Laborers commemorative sculpture

[Gargoyle]

I thought you'd enjoy seeing this. It's a memorial/commemorative sculpture and sign to go in front of a new Laborers Union training facility. Carved in Indiana limestone, it measures 6' x 4' x 1'2" thick. It represents their almost 80 year history, with the figures depicting laborers from the 1930's to the present. The back side will have shallow relief carvings representing some of the major projects they worked on, including power stations, dams, and the World War II landing craft.

Please note, this is not finished yet but it's getting close. Therefore constructive criticism is not just appreciated, it is solicited. In particular, let me know if anything about the figures (anatomy, poses, drapery, etc) feels awkward or unnatural and what you think can be improved, and also if you see anything to the overall balance of foreground and background, light and shadow, that needs to be improved. The composition is fixed at this point, of course, but there is still room for adding a bit more life or punch if it is needed.

The original block was about 4000 lbs, at this point it's probably 3000 lbs.

 

[AndrosCreations]

That is unbelievable... I have no idea what it takes to produce something like this... Thanks for sharing it.

 

[Weldon47]

OUTSTANDING (yes, I'm yelling!)!!

Weldon

 

[Willem Parel]

Oh wow, what an incredible piece, that's a big cameo !!:clapping::clapping::clapping:

 

[JJ Roberts]

Sculpture

Gargoyle, Wow where do you start on a beautiful work of art like this? J.J.

 

[Gargoyle]

Gargoyle, Wow where do you start on a beautiful work of art like this? J.J.

With a block of stone. Here is how it looked this spring. :biggrin: :hammer:

 

[rod]

Always a delight to see the Gargoyle work in progress, exquisite and inspiring!

(second only to his sense of humor!)

best

Rod

 

[Dave London]

Yes outstanding, looks like you heve been a little busy:bow:

 

[Beathard]

I can only utter 3 letters: WOW!

 

[Marrinan]

your skill always amazes me. Fred

 

[Andrew Biggs]

Fabulous work, just fabulous.

Your work is always a real pleasure to see

Cheers
Andrew

 

[DakotaDocMartin]

Please note, this is not finished yet but it's getting close. Therefore constructive criticism is not just appreciated, it is solicited. In particular, let me know if anything about the figures (anatomy, poses, drapery, etc) feels awkward or unnatural and what you think can be improved

Wow! Excellent work!

Something sort of jumps at me. The right hand and wrist of the fellow on the far left side looks to be too heavy and out of proportion. The overall size and length of the hand and the area of the wrist doesn't look quite right to me. Otherwise... :clapping:

 

[monk]

a work that beautiful---- critique ??? critique not an option for something this good.

 

[Gargoyle]

Something sort of jumps at me. The right hand and wrist of the fellow on the far left side looks to be too heavy and out of proportion. The overall size and length of the hand and the area of the wrist doesn't look quite right to me. Otherwise... :clapping:

My wife was complaining about those arms too, I shaved them down some, but you're right. I have to work on it more; thanks! His head also seems too large, but I'm not sure I can change that. I have some compromises because it's an outdoors piece, I have to make sure that there are no pockets to collect water- everything has to drain down. I'm also cautious about getting too delicate, since it will be on a public street, perhaps 15 feet from the roadway.

 

[Doc Mark]

Lovely work, as usual Gargoyle! I understand the limitations of keeping a stone sculpture with enough "body" to prevent fractures and to keep the drainage correct. The only thing that caught my eye as "as little off" was the size of the stars on the flag. Although they may be true to an actual flags' proportions, they tend to look a bit small and anemic because we only see their internal shadow, as they are incised into the stone. This is a very minor point but, you asked.

 

[Gargoyle]

Doc, very good point. My father was a photographer, he explained his approach in retouching black and white portraiture. If there was a noticeable birthmark on a face, he'd never remove it because it was part of the person and character, but he would lighten the edges and tone it down a bit. That is because, in 2 dimensions and B&W if it was the real size it would read as bigger. Conversely with stone, being monotone but 3 dimension, things have to be adjusted so the light and shadow is the correct size, rather than the physical object being the correct size. For example, upper eyelids need to be a bit enlarged to create the shadow, and lower eyelids need to be toned down and more subtle.

I made the stars the right physical size, not the right shadow size. Thanks!

 

[Lee]

Walter,

BRAVO, another great piece in the making. I'm fascinated by your explanations of 3 dimensional expression as opposed to two ie, the lighting and shadow effect. My limited reading on sculpture talks about how the proportions on above eye level sculptures take into consideration the fore shortening affect and above lighting play. Thanks for the information. Sculpture is one of the things I hope to try someday.

 

[Gargoyle]

Lee, people think of sculpture as being all about shape and form, but its really all about light and shadow. You feel shape and form when you touch it, but you see light and shadow when you look at it.

That's why I do a lot with textures to create contrast, and with undercutting.

 

[eastslope]

Your work is both stunning and amazing! How you can go about this especially in something as unforgiving as stone just baffles me. Thanks for sharing! Seth

 

[Ray Cover]

Looks great! Not half bad for an Illinois fella