Feast your eyes on the sculptures of Noah and Dan. While we are no Michelangelos (yet), I think they show some imagination and skill. Most were made in the “workshop,” an area in Noah’s attic with decent workspace and tools. You can see more shots of these and others in the Sculpture Gallery.
The image above is the first sculpture I ever made. If there are two words to describe most of my art it would have to be “naked people.” I don’t really know why, probably because they’re easy to paint and even easier to sculpt. Most of the figures tend to be bald for the same reason.
This one was very fun to make and took maybe an hour or so to complete. Its made from Stonex clay, as is most of the models on this post. I’ve used Sculpey in the past but I find for my purposes Stonex to be easier. Its easy to sculpt even with minimal tools and dries on its own with no need for an oven or kiln. One drawback of the Stonex is that it is very brittle and will crack. As you get better you learn some techniques on how to prevent cracks and pieces falling off, such as including a wire armature.
These two are my own personal favorite. They’re both my work and depict a skull (probably my most detailed sculpture) and a squatting girl. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to show much detail with my camera and it is very hard to see the girl very well. I’m proud of the girl because it was executed with only a steak knife, as it was the only instrument available at the time.
This sarcophagus isn’t one of my best but seems to be pretty popular. You can open it up to reveal a compartment, and that’s melted solder metal in the blade.
What makes it interesting is its utility. You can actually use it for a small container if you chose to. You could also sculpt or include a skeleton inside. Overall the sword is the best part. We’ve made many molds and melted metal to make faces and such.
Alright it’s time to add some color. These next images feature some of Noah’s work. He generally likes to paint his models, mostly with enamel paints. His pieces tend to be surreal in nature.
They’re almost morbidly cartoony. Here we have a crazy blue face, a green monster or demon and a skull, Noah’s finest sculpture. The skull is painted in bone white enamel paint.
Up next we have perhaps one of our largest examples, the blue man, and one of my favorites the flesh wound. Both are Noah’s art.
Here are some more of Noah’s examples, note some of the different mediums including molded plastic and metal.
The skull in that last one is mine. I love how the metal molds look. This was accomplished by first making a face or head and then imprinting this into some more Stonex to make a cast. A portable frying pan and a pot were used to melt solder which was then poured quickly into the mold. The clear faces are cast resin.
These next are some more examples of my stuff. A hunched over figure:
>And a figure with a pole, sort of like St. Michael killing the serpent, or some other warrior slaying somebody or something.
I accept the way it came out, but as always the final product looks nothing like the image I had in my mind. The legs contain two paper clips which were then nailed to the board for support. I considered using one of the metal faces as a mask for this one but never got around to it. Perhaps a future version will have such a feature.
These headless figures, resembling a Venus de Milo are Noah’s creation.
Here is Noah’s masterpiece the Ugly Lamp! Believe it or not this is an actual working lamp. Its been described by Noah as Kermit the Frog in a microwave.
And finally, the piece de resistance, the model of the James Ensor painting “Scandalized Masks.” This was a lot of fun but it never got completed. We had a chair and table for the man but they were destroyed, and we never got around to making the hat and hair for the woman. The man had hands and a bottle, both of which are missing. I’ve included a reference photo.
So there you have it, a nice little showcase of our sculpture. There will be much more coming out, the “workshop” is still very much in use.
Future posts about sculpture include a visit to the Rodin Museum in Philadelphia and a photography expedition around the city searching for as much statuary as I can find.
Until then, take it easy!
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