The Lady of Shalott - (Developmental Sculpture Study)

I often do tutorials for sculptures I am working on, especially if they involve new or experimental techniques. But sometimes a piece is just created spontaneously with no forethought other than the shape of a piece of wood or the desire to use a particular object in its creation. With those it is sometimes more difficult to create a tutorial around. But some of the insights involved in their development can still be of interest. In fact I find these pieces the most intriguing because I often stumble upon some things hidden to my conscious mind when I am creating them. 

So with that said, this begins the first a new series of blog entries I am calling "Developmentals".

The dictionary defines Development as: the act or process of developing; growth; progress

This suits fine for a series of photos and subnotes referring to a specific piece of art. These will not be tutorial pieces. And will mostly be shots of the work table. I will not go in depth into the design process but I will point out aspects that I think are important to the process. 

I hope you find interest in these and as always commentary is welcome. 

Slide #1
Starting Point

Here you see laid out some of the preliminary components that I think might suit this piece. I've chosen a piece of driftwood with character and interesting patterns but with no clear design as to where the piece is going. Many of these components will never be used, but I place them nearby to be played with later. 

Slide #2

The large tower you see to the rear was a piece built for a previous sculpture which was later removed. But a lot of work went into its construction, so I set it aside for possible future use. The female sculpture to the front is a statue of the Santeria goddess Yemaya that I purchased at our local voodoo store a few months ago. When I decided to use her in this piece I suddenly felt like the piece needed to be named The Lady of Shalott. It reflects her origins in Arthurian legend where she lives on an island castle in the midst of a river which flows to Camelot. 

Slide #3

I've decided that the base around the tower and wood needs to be water, so I've had to raise the tower up to the level of the wood. I've created a ramp that will be added later as a cross over. The tower is on raised blocks stamped into the natural clay.

Slide #4

The water is now in place using a mix of clay, glue and silicon to create some wave. Everything has been black based to ready it for actual color detailing

Slide #5

The first color has now been applied to the sculpture. I tried to go with a complimentary color scheme that matched the tower. I think I got it right. The water needs quite a bit of work still. I also added the columns leading up to the lady. 

Slide #6

Here you get a real good look at what is emerging. I was not happy with the water, so I went out and bought some silicon (thats what you see in the white). I redesigned the water to give it a choppier look. I also sanded along the driftwood and the tower to make it look like the waves are crashing against the sand. Over I'm very pleased so far with the results.

Slide #7,8,9

Here I am about 95% complete with the piece. The water finally came out the way I wanted it. There are several coats of polyurethane left to be added. After that the piece will be ready. We are considering using this piece in our next Art Garden event as a free raffle giveaway. We shall see. I will post the final photos here once its finished. 

FINAL IMAGES

Here are the final images for the piece. Its been placed on a 72 hour Pay What You Want pricing. After that if its not sold then it will go to the Art Garden as a free raffle prize. 

Comments and questions are welcomed on this piece!