The Penguin is a fall 2013 commission work and my most recent as of this writing. The Penguin was commissioned to serve as a “mate” for an existing piece in a private collection. This sculpture was completed within weeks of this posting and, in the words of the owner, “The penguins are currently getting to know each other.”
The original penguin (for which I was to be the “matchmaker”) I believe is a bronze casting, but I have never seen it. I had a few images to work from but otherwise I was flying blind. To get a better sense of what I was to create, I quickly fashioned a polymer model within a day of receiving the commission. It was decided that the beak was “too fat and crooked”. I quipped that my model was based upon a little known penguin species that is fond of boxing. Hence, the crooked snout from many a bout!
Since I have yet to do any foundry and casting work, I created The Penguin from forged steel which I then bronzed. The aging patina treatment I applied was designed to match the decades old patina on the original. The scale of The Penguin was a challenge since the sculpture and base combined could not exceed six inches tall to comport with its “mate”. With a one and a half inch base, I had to keep The Penguin to four and a half inches tall. In a work this small it seemed that every little imperfection jumped out at me.
Click on the slideshow below to see the process of The Penguin from the beginning model to the finished work.
Click here to see Paris Flat, an oil pastel and my next new work.
tcmsculptures
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