Carving from Belgorod

[HAIIAPHNK]

13 hours ago, Beckmann said:

Hi Alexandr,

That was really just a coincidence. I just opened my book Volume 1 Rogers Collection in Annapolis and there it was. Here are two better pictures.

 

Matthias, thank you very much. This will undoubtedly help with my ideas. Right now, my head feels like a big pot of porridge. In some places it is spilling over, and in others it is already starting to burn.

I am thinking about my next works—what projects to take on, and how the entire exhibition should look as a whole. I very much want to manage to do as much as possible by October.

It is difficult to convey exactly what I am thinking about and what kinds of logical chains are forming in my head. Your examples are extremely helpful, although they make the porridge in my head boil even more than it did yesterday. But that is a good thing. When there is more than one idea and more than one option, it is always better. At least there is something to choose from.

P.S. When I saw your other examples with St. Michael and the bulls from the unnamed ship model, I had the strange suspicion that you somehow see the bookmarks I have been saving during my searches. To select the same ships out of so many is astonishing. If you also show Royal Princess or Victory from 1737 next, I will be genuinely frightened and start to think that there are hidden cameras installed somewhere around me. 🙃

 

 

 

[HAIIAPHNK]

Finally, after very long stories about plans, reflections, and all the rest,
I can move on to showing the actual work with wood. The beginning.











Everything is standard and familiar.
Large masses of wood are cut away, and the desired shape is gradually searched for.





Here I need to explain something. In fact, the green color is not just a dirty or stained area. I did this intentionally. At this stage, my whole family and I were leaving for a vacation, and I was afraid that while being absorbed in rest, I might forget exactly where I had stopped in the work. After returning, I could easily make a mistake. So I deliberately marked, with a very visible color, the area where no work should be done in the near future. Why?

The sculpture must sit on the knee of the head, and at the back of the blank there is already a slot made into which the stem will later fit. The figure itself is designed in such a way that from the front I will be working very close to this slot. In some places, I could accidentally cut all the way through. It is therefore necessary to constantly monitor how much thickness remains at the thinnest point.

The small figure is already mounted on a handle with tiny drops of glue. This means that I cannot remove the handle each time to take measurements and check the thickness at the most critical area. For this reason, before gluing the blank onto the handle, I took measurements and wrote the results down. I even tried to leave a written reminder for myself and photographed it. And now, when I am preparing this text, those photographs I once took for myself have become a clear explanation.





Now the main thing is that this base area must remain unchanged, and that I do not cut anything away there and disturb the dimensions. That is exactly why the color marking was made—this area must not be carved.

This base was chosen here because this is where the fabric of the cloak will be. That area can be left untouched for a long time. First, I can work on the body, and later it will be much easier to understand how much material needs to be removed in this place. By that time, all work in the potentially dangerous areas will have long been completed, and the need for a reference platform for measurements and checks will disappear.

Everything is quite simple. I do not think I have revealed any techniques that you did not already know, but it is better to share—perhaps it will be useful to someone. At the very least, you will not look at the strange spot in every subsequent frame and wonder why it was not wiped off—it would look untidy otherwise.











And gradually,
one can begin to indicate where smaller details and nuances will be located.












To be continued…

[druxey]

Enjoy your time off!

[HAIIAPHNK]

19 hours ago, druxey said:

Enjoy your time off!

Thank you, David.
That was back in October, and we had a great time. We met up with relatives we hadn't seen in eight years. It was a truly wonderful vacation.