more of the new figures in the studio

March 29, 2011

more of the new figures in the studio

Back in February I made two posts - here and here - with preliminary sketches and photographs from a new series of clay figures.

I discussed the influences on the figures and posted images of the first two that had just been completed.

Those first figures are still drying. Tonight's post is to say that the remaining eight figures in the series have also been completed and are drying.

The first two figures had one hole each, in the 'chest' and 'head' respectively. I was concerned at the time that I had nowhere else to go:

The second set of images are fairly obviously the second of the figures I made. Here the hole is in the head rather than the chest.

That raises something of a problem. I may already have painted myself into a corner. I don't want to make figures with the holes in any other places migrating around the body.

It will be possible to make figures with holes in each face of the head, and with matching holes in front and back of the torso. Perhaps even with holes in both head and chest. A featureless figure is possible.

I'm also reluctant to change the shape of the holes for the sake of variety. Both migrating holes and holes in a variety of shapes push the figures a little too close to the cheesy and ridiculous for my taste.

But I made some sketches that suggested I could make a varied collection of figures using only circular holes and only the chest and head areas.

If my scanner wasn't so unreliable I'd have those sketches for you in this post. They'll have to wait for another time instead.

For the moment the photos should be sufficient.

This first figure has a hole in the chest and a hole in the head. While the first two figures were made quickly this one and the next five were mostly pretty hard.

I seemed to master the knack of making them immediately, gradually lose my abilities until some of the figures had to be remade three or four times, and finally regain my ability for the last two figures.

The second of the new figures has a hole in the chest on each side.

The third figure naturally has a hole through the head on each side.

The fourth figure needs at least two photos. It has a hole in the head on one side and a hole in the chest on the opposite side. It is the figure with the greatest ambiguity in how it should be aligned to the viewer.

A few figures have no clear front or back - the one with holes on each side of the chest, the one with holes on each side of the head, the one later with no holes in either chest or head, and this one with holes on each side of chest and head.

But they're much the same viewed front or back and so lack the ambiguity of the previous figure.

The sixth figure is the first of the final three figures completed last night. I found it more difficult to complete than its serene exterior might suggest.

I rather like the chubby seventh figure with its pinhead. Although the body got a little out of my control I finally got back in the groove of making the figures quickly with this one.