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Thoughts & Opinions

Sculptural Portrait

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Created: Monday, 02 March 1998 06:14

During the last five years, I have been creating my favorite type of sculpture--round and relief sculptural portraits. There were portraits of living people (Dr. Denton Rossell, Dr. Eugene Natkin, Cindy Growford, Elaina Mason) and people who lived in the past (attorney George Powell, Abraham J. Heschel, Sig­mund Freud, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Princess Diana), and imaginary persons (Ally, Millina). Each of these portraits needed a different approach. Some of them were done in life size, and some in smaller scale. Each portrait had a different composition and modeling, but all of them required something mutual: the portrait should be an objective and truthful repre­sentation of the person.

The main indication of the portrait is its likeness with the model. But more is needed for a portrait to be considered a truthful representation of the person. "An ability to copy portraits from the model is a talent to some degree, but it is not all," according to Russian writer Vissarion Belinsky. A real portrait, he continued, "is a piece of art, that captures not only the likeness, but also the soul of the model." To reach this level, the artist searches for the "synthetic moment" in which not only specific facial features of the person have been depicted, but all his life, his biography, all his present, past and even future life. All that is part of the subject's real likeness.

A live model gives the artist soul, and from the soul comes its greatest beauty unlimited information. "The human body is, above all, the mirror of the soul, and from the soul comes its greatest beauty," August Rodin said. And famous artist Renato Gutuzo thought that, when we are talking about a possible correlation between the physical appearance and psychological aspect of the model, for the artist who can see it, it is almost the same.               

To show the person in the way an artist understands it, the artist goes through a screening process to select information about the model and the specific facial features for expression. The artist exaggerates some of them and ignores all that are unimportant according to his philosophy, temperment and style. From the selection of the model through all the sculpting pro­cesses up to finishing and installation-through all the steps of the decision making--the sculptor shows his outlook, philosophy and circle of his interests. That is why two portraits of the same person done by two artists are not alike, and why, very often, we can say that the artist expresses himself in this portrait.

A sculptural portrait, differing from other types of art, is a three-dimensional image of the model. The use of color, value, and contrasts are not available to the sculptor as they are to a painter. A painting is a two-dimensional object. A third dimension is an illusion and the artist represents it by using principles of linear color and tone perspective. In a sculptural portrait, the third dimension is real and plays the same role as the other two dimensions.

In the performing arts and literature ("timing arts"), the author can portray man's spirit using a broad arsenal of tools to describe the hero. It can be a verbal description of his life, behavior, and way of thinking. The author can also use the hero's words or another person's words to characterize a hero and can say almost nothing about his appearance.

In visual arts, the artist is able to capture the character of the soul of the model through representation of the model's plastically expressive image only.

On the other hand, a viewer has an opportunity to observe the sculptural portrait from all sides and many points of view. It provides an opportunity show many specific details. The composition of the portrait and the form’s continuous movement lead a viewer from one vlewpoint to another around a portrait. It helps the artist to show a model "in time" and almost equal to "timing arts" by effect.

A sculptural portrait is a monochrome object in most cases. The form of the sculpture can be seen due to lighting. All objects in nature are divided from one another by color and chiaroscuro--treatment of light and shade. We can see the form of the sculpture only because of light and shade on its surface. A salient part of the sculpture reflects the light and a cave creates the shadow. The form of the monochrome sculptural portrait can be made only by applying spe­cific modeling methods to the sculptural surface, creat­ing a contrast between light and shadow. The sculptor shows the darkness of the shadow area by modulating the deepness of the undercuts. The deeper an under­cut, the darker it seems to be for the observer. Lighter halftones can be done in the same way. This combina­tion in harmony creates the sculptural forms. Since sculptural forms are visible only because of contrast between darker and lighter areas, similar t( monochrome drawing, the sculpture can be called "three-dimensional drawing."

This concept is most obvious in the low-relief portrait. The relief is a sculpture that is designed to be attached to any surface. A low-relief portrait is also a three­-dimensional sculpture with the third dimension of approximately 0.25 inches. Similar to drawing, it consists of lines, linear perspective, and the sculptural shapes of the face.

The composition of re­lief portraits can in­clude a portrait itself, pictorial background, and text. Its scale, shape, and texture, along with the model­ing method, can tel1 a story about the sitter, the model's occupa­tion, individual inter­ests' time, surround­ings, etc.

When I am working on the portrait of a living person, I am trying to show my impression of this model collected during personal con­tact with the sitter. The work on the por­trait of a person who lived in the past (historical portrait) starts in the library. I am searching for equivalent information about a model from publications, from liv­ing members of the family, studying available memoirs, etc.

The portrait of attorney George V Powell is a sample of an historical portrait. He was a co-owner of Lane, Powel1, Spears, Lubersky, a law firm in Seattle. Mr. Powell passed away in 1996. I signed an agreement for creating a memorial plaque for him in October 1996. The relief was completed in March 1997.

After talking to Mr. Powel1's co-workers and his daughter, reading material about him from the firm's officials, and studying the family photos, I formed my opinion about him. I spent almost two weeks working on the composition and selecting the hackground, text, and relative sizes of aU components. As soon as major decisions were made, I1 started to sculpt his portrait in clay.

My idea was to show George Powell as a mentor and friend, wise and intelligent professional, and caring husband, father, and grandfather. I chose his library for the background and showed George wearing glasses. When I was done with the clay model, I sent photos of it to Jane Ashe, Marketing Director of the firm. She set up a preview of my work with Powel1' s family members. This meeting was successful. Jane ordered, not one, but two bronze copies.

The foundry that I had worked with for sev­eral years was ready to make the rubber molds for the portrait itself and for the text. Very soon 1 got the molds and first wax copies. A couple of days were spent to work on waxes and combine the por­trait and text together. Everything was ready to make the bronze. I never expected problems in this state of the job, but there were. First the fireproof ce­ramic mold for the bronze got cracked and the bronze ran out of the mold. I made other waxes, but it happened again and again.

Jane had already scheduled a company meeting in honor of George Powel1. The firm planned to dedicate the Board Room in the Seattle office to George Powell on March 14, 1997, which happened to coincide with Mr. Powel1's birthday. My plaque was to be unveiled on the day of dedication, but as yet 1 had no bronze.

I couldn't take a risk a fourth time and 1 shifted the work to Bob Mortinson's foundry. He was very coop­erative and reorganized his busy schedule to do this emergency work. In five days, he made a casting. I placed the second casting in Todd Petrel1e's foundry to have both of them ready by the day of the dedication. The second plaque was done one week before the company meeting. It gave me time for ordering the frames (many thanks to Steve Sandry for the wonder­ful frames out of Honduras mahogany).

The sculpture was final1y mounted in the conference room one day before the dedication. The celebration of Mr. George Powel1 occurred as scheduled and included members of Mr. Powell's family, Counsel of Washington, in addition to Lane, Powell, Spears, and Lubersky's attorneys and staff. The second casting was given to the Powel1 family.

I hope that I reached my goal. I believe I did accord­ing to Jane Ashe's letter. She wrote: "Thank you again for such beautiful plaques, both reflecting the true spirit of our friend, George Powell."

A Function of Design: Proportion - March/Apr 1998

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Created: Monday, 02 March 1998 01:16

I was asked by our editor, Barbara Lynch, to discuss the "Golden Mean," a proportional function of designing a work of art. Balance, rhythm, and contrast, according to the textbooks on design, are also functions of design, and they all work together.

The Golden Mean is an historical theory proposed as a basis for satisfying proportion. It is more simply understood by a geometric picture rather than a mathematical ratio:

To divide line AB by the Golden Mean, first bisect the line AB at point C. At B, erfunction sketchect a perpendicular equal in length to AC. Complete the triangle ABO, and on the hypotenuse, AD, locate point E so that DE equals BD. Then locate point F on line AB so that AF equals AE according to the proportions of the Golden Mean. AF is larger than FB mathematically. 

A simpler and non-mathematical means of satisfying proportion was one taught at Seattle Central Community College in the Advertising Art program. This is called "Unequal Intervals." It was taught using a two-dimensional plane. "The space at the top and the bottom of the page--whether it be text or pictureshould not be equal. Never cut your picture in half horizontally by making the horizon line dead center on the page; that makes two pictureS. This goes for vertical also."

Mondrian, the painter, used unequal intervals in his paintings. He used variety in both his dimensions of shapes (rectangles) and his color, even though his main focus was repetition of rectangles. This can apply to sculpture as well. The exception to unequal intervals is bilateral symmetry-a function of balance where the two sides are the same (mirror view image) on either side of an implied axis, i.e., the human body as seen from either the front or the back when the body is "flat" with arms extended equally and legs extended equally. Bilateral symmetry can be given variety by changing an angle or direction. Even a slight change can make a difference.

Contrast (or variation) should be considered here because it also involves proportion. "It can be used to clarify or modify form, to create mass and space and to suggest or focus attention." My critic teacher (in an Art Education program) in one project had the class use dark, light, and bright-the contrast being the bright. The same can be used proportionally in sculpture. One example is the use of big, little and middle; two of these can be geometric shapes and one a non-geometric shape, or the big and middle taking so much space the little becomes the contrast.

I have not enlarged upon balance or rhythm here because they could further be discussed with the elements of design, such as line, mass and value.

We sculptors use these functions of design as we work at an intuitive level. It is also important to be aware of them at a conscious level mainly when we are faced with a design problem. They are like writers' tools such as the dictionary.

Source used: Art: An Introduction. Dale G. Cleaver, 4th edition, Harcourt Brace Publishers, 1985

Do, Do, Do, Do... Do, Do, Do, Do,... Jan/Feb 1998

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Created: Friday, 02 January 1998 00:54

Imagine if you will, ladies and gentlemen, a lovely green meadow nestled in the bosom of a forest of evergreen splendor. Imagine it as the eagle sees it, soaring overhead. Today he looks down to see his meadow filling with bright striped awnings, and tents. Great, he thinks - a regional art festival with lots of food strewn for his animal friends to scavenge. But it only takes a few hours to understand it's that strange group of humans who make dust and eat all available food. He flies on.

Now imagine that same scene on a warm July evening, moments after the sun's graceful plunge into the abyss of night. Darkness nears, and as the stars begin to appear, so do the first arrivals of The Night People. The Night People are made up of individuals who, by day, appear every bit as normal as their fellow symposia attendees, but by twilight their strange internal clocks become apparent they have an aberrant resistance to going to bed the moment the sky becomes dark. Sit down, try to relax, or take one of your meds. You are about to spend an evening in The Stone Zone.

Imagine again a constant beating of drums - not exactly tribal, definitely not Gene Krupa, Buddy Rich or even Maynard G. Krebs, but constant. Imagine, (ob try harder - you're artists for God's sake) one of The Night People, a person like myself for instance, standing on the only remaining bare spot on the field waiting for darkness. She can't possibly face going to bed. She would only lie sleepless for hours, fantasizing about the dawn when she may flush her toilet again. But does she want to wander aimlessly here among the ruins of a war-tom carnival? Awnings are now yawning caverns in the dark, endless yards' of electrical cords become more snake-like as the light fades, tent stakes and rope slowly hide from view to trip her up as she walks, waiting for drowsiness. Slowly she turns trying to locate the drummers, when over by the cow pasture to her delight she sees the beckoning light of the first lit citronella candle. The candle draws her and all the insects in the area. She knows she, must hurry if she wants a decent lawn chair. Uris is July'ill Washington. By 10:30 it's damp and cold If she doesn't hasten, she may get the dreaded low-slung chair. Its seat is two inches off the ground, so you're chapping by 11:00. "Please deity-of-choice, if you let me get a decent lawn chair, I promise not to ruin the campfire game tonight" Her racing mind travels back to last year when someone asked "What city would you all most like to get lost in?" Her response "I feel lost at home - why travel?" only brought the crowd way down.

As she walks faster she considers knocking her good friend - the owner of the coveted Barcalounger of lawn chairs - to the dew-spewn grass to get the really good seat, but guilt takes hold before she does something she'll regret. What's wrong with her? Only one sin a night she reminds herself. Staying up past dark should be heady enough she tells herself as she flings herself into a normal waffle imprinting chair. Her ass is a good foot off the ground, so she won't freeze, but all is not perfect. She has the one chair that is downwind of all four candles. The carcinogens and green haze are worth it though. Not only wiII no living things fly into her mouth on that night, but she has found her comrades. The Night People of The Stone Zone.

Visualize a group of dozens of artists huddled around four candles for warmth and companionship. Reminding each not to laugh too loud, a lead sculptor, usually a male, begins the conversation with a deep and meaningful question. This night, however, it will not be answered No, I didn't ruin it by telling a lewd joke. This night a doe-eyed girl from across the sea (not Bremerton) asks if we would help her to understand English better. Considering ourselves to be every bit as warm and friendly as The Worm Gatherers (those up at dawn's first gasp), we are more than happy to help. But before we can, the air is pierced by a yelp in the black distance, and one less drum can be heard. We relax knowing that the drum will be found safe in the morning, hung cocoon-like in a nearby tree by one of the Worm Gatherers who has been trying to sleep.

The girl finally begins, "When I first learn English, I think I know what 'big' mean. Big is opposite of small, etc. But in this land, 'big' means something else. Why in my country miniature is special art form, tiny, requiring special skill and here 30 pound sculpture can be called miniature?" Is there no end to the madness of this night? Someone stop her. Not the dreaded "bigger" conversation. Her unrelenting gaze searches our faces until one of us breaks and begins to say, "In America, bigger..." Gasps, someone screams, another drum silenced. The men cross their legs and the women pull their jackets around them. The Stone Zone.

So Worm Gatherers, if you ever feel like an evening of adventure, join us. You'll have to bring your own lawn chair though, because you can't have mine. I wouldn't miss it for the world. Welcome to The Stone Zone.

More Articles ...

  1. Reflections on Students and Teachers: A Tribute to Deborah WIlson Jan/Feb 1998
  2. Art business 101: Anatomy of a Show - January/February 1998
  3. For We Know We Need Each Other So! - Nov/Dec 1999
  4. Art in Other Places: Cities - Nov/Dec 1999
  5. A Visit With Michael Naranjo - Nov/Dec 1999
  6. Art in Other Places: A Long Series of Connections to a Sculptor I Admire - Sept/Oct 1999
  7. Ruth Mueseler: Putting Her Heart Into Her Work - July/Aug 1999
  8. A Review of Art Calendar Magazine - July/Aug 1999
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