How to make a bronze bas relief award plaque honoring Bob Barker...Part 3

My plaque came back from the foundry.
Lee chopped off the sprues, welded a hanger on the back (just in case it's ever taken from its frame), and gave it a once over in the sandblast cabinet.

sandblasted bronze, ready for patina

After that, it's time for me to create the patina (being sure to take all the necessary safety precautions, of course).
I gave it a soak in sulphurated potash (just a sprinkle, mixed in water) to turn it black.
Then I scrubbed it back with a scotch brite pad, and then some very fine steel wool.

After that, I heated it with a weed burning torch and sprayed on a mix of ferric nitrate and cupric nitrate, then waxed it while hot.

A quick buffing after it cooled was all that was needed before popping it into a its frame.

Next stop: Mercy For Animals.
Final destination: Bob Barker!

I've cast only two of this version (one to be given to Bob, and one for me to keep), but when I get a bunch of my non-award version cast (which has a cloudy sky instead of award lettering and will be sent to galleries) I'll post pics of that too.

This has been both an honor and a great deal of fun to make.
Thanks Mercy For Animals!

And thanks Lee for helping me get it done in time!

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Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

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Through a glass darkly...here's a spooky looking scene...

Cut up bits and pieces embedded in mold material, waiting to be cut out so waxes can be made.

You might recognize the snail from one of my shoe horns, and of course a tree frog which I'm making as a stand alone wall mounted frog.

That isn't Rumplestiltskin in the background spinning straw into gold, it's Lee flattening the bottoms of my Bumper to Bumper mid size turtles.
Somehow he manages to keep his fingers off that fast spinning abrasive disk (I'm very glad to say).

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

Impatience vs Perfectionism...

So you have an idea for a piece.
And you're itching to see it done.
You have some clue of how certain things must look - how good they have to be - in order to make seeing it finished worth while.
If you're anything like me these two opposing forces of impatience and perfectionism pop up as a dialogue time and again when you're working on a piece.

Just like the little devil on one shoulder, and the little angel on the other, lazy Steve and perfectionist Steve perch whispering in my ears...

'Go on, just slap a bunch of clay on there and fill out the shape, you'll get an idea of how it will look finished much sooner that way'

'Don't listen to him, get the proportions right, you'll only have to pull it all off and do it over when you realize the proportions are all wrong'

'Come on, this is taking forever, why don't you just fill out that bit really quickly and see how it looks'

'You know if you don't work out from the skeleton and carefully add the muscles before you concern yourself with the surfaces it'll look like a lifeless blob, then where will you be?

'Don't listen to him, your sketch is lively enough, did you start from inside out with that?'

'You're only going to make it once in clay, it will be around forever in bronze, and it will have your name on it. You want to cringe and wince every time you see it?'

First little clay sketch I did of sumo wrestling toads

Completed clay (table top size)

Sumo wrestling toads large version in bronze

There's lots of other thoughts and feelings swirling around besides these, but  these tugs of war never go away for long!

Although I do take pride and pleasure in the things I've made, as soon as something's done, then there's always the next thing.
But the last thing still has to take on its final appearance in bronze.
And there's always a lot to be done before that happens.

And time itself continues the work where I left off, hopefully revealing depth and character and continuing to tell the story of each work through the changing patina of age.

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

Trying some things out, and this year's Barkin' Ball...

Tiny swimming bronze turtles in resin 'water'

Originally I wanted to make bronze turtles swimming through glass that was cast around them.
But I asked a glass blower and learned that it would crack and break up as it cooled around the hard metal, so I explored other options, deciding to give a urethane resin a try.
I was advised to wear rubber gloves and eye protection, and avoid getting the uncured resin on my skin, as some people have an allergy to it and can develop a poison oak type of reaction.
And if you aren't allergic to it, you can become sensitive to it, so best avoid the situation and cover up.

Once it's cured it's completely harmless, clear, and hard as nails.
Just like what I wanted glass for, so I gave it a go.

turtles on the window sill while the 'water' cures

paraphernalia

You have to be really precise in mixing the A and B volumes. That's what the syringes are for.
The straws are for stirring them together.
And once mixed you have a limited working time before it starts to 'go off'.
And you have to keep it quite warm (ideally 140ºF) while it sets, or it will never cure completely.
So the window sill and a lamp took care of that.
The bronze was too hot to touch all afternoon.

Well I really like the effect, especially with a greeny colored patina under it, to contrast with the turtles.
It's got me interested in coming up with other things to do with it!

Mike finished the metalwork on my tree frogs on a vine and did a very nice job on the patina (of course!).
I'm undecided as yet about which base I prefer. I'm having the round metal one all tarted up so I can compare them side by side. I like its minimal profile, but I also like the reflectiveness of the granite.
We'll see...

Mike Masse doing his thing on my tree frogs on a vine

unfinished metal base

Barkin' Ball came along unexpectedly quickly this year. I almost didn't get my mice in on time!

Yee-haw! It's Barkin' Ball 2010.

These critters found a great home...

But I'm glad to say they found a great home at the end of the silent auction to benefit the humane society's animal shelter here in Santa Fe.

The Mouse Project cover and page layouts are coming along nicely, I'm using Lulu.com, so I'll have to post a few pics of them next time around. I haven't done the wordy bits yet. But soon I will have done, then as soon as the last pics come in I should be just about able to drop 'em in and be all done!

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

My mouse project painting in acrylic...step by step from start to finish

I thought Craig Nelson cured me of painting more than a decade ago.
Meridee took me to his very popular week long painting class at the beautiful Asilomar conference center in Pacific Grove, California.
After spending a week hunched over a tiny easel (my easel!) on a very uncomfortable chair (my chair!) for about 12 hours a day I could hardly stand up straight again for a month.

That week didn't turn me into a painter, it turned me into a garden gnome!

I vowed to put away my brushes and never go near a paint tube again...

But after all the wonderful mouse paintings I'm seeing from everyone, I was inspired to:-
• unearth my old acrylics (they were buried under a bunch of carpet underlay foam in a big old cardboard box),
• re-acquaint myself with my old brushes (carefully stored in a plastic bag in case of emergencies) and
• give it a go.

I'd spent much longer messing about with paint brushes before I moved on to sculpting, so I was quite curious to see if I could remember how to make those odd little sticks with the hairy ends work!

After setting up my mice I borrowed a trick from Claudia Hammer using duct tape and some string to help scribble my mice onto a piece of masonite.

Here's how the painting progressed...

I used a Sharpie to sketch in the shapes...

I started in monochrome, exaggerating highlights and focusing on silhouettes.

Then I added a bit of modeling and brightened the shadows.

It's starting to look a bit ghostly now! John Watkiss teaches a method of painting where you alternate between scumbles and glazes. The scumbles have a very softening effect, so you have to be overly angular and sharp with the transparent paint to compensate for it.

Another thing he says is that you must not be scared to lose your painting in the process. 

You have to find it again later. 

Gulp...Here goes....

Ewww! Well that surely needs finding again!

A background re-paint and some more back and forth on the mice and it's starting to look respectable, I was very relieved to discover... 

I snagged a frame from Meridee, since I found one that happened to be 16"x20" in a pile of other sizes.

Those mice clean up quite nicely after all!

I didn't get the level of crispness in some of the strokes I would have liked, but all in all a fairly decent effort, if I'm allowed to say so myself!

Both Craig Nelson and John Watkiss will be turning in mouse paintings soon, and I for one am dying to see them!

Click HERE for more Mouse Project posts.

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

The Rolls Royce of shoe horns, part one...

The start...

I'm getting the absolute Rolls Royce of shoe horns.
In an act of extreme self indulgence I'm getting the finest museum quality shoe horn ever made!
The most uniquely perfect one that money can't buy.
I don't own it yet, and money can't buy it, because I haven't finished making it.
But I've started.

But why? I hear you ask...

When it comes to sneakers I'm supremely lazy.
I never untie the laces, I just jam my feet in and stamp down, so the heel area is always the first to go since it gets turned inside out every time I put them on.
I can still hear my mum's voice in the back of my head all these years later.
And I still ignore it (sorry mum!).

Because my overall body shape is essentially a bowling ball perched atop some very long skinny legs, I'm also reluctant to bend all the way down. It would be like asking a stick insect to do push ups with a bag of nails on its back. So most of the maneuvering of the sneakers occurs with my feet.

The hunt is on...

Naturally, after only a few decades of this I went on a hunt for a shoe horn.
I wondered if they still existed. Didn't they go out with the ark?
I found one in about ten seconds at Wal-Mart for around $6.50, and it works great.
It has a nice long handle and a scoopy bottom, so now I can apply sneakers to my feet hassle free.

But while it functions flawlessly, it looks like a cheap piece of crap and I want a shoe horn that could live in a museum.
Then I can use it every day and feel like an Egyptian deity each and every time I put my sneakers on.
It's just the way I am, and I'm sure Egyptian deities were like that too.
You can call me old fashioned if you like!

Diddling tree frog race car...

I'm still diddling around with the design. I might go with just what I originally had in mind, or maybe change it a bit. Perhaps make it a bit longer (but only if it doesn't mess up it's race car good looks).

Of course no shoe horn worth its museum quality salt would be complete without a tree frog sitting on the handle. Or perhaps some other critter.
And of course it will have to be made of something timeless and durable.
Mmmm.
Bronze would seem like a good choice!

So enjoy these pics as the Rolls Royce of shoe horns begins to take shape, and stay tuned of course for further updates...

I started out with something like this in mind...

Here's my drawing covered with wax paper, and some wax rods nearby...

Melting the wax 'carrots' in a metal bowl over a pan of simmering water. Just like how you'd melt chocolate. Mmmm. Chocolate...

Strangely I saw a face like a bear wearing a bellhop's cap in the melting wax. Could it be the fumes...?

The wax has been poured over the wax paper. It's hard to tell, but I could just see the drawing through the wax. You can see I used my business card as a squeegee, and I left the oven glove floating around for scale...

I cut out the shape with a knify type tool and peeled the wax paper off the back. Some got a bit stuck, so there's probably a better way of doing that I don't know about...

While the wax was still quite warm I cunningly shaped it around various tubes around the house. Vacuum cleaner, light stands, you name it. Then I popped a tree frog where I was thinking of having one, and made a hole for a leather cord or chain to go through.

The red wax shoe horn shape is getting molded (without the tree frog), so I'll have harder wax duplicates to play with later, for the next exciting installment of the Rolls Royce of shoe horns...

Oh, and don't forget of course, the end of this month is only a few days away, and is the DEADLINE for entering my latest win-a-mouse contest (click HERE).

Click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

Tree frogs in progress- Tree frogs on a vine

Yep, they're a bit dark and a bit blurry, but they're not finished and I like 'em that way since it adds a little wiggle room for your imagination, and they feel somehow more alive!

I've been busy with all sorts of un-related things (some of which will find their way onto this blog) so these frogs are taking WAY longer to finish than they should...(I can't believe they've been sitting around since December...)

Hope you're liking 'em so far!
My muse is still eating far too many crickets, an amphibious creature after my own heart (except of course you'd have to change out the crickets for something more like cheese. Or peanuts.).

Or a nice vindaloo. Mmm. Always good.


click these links to visit my website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

How this way of enlarging your work by yourself could save you time, money and headaches!

I've re-made a few of my pieces in different sizes.
I didn't know how to do it, so I just muddled through with a calculator and a photocopier and lots of scraps of paper.

If I'd known about this other way of doing it I'd have saved myself a bunch of time and headaches.

I wish I'd known about this right from the get-go!

It's based on the notion that the ratio of enlargement of the overall height from your model to the intended enlargement, is the same for all the other measurements you can make.
Same for an arm, a head, a nose (even a very long nose), whatever.

Like most things useful I find out about, it's as old as the hills and I reckon I must be about the last person on earth to hear about it. I found this method in a book 'The Sculptor's Way' by Brenda Putnam, published by Dover.

Just in case I'm not the absolute last person to hear about it, here goes…

The long line at the bottom (AB) is as long as the height of the intended enlargement.
With some calipers, measure the height of your small piece. Put one end of the calipers at the far end of the long line (B), and make an arc.
The radius of the arc is the height of your small piece.
From the near end of the long line (A), make a longer diagonal line that just touches the arc.
This line is what you use to figure out your proportions.

Say you want to find out how long to make the leg of your enlargement.
Measure the small model's leg with calipers, and make an arc the same way you did at the end of the long line, but this time it will be closer to the near end, somewhere between A and B. So you slide one end of the calipers along the base line until you can make an arc that just touches the diagonal line.
The caliper will only be able to do this at one point on the base line, C.

The distance from point A to your caliper point on the base line 'C' is the length of the leg of the enlargement (AC).
And so on with all your other measurements.
I suppose you could even use string to measure circumferences (lay the string out and use it like it was any other measurement).
If you did that you might have to extend the lines beyond your original arc, if you're making something very fat.

Pretty neat huh?
All you need to do is make the original triangle type lines on a big bit of cardboard or something, and you're all set.
You need calipers that are small enough to measure off your small model and others big enough to use for your large one, but getting them is well worth it for the grief you'll be saved!

And even better, you can reverse the equation to reduce pieces.
The radius of the first arc is how big you want the piece reduced to, the base line is how big your original piece is.

Of course you still have to do all the actual work!
If money is no object but you're short on time, do what a lot of people do and get a digital enlargement in foam to serve as an armature and finish it off with clay!
I have never tried this, but if I had to make an enlargement that was really huge, say a life sized elephant for example, I think I'd go that route.

This is the largest of my Senior Moments at about 20" tall (I made four different sizes).

My website... SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
My Etsy store, CritterVille