Refining the emotion of Loss

 Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Haven't been able to post as regularly as I'd like. So - back to the sculpt of "Loss". I did some extra work and ultimately wasn't needed and wasn't diligent enough of photo. For instance I fully sculpted both ears - which are completely covered by the blowing hair. But sometimes you change direction with work and the ears may have shown - at the very least they are a form that takes up space under the hair, so their presence is still felt.

I also sculpted the hands and arms several times - trying to get just the right pose. The tendrils of blowing hair are tricky - casting shadows upon the face, which is fine with me, however may be a problem in casting in bronze - I'll be checking with the foundry. The costs of casting increase dramatically with extra work, so it's a delicate balance.

You'll see in the full length images that she is standing on a long base, which is her shadow. This is how the emotion of loss feels to me - engulfing and swallowing (shown by the hair and dress swirling about her) with nothing but darkness ahead - represented by the long shadow.

The shadow has a hole it in - the feeling of a hole in your heart.

Now that the forms are in place and proportions set  I will take some time to refine the entire piece and then take some photos with better lighting.

15" high by 16" long in waterbased clay.

Sculpting emotion of Loss continued

 I've been inundated with publishing deadlines, so haven't had much time for sculpting. I've finished with blocking in the forms and establishing the figure. Before I go too much further, I need to determine the flow of the hair and dress.

When I work on a sculpt, it is very important to me that all the parts work in agreement. In my tiny maquette of this, the dress was fairly still and the hair was blowing away from the face, however as I work on this I'm leaning more towards the hair and dress blowing forward and whipping around and past her face. This will cast some shadows and obscure her face a bit however I think the effect will be one of loneliness and a feeling of being enveloped and overwhelmed - which, to me, is how loss feels.

So - I will refine her forms and her face before putting on the dress and hair, but this gives me a better idea of things. Next I will cut off the hair, dress and arms. The hands are next on the agenda and will be difficult to do. Once I've finished the arms and hands and re-attached, it will be time to sculpt the hair, dress and sandals - the zen icing on the cake in terms of working and I'm really looking forward to that part. I'm sure I'll be playing a lot of quiet cello music on my Pandora when getting to those nuances - the mood must all match...

CT3 Water-based clay over a wire armature to be made into bronze.