Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin

Rachel Kneebone discusses the influences of Rodin on her work as she readies her latest exhibition.

Rachel Kneebone: Regarding Rodin features fifteen iconic works by nineteenth-century French master Auguste Rodin, selected from the Museum's collection by British artist Rachel Kneebone and shown alongside eight of her own large-scale porcelain sculptures.

January 27–August 12, 2012

Elizabeth A. Sackler Center for Feminist Art, 4th Floor

For more information vist the Brooklyn Museum website:

http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/exhibitions/kneebone_rodin/ 

The Shiflett Brothers

The Second Annual Shiflett Bros. and Friends Sculpting Panel.

Industry sculptors Brandon and Jarrod Shiflett are joined on stage by sculpting friends and heroes Paul Komoda, Barsom, Clay Moore, Jordu Schell and Simon Lee in this free-for-all discussion about the craft, process, and industry of comic book and fantasy sculpting. This is the sculpting panel in its entirety as filmed during the San Diego Comic-Con on July 24th, 2009. 

(Part 1 of 6) Source: YouTube / ProfessorOreo 

An interview with the guys can be found up on The Gnomon Workshop site here: http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/news/2009/10/interview-the-shiflett-brothers/

http://www.shiflettbrothers.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/ShiflettBros 

Kris Kuksi

A walkthrough video of Kris Kuksi's exhibition "The Plague Parade: Opus 2" Joshua Liner in November 2009.

Also covered here:
arrestedmotion.com/​2009/​11/​openings-kris-kuksi-beast-anthology-joshua-liner-gallery/​

facebook.com/​pages/​Kris-Kuksi-Art/​361630510281

From Vimeo by Arrested Motion.

Back to ZBrush

Before I ever had a website, back before I went Self Employed, I ran a blog over on Blogspot called DigitalWAX. The purpose of which was to document my transition from a traditional sculptor to mastering a digital toolset. I fell in love with ZBrush, was determined to switch career path and I began to embrace the concepts of a digital work flow. As life does, when we make plans, the option to go freelance sprung up and I haven't had time to stop since. Zbrush had to take a back seat to all the new priorities that my career twist presented. Untill now.

Back to ZBrush

ZBrush 4 was released late August, and with it came a whole new set of functions and smoothed out work flows. The beta-tester's images blew my mind and I updated my software and sat back down at the pc with a reborn passion for the digital sculpting techniques.

First thing I found was my general inability to use the program as I remembered. The interface had once again became an alien thing to me. Simple working methods had faded with time  since I last used the program. I was once again a floundering novice. Time to start afresh.

So once again, I begin a transitional journey, and once again I plan to document the experience.

Lets begin...

During my first foray into the ZBrush territory I attended an online sculpting class and as part of the work flow we first set up image planes. This is what I needed to relearn. 

My first duty was gather some resources around me to get my knowledge back up and running. First stop is always going to be ZBrush's home at Pixologic.com and the galleries and forums of ZBrushcentral. Also, I picked up ZBrush Essentials Magazine but I found it skipped the essentials in favour of repeating the same project over, but with different artists. There is some nice work in there and a a lot of helpful advice but it was not what I needed.

Then I hit YouTube, to view the new ZB4 videos from ZBRUSHatPIXOLOGIC which got me exited again, but a search for 'image planes' led me to a great find: Canned Mushrooms ZB4 DVD series playlist. This is exactly what I needed to kick things off again, so I pressed play and had the first chapters play out while I was working, with intentions of re-watching whilst using Zbrush later.

his chapter on the skull sparked my attention and I immediately booted up ZBrush and followed along. Here's some images of my tinkerings...

Stage 01: SHAPE - Setting up the Image planes, to use with 'shadowbox', generates basic skull shape.

STAGE 02: FORM - Form re-done with separate Jaw. Forms cleaned up and less dense mesh generated (ReMesh All)

Stage 03: REFINE - Forms refined to fit Image Planes. Teeth to be separately added at later stage.

Stage 04: RETOPOLOGY - lines drawn onto skull to show flow of form. New Mesh constructed to follow form better.

Stage 05: POLYMESH - Mandible and Cranium Re-Meshed with neat topology. These can be used to generate UV Maps from.

Stage 06: SUB DIVIDE - The finished Polymesh, divided once, ready for sculpting details upon.

The six steps above required two days to complete. This could be sped-up, but as I was refreshing myself to the process, much net trawling and deliberation was necessary.

Next I'll make a set of teeth and generate UV Maps, before moving into sculpting and detailing. I'll document these in the next post. Also I'll detail the procedure of setting up the 'Image Planes' in a dedicated post, a process that is hard to find a sufficient tutorial on, and tricky to figure out as a novice.

I'll be back in a few days.

Figurative Sculpture Class (addendum)

The Introduction to Figurative Sculpting class that I hosted at Mushroom Works art studio wrapped this week after six weeks of two-hour sessions.

The class went well and our model Chris enjoyed the sessions as much as the students. The first week we spent the time familiarising ourselves with the tools and materials. Each student made a facial feature, at life size.

During the second week we made an 18 inch armature based on the below image.  

Over the following four sessions we sculpted upon this armature, from a life model. The results from only 8 hours study time (including coffee breaks), and for an introductory lesson were impressive.

 The course will begin again in the new year, details will be announced soon.

An Introduction to Figurative Sculpture

I'm tutoring a course at The Mushroom Works Studio...

An Introduction to Figurative Sculpture

9th September - 14th October 2010, Thursday nights 6-8pm

COURSE OUTLINE

An introduction to figurative sculpting is a fully tutored weekly class, which will take you through the basics of sculpting from a life model. Starting right at the beginning this six week course is ideal for those with little or no experience of sculpting from life. The course is lead by a professional sculptor (Me!) and each week you will receive a handout of notes to accompany the lesson.

WEEK ONE

Introduction to wax, tools & equipment required 
Taster sculpt: Nose / Lips / Ear / Eye

WEEK TWO

Armature construction. Setting up base and armature. Scale.

WEEK THREE

The model. Choosing a pose.
Blocking in the pose. Proportion and gesture. Balance. Gravity.

WEEK FOUR & FIVE

The sculpt - building up and refining.
Anatomy. Shape vs Form vs Detail. Landmarks. Muscles.

WEEK SIX

Finishing off/detailing. What next? Notes on Moulding & Casting.

 

Price: £65 for the six week course.

All Materials Supplied.

Class sizes are limited for this course, so please book quick to avoid disappointment

to book please email nick@mushroomworks.com or telephone 0191 224 4011

http://www.mushroomworks.com/index.php?id=5&c=events&a=event_basic&i=34

Beth Cavener Stichter

I thought I would share some images from Beth Cavener Stichter's website http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/.

The animalistic sculptures capture both an emotional personality and psychological tension in their proportions and gesture. A view into the human condition frozen within animal form.

The sculptures create an empathy with the viewer. You feel responsible for them - want to help them...

I couldn't possibly do them justice with words. So here they are...

Her Artists Statement reads:

"There are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality.

          Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation. The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words we speak out-loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one's hands, the tightening of muscles in the shoulders, the incline of the head, the rhythm of a walk, and the slightest unconscious gestures. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.

          I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. The figures are feral and uneasy, expressing frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures are engaged with the subjects of fear, apathy, violence and powerlessness.

Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke."

All information & images gathered from Beth's website here:

http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/index_main.htm

Pan and Daphnis

In Greek mythology, Daphnis (from Gk. daphne, "laurel" or "bay-tree") was a son of Hermes and a Sicilian nymph. A shepherd and flutist, he was the inventor of pastoral poetry. A naiad (possibly Echenais or Nomia) fell in love with him, but he was not faithful to her. In revenge, she either blinded him or turned him to stone. Pan also fell in love with him and taught him to play the pan pipes.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daphnis)

(Above)
Marble statue of Pan teaching Daphnis to play the pipes.
2nd century CE. Roman copy of a 2nd century BCE Greek original.
Archeological Museum, Naples.

(Above) Pan Seducing Daphne - looks like he's about to get a sandal wrapped around his chops.

Pan and Maenad ( http://www.ancientsculpturegallery.com/ )

(Above) Pan Raping Goat - He gets himself about (No information found)

“I rave; and I rape and I rip and I rend

Everlasting world without end!

Mannikin, maiden, maenad, man,

In the might of Pan.”

– Hymns to Pan (1929)  Aleister Crowley

Appleseed: Briareos Model Kit

This must be one of the most impressive models I have seen... The finish quality of the model is superb. I would love to have seen the final tool of this before it went for mass production.

The Poseable Model Kit from Hot Toys is the cyborg Briareos from Appleseed - Ex Machine, the popular Manga & Anime. I aint read the Manga or seen the recent (2006?) Movie and I can barely recall the first feature, but I have always loved Masumune Shirow's design of the cyborg character.

http://www.sideshowtoy.com/cgi-bin/category.cgi?item=6363#jpgs

Ron Mueck

There is no denying the supreme craftmanship of Ron Mueck, who without doubt stands in line with greatest sculptors of all time; Michelangelo, Bernini, Rodin... Ron Mueck.

http://blip.tv/file/94203?filename=Brooklynmuseum-RonMueckFullVersionForHighSpeedConnections559.flv

The Hyper-Realist Sculptor started his career as a modelmaker for TV and Film, notably supplying animatronics and puppets for the Jim Henson/George Lucas movie Labyrinth. Moving eventually into the Fine Arts with his Satchi commisioned piece Dead Dad.

Mueck's works are sculpted then cast in resin or sometimes silicone so that each hair can be punched into the surface. Seeing his work in print or online is fascinating but seeing them for real is mind blowing and somewhat disturbing.

The Gaurdian have a great article on Ron Mueck here: http://arts.guardian.co.uk/features/story/0,,1842696,00.html

Flickr Photo set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/themodern/sets/72157601021948061/

and for more information:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ron_Mueck