January 27, 201511 yr Wonderful work, once again. Every new project you post makes me wish more and more that I lived within visiting distance.
January 27, 201511 yr Excellent -Very nice! I love your work man, You are an Artist in every sense of the word Ironmike
January 28, 201511 yr Would like to be able to look at in person so I could see all the little details you incorperated into this sculpture . I like the eye brows. Good job
January 28, 201511 yr Author THANK YOU : njanvilman, billyO Ironmike and Spanky Im happy u guys are not bored with this stuff. Frosty, this work is going to a private collector in Sydney into a beautiful secret garden in an industrial area. tdaleh the eyebrows were the tips of a pair of calipers (like a set of compass points) used to transfer measurements from one object to one being created by a blacksmith or artisan . I did a few runs over them with a thin cutting wheel of my 4"angle grinder to simulate hair in the eyebrow. Thanks for your interest in my work.
January 28, 201511 yr Really stunning man, I hope you are getting richly rewarded for your efforts :)
January 28, 201511 yr A wonderful piece, Andrew. I spend a lot of time examining the details in your photos. I like the idea of the horseshoes for the soles of the boots. The waist coat appears to have a coppery look - or maybe just light rust. Reo bar for the fingers works well ... you must use a lot of oxy in the bending. (I always complain about the price of oxy/acet - not the gas mainly, but the rental!) I was trying to figure what you used for the hair. At first I thought shearer's combs, but on closer look I think maybe pieces cut from a diff crown wheel?? Anyway, nicely done, mate.
January 28, 201511 yr Author Thank you everyone for the encouraging words. Ianinsa well we all know that us artists are never paid what we would like. I have dreams of one day only doing 2 pieces a year ,unhurried.. , and making enough to live off. sparky yes the shoes were interesting ,the toe caps are from a fire extinguisher bottle (check out the embossed stamped letters of weight etc) the leather uppers were made from "knock on scarafier mountinh clips) so its all natural curvature. The eyelets I had to blow out with a stick welder on high amps as the steel is too hard for a drill to scratch. Ausfire the waistcoat is copper from an old "copper"(wood fired water heating vessel) it even has real copper buttons secured with copper thread(wire) . The white shirt is old lead sheet from roof flashings. the color (colour) is natural oxidation. probably a lead sulphate or something . The hair is made from short lengths of "rasp bars " off an old header harvester they are normally around 800 mm long, they ground against the wheat grains to thrash off the outer husk. I trimmed some of the tapered end to simulate some locks of hair near the neck and suit coat.
February 2, 201511 yr Author here is the small suitcase that goes with the migrant. it weighs about 80 lb . and is made from heavy walled steel concrete curb and gutter formwork . the handle is an old wool bale hook (points removed) buckles are harvester chain. lock/latches are trimmed hinge plus hand made lock mechanism . if someone steals this they wont want to carry it far!
February 2, 201511 yr Having read all the above posts, I must admit that saying what I wanted to say or what I am tryjng to say about your work would only repeat wjhat others have said. It was about admiration, pleasure, enthousiasm, inspiration and a drive to looki at the world and the objects in it not as they appear but as they are capable of being and all this from your work. And there should also be words about your perseverance. By the way, it could never be boring. It will always be interesting. Yves
February 2, 201511 yr Good "impressionism" on the figure; good scale; good proportion; good trompe-l'oell on the suitcase. Keep on keepin' on!
February 3, 201511 yr Author Thank you Yves and Old south for such a vote of approval , I am so happy that you get some enjoyment from my art .that is why I do it ! Frank Turley ... I don't have any formal art training so I would love to know what makes the figure have "impressionism" charactersitics . I associate that term with those beautiful French multi coloured dot and stroke paintings I was fortunate enough to see at our national museum whilst they were on a short loan /tour. I am happy that you think the small suitcase is a good copy of the real thing . I am sure the children will attempt to open it!!!
February 4, 201511 yr Scrapartoz, I don't have formal art training either. I put "impressionism" in quotes. My thinking is as an impressionist painter suggests the figure or landscape with small brush strokes, so you are suggesting a figure, if a viewer can look beyond the found objects assemblage.
February 5, 201511 yr Author Tricks of the trade #1. have you ever wondered how you can position the eyeballs in exactly the right place in relation to nose and front /rear setting? so you don't have to cut and re weld many times? Here is the trick (FIRST BUILD A NOSE AND BROW) .1. put each eye on a wire stem (the longer the better) and clamp the stem onto a rail at the rear using vice grips .2 once u are happy with front /rear position then spot weld to rail at rear. 3 Now working from the front you can adjust each eye on its wire stem to achieve that perfect position . once u are happy ,then improve the weld then build the upper and lower eyelids .build them then play around with the position, you will be amazed at how small adjustments can change the " attitude " of the subject.
February 13, 201511 yr Just amazing, Andrew! Do you build strictly from your imagination or do you use pictures as reference to achieve the life-like look?
February 14, 201511 yr Author Tricks of trade # 2 Hi. Josh , Yes I cheat ! On the internet if you look up Golden mean or golden ratio or Fibonacci sequence you will find the perfect proportions for human face and body ( Brad Pitt and Angelina are mathematically identical and 'built' according to the ratio of 1: 1.62 (look it up you will understand) ............... SO on my beer fridge I have a life size, front on, and profile facial image drawn according to the 'Divine Ratio' in chinagraph pencil . it gives me all angles, sizes and relative positions . If im building a man I just deviate slightly from the plan ( eg broken, bent nose?). The natural diversity of materials used will ensure no 2 faces are the same .
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