thigh sorted. What a massive relief it is to just get one bit right. I have to admit i thought i had it right before. But you just move one thing, & then, well,. you got to move everything else to fit that, don't ya. Thats why i redo everything every time.
Being at home alone has been good. I been able to work late as i want in the studio & not think about anything much. I don't eat much but work hard. I guess this is good, i feel good so there u go. Taking my vitamins & eating healthy stuff. The house is a tip, i have stuff everywhere, but i can find everything which is unusual. The constant rain over the past few weeks means i've worked out how & where to hang my various items of clothing so that each has the ideal drying position based on its shape & material. Jeans dry when hung upside down off a clip hanger attached to a belt tied to the top of the stairs. Very funny eh. Its all working well though.
The sculpture's been a bit of a wildly swinging pendulum, some days i dread going in there, cos its so wrong. But then i just force myself to go in there & hammer at it till i can't go on, like 8 or 10 hrs, & every evening when i can lift my head i go there from work. Somehow this effort is getting it there. Thats always the way. Put in the hours & u get there.
Tonight i got one thigh sorted. What a massive relief it is to just get one bit right. I have to admit i thought i had it right before. But you just move one thing, & then, well,. you got to move everything else to fit that, don't ya. Thats why i redo everything every time.
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