Sturgeon Mama - sculptural form in foam and clay

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(Update Oct.15, 2011: Added more pics and sculpting description)
Most pics click for larger detail.

The #SturgeonMama sculptural model has been created by carving the rough form in a stiff plastic extruded foam, with steel wire brushes. This left a roughened exterior which bonded well with warmed/worked oil-base modeling clay.

It has been built-up and modified considerably as it has resolved into its current incarnation. In the future, this form could be significantly reworked to produce a different form. When I had the foam core at the park, I mused aloud about "carving the guts out of it" and making a hollow sturgeon with detail inside, reminiscent of the Morriseau "X-ray" stylisation. Maybe later.

After a quick reference glance at some sturgeon pics, it became obvious that the tail was all wrong, so I used a serrated putty knife, some foam scraps and a whole lotta hot-glue to correct the tail fins. The rough foam-carving had been done without a reference picture, but fit well to the new fin positions; the plan had always been to mount the dorsal fin after initial carving.

The body is highly stylised; with its "rib segment" look and diamond "scutes" (large scales along the sides and back. The scutes along the body parallel the lateral line of the fish, while the scutes of the back are represented by the rippled line of the profile.

Much of the form's resolution was informed by the conscious shaping of the back end of the body, where it meets the tail and along the belly. It is in this curve that the fish grows heavy with its spawn. The expansion of the belly and increased depth of the body necessitated the movement of the pelvic fins back and lower on the form.





The accompanying video has audio from the fabled "lost episode" of Zzorhn and BingoRage Wandercast. Actually, we had too many beers and had lost most verbal command; so, it's really not lost, just not totally useable. The paper cast of the model will be installed at Spirit Fire Park in the spring. This is a link to the BingoRage posting describing our "Sturgeon Mama" sponsorship project at #SpiritFirePark; please pass along to friends seeking ways to spend lotsa cash.

Miigwetch.
:Eric



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Tags: sturgeon, Sturgeon Mama, sculpture, fish art, clay, Spirit Fire Park, paintball, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

T-Bird Finally Catches Sturgeon.

Heyo, all BingoRagers.
Sorry for the long drought of new material, here. I have been spending much of my time preparing a grant application for my Broken Vulture Art and my buddy, Joe's, Spirit Fire Park. Fortunately, this period has also seen the creation of much new material.

I hereby present the evolution of the newest canvas;

"T-Bird -Finally- Catches Sturgeon"

All pics click to enlarge

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I began this painting by sketching the major elements with coloured chalk on a primed canvas.















Detail of "T-Bird" head, in-progress.

















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Wikipedia entries for thunderbird (T-bird) and sturgeon.

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Tags: Thunderbird, Sturgeon, Native art, legendary creature, Ojibway Art, acrylic paint, art canvas, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics

One day painting challenge at Fort Frances High School.

"Sturgeon Hunt" [Pics click to enlarge.]

I was asked to provide an art demonstration, for Aboriginal Awareness Week, at the local high school, so I agreed to create a box frame, stretch canvas and finish a painting...
in the span of a single school-day.

I prefer to make my own canvases, on a "box-frame" that is self-framing.
The joints of the box frame are "butted", so that a mitre saw is not necessary to create the corners. After lining up the flat edges of the boards, holes are drilled and countersunk, then coarse thread drywall screws connect the boards.



To align the "brace" attachment points between the long sides of the frame, the board is placed, then the outline traced. After removing the brace, then two or three points can be drilled from the 'inside', then countersunk from the outside before fastening the screws.





The canvas is draped, then tacked with staple gun, several staples at a time, flattened down with a hammer. The piece is moved so that next tacking is opposite of previous tacking. Alternate between axes often.









The canvas is tacked flat, then the fold is stapled down "on top" and on the "downside", to reduce visibility.




This was the initial sketch for the piece. I had been thinking about this composition for a while, as a variation on the Sturgeon Hunt bronze sculpture proposal composition.



After priming the canvas with 'matte gel medium', the initial objects (rocks) are sketched in with pencil. Then the background colour is placed around them.
Normally, I would start with a solid background colour, then work from background to foreground but I worked this piece rather flat because of the time demand.







The rocks are blocked in with shades of gray.



I decided to suggest the boulders as "lodges", by using a black shaded semi oval to suggest "doors". Although I did not have the time to develop this theme, rock is often seen as the dwelling of spirit in Native mythologies.

If you look closely, you will see the outlines of three sturgeon that I "scratched"-in with the pointy end of a paintbrush.



Scratch detail 1.



Scratch detail 2.



Filling in the fish bodies with a rough solid colour.

NB - Note the position of the fin under the gill of the large sturgeon in the foreground and how it changes to the next picture. I stood back, looking at the piece at this stage and determined that the body shape was way out of balance and made the necessary changes.



The lateral lines are scratched in, modified and finalised, highlight coloursand "bellies" added and human elements introduced (in the style of the Canadian Shield pictograph).


Begun blackline outlining, adding more detail. [This pic is a bit washed out.]



Foreground humans given minimal features, sturgeon spears added and outlining finalised. Sketch, below, for comparison. Fini.





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Tags: sturgeon, spear fishing, Rainy River, pictograph, canoe, aboriginal awareness week, Fort Frances, acrylic painting, canvas, fish painting, Canadian blog, First Nation, Native blog,Bingorage, Broken Vulture Art, blog,pics