It’s been a long time since I posted any work online. My last post on Instagram was of my Unipolar sculpt when I declared that all I had left to do was to sculpt the fur and build an environment (Haha… that’s all!). For the record, I made an honest attempt at grooming the polar bear’s fur in Zbrush, and this led to some hair-pulling (virtual and real) as I stumbled from one online tutorial through to the next without getting any passable results. Looking at the polar bear, I also grew dissatisfied with the proportions and the anatomy and felt that I was missing a critical foundation of anatomical understanding. And so, I have gone back to school.
In my last blog post, I mentioned Scott Eaton. He’s a sculptor that has done some great work in the film and fine art world. I’m currently in week 2 of his 8 week Anatomy for Artists course, and our homework for this week is to do ecorchés of the chest and abdomen (i.e. layering muscular anatomy over images of people and skeletons). I’m finding the assignment challenging, and I’m hopeful that this will build my understanding and push my artistic growth forward.
However, a solid anatomical understanding is merely one component in the bigger puzzle (it’s also a lifelong pursuit). Working on the polar bear sculpt, I often felt like I was struggling with the software. An artist needs to be comfortable with his tools, so I’ve signed up for Gnomon Workshop and begun delving into their comprehensive video library.
The challenge is that it will probably take time for these studies to bear fruit. To keep my motivation up, I’ve decided to continue making paintings in the way that I know how. My next subject will be a portrait of Dexter (our 22 lb graymalkin). Later this year, I plan to visit my aunt in New York and do a tour of the zoos in the area, so that I can add more works to the zoo series.
For those of you that have stuck with me, I thank you! I will try to post updates and work more regularly.