Dragonfly

...and SHOW TIME!

2011-12-12T18:46:00.000-08:00

Such a fun opening...I am glad my little sculpture found a place to shine! :)

Off to the show!

2011-12-12T18:37:00.000-08:00

Soon after finishing the dragonfly sculpture I realized I had no place to put it.

Luckily there was an art show taking place at the Gallery Della-Piana.

So, I boxed up my prize bug...

And dropped him off just in time for opening night!

Just smile and style...

2011-12-11T17:46:00.000-08:00

And behold, the completed contraption!

This is the first time I've left a sculpture all raw and metallic looking. I kinda like it!

Unfortunately, this isn't stainless steel, so I had to put on roughly a million coats of lacquer to protect it from rusting.

Maybe someday I'll be bold enough to just let my sculpture rust away with the weather, but until then I'm going to trust this glossy finish to none other then the fine folks of the polyurethane industry!

The end???

A few finishing touches...

2011-12-11T17:40:00.000-08:00

Absolutely the finest corrugated cardboard money can buy!

2011-12-11T17:30:00.000-08:00

It's a funny thing about welding, it tends to make things really, really hot. So, I decided that using cardboard in lieu of my finely finished oak wings might be a good idea...especially if they were to say, spontaneously burst into flames!

Luckily everyone survived the ordeal.

Hey! This could actually work!

2011-12-11T17:24:00.000-08:00

So, after the wings were dry, I carefully placed them into the brackets.

And then I tried to figure out a good angle for the wings to attach to the body of the dragonfly.

The brackets were a little rough, and I didn't want to scratch up the freshly finished wood.

Soooo, what's a guy to do?

Make cardboard copies of the wings, of course!

brilliant! ;)

Wright brothers, eat your heart out!

2011-12-11T17:22:00.000-08:00

Now come the revisions...

2011-12-11T17:15:00.000-08:00

So, at first I thought the legs looked really great. The arrangement and positioning seemed just fine to me. But after the head was put on, the just didn't look right.

And well, two quick chops later...

...and he's about 5 pounds lighter! (and perfectly balanced :)

Let there be light...I mean...eyes!

2011-12-11T16:45:00.000-08:00

Again, more canisters. These canister ends became the head and eyes for the little guy.

Yeah! I've made a dead bug!

2011-12-11T09:46:00.000-08:00

This feels much more complex than it should be...

2011-12-11T09:43:00.000-08:00

And that boys and girls is how you build a leg...five more to go!

...knees and toes, knees and toes...

2011-12-11T09:39:00.001-08:00

I always enjoy getting other people to do my dirty work.

These toes are just so darn cute, I wanna eat 'em up!

I think we're on the right path now...

Drumsticks anyone?

2011-12-11T09:37:00.000-08:00

Adding some tail...

2011-12-10T19:53:00.000-08:00

Working in the basement, while warm and cozy, can be a bit tough...especially when the ceiling is three inches lower then the top of your head! But I still managed to put the tail section together using some old metal canisters.

However, my work bench is also less than ideal...

Soooo, I decided to get some new digs! Yaaaay! A new workshop, complete with ample head room!

Getting the pieces together...

2011-12-10T19:40:00.000-08:00

For this sculpture I decided to start with the central body shape...which for a dragonfly , can be a bit tricky to narrow down. In this case, I figured a roundish "torso" form would be best.

Getting a move on!

2011-12-10T14:20:00.001-08:00

Just some sketches for the latest sculpture. I always start pretty loose, with just a tiny thumbnail drawing - more of an impression of what the piece will feel and look like. From there I start to make more detail drawings of the anatomy, zooming in on certain parts and pieces, to gain a better understanding of how it will work, and ultimately be built.