Retreat to The Mountains

Recently, I just came back from Baguio Country Club. It was a much needed vacation that cleared out my weekly work stress and I was able to draw in the fresh air mountain air. The pine trees are still plentiful as usual and the country club has undergone a few renovations, but the Baguio experience is still pretty much as breathtaking as it's always been.

I went with my girlfriend Jacq and her family on this roadtrip, and we experienced a bit of the city's culture and local tourist destinations like hiking at Camp John Hay and souveneir shopping at Mines View Park. For dinner, we dined at the club's Japanese Bistro where a professional show chef did a mind-blowing presentation of knife throwing (the cooking knife, not the murder weapon) and fish frying.

I'd recommend you guys to come up there during the "ber" months because that's when the cold really makes you forget you're in a tropical country. The fogs are thick enough to cut with a knife, and the air is so refreshing that you'd imagine the place to be an ideal retreat spot for Christmas.

 

Reservations seem a bit hard these days though. I heard that December's all booked. I guess the season attracts a lot more guests than before. On a similar note, there were lots of foreigners at the lodge as well. At least the Philippines is drawing more attention to its tourism. :)

The Mindblock and The Fight for Creativity

Probably the most notorious obstacle an artist faces is the mindblock. Why in the world do people’s brains seem to cease their creative thinking just when it’s most needed. My routine mindblock usually hits just after I’ve compounded a basic shape for my clay figurine. After that happens, I find myself diving down into my memories for ideas, yet sometimes I only find dead ends.

When dealing with this annoying instance, you’ve always got to remember to clear your head of any feeling related to “forced creative work”. One truth behind the mindblock, is that the mind feels saturated to the point of confining its own thoughts into solitude. It just means that you have to refresh yourself and remember the reasons why you love doing the things you do.

Every painter for example, cannot be painting every minute of the day, seven days a week. He’d definitely go crazy. Now, I’m not doubting that there are some people out there who have the capacity to go above and beyond to reach their interests, but the fact of the matter is that human beings do not like becoming robots. We are random individuals with roots in imaginative concepts. We can stick to routines, but would be tempted to deviate once in a while for adventure. Through this explanation, we have to understand a strange part of us that allows us to be human- our own limitations.

So my advice is to do something light and different, something that you would enjoy, but would eventually make you miss your passion. Take a trip, or even a walk outside. Ride a bike, drive a car, see the sights, experience the world.

When your mind realizes how spectacular the world is, it will begin the creativity again.

Minimalist or Complex: Sculpture Compositions and Preference

When selecting abstract work, what makes some individuals veer towards an intricate, very complex design? Is it the way that each element comes together to form an entire coherent entity?

At the same time, what spurs on others to prefer the simple and basic contours of minimalist design? When we delve down to the heart of the matter, a lot of factors can come into play when dealing with preferences. First off, one of the greatest influences on an impulse choice is the surrounding environment. You may not want to acquire a complicated and extravagant artwork if it’s surrounded by other highly detailed, large or multi-colored works. A minimalist two-toned work may stick out of this kind of crowd though. Both the environment of the gallery and the environment of your home differ greatly, so choose well and think about the differences between them before you decide.

Another factor in analyzing preference could be the history of an artist’s previous compositions. If you’re a person who’s usually safe, maybe someone who would rather have something that’s familiar and already known through the public eye, then you might go for a piece similar to the ones he or she usually composes. If you’re feeling a bit on the chance side, you could buy a piece that the artist doesn’t usually bring out. This can be good as well because the piece could become one-of-a-kind in theme. It could grow to be a valued collector’s item in the future.

The most important factor though, is just as you would have guessed: personality. We could think up hundreds of thousands of ways to judge why someone would pick one thing or another. We could look up his history or his daily routines, but in the end it usually all comes down to what he personally finds attractive. The two factors that I wrote about above are just some of the externals that might shed some light on the topic for you. ☺

The Techniques in Different Media Sculpting

Fine sculpture can described as freestanding, three-dimensional art objects. In some cases they can also be embossed relief sculptures, or hanging kinetic pieces.

The Different Techniques  Practiced by Local and International Sculptors

Creating fine sculpture can pertain to a wide range of diverse techniques such as carving, casting, modeling, and assembling. The different output classes of each technique give sculptures their prominence as a versatile field in the art world.







Clay Modeling The Most Versatile and Flexible Material to Work With.

The process of detailing clay can be seen almost everywhere in society. Porcelain and terracotta are among the more popular ends of this technique. To start off, a relatively manageable clay build can be shaped to a desired design using everyday tools. Then it can be fired in a kiln (gas or electric) to harden and fuse the particles within the material. Glaze can be added with a second firing, and even a third firing can be done for high-class sculptures such as reputable porcelain figurines. Brands like Lladro and Armani have popularized high fire sculptures to create a luxury market for this kind of sculpture. The process of clay modeling is versatile in nature. Aside from direct firing, clay models can also be decorated raw and be painted on afterwards. They could also be used as agents in developing casting moulds for bronze, glass and marble.

Plaster Basic Media for Components and/or Practice

Sometimes used on its own or for a cast (aiding in the bronze sculpture process), plaster sculptures begin with the making of a skeletal armature. A wire-frame of steel or copper is shaped and then wrapped with a mixture or paper fiber, water and plaster. The entire armature is then layered with globs of the plaster mixture. When it’s hard enough to carve, sharp tools can etch detail and form composition into the sculpture. Plaster can be easily preserved and colored using paints and varnishes available in many art stores.

Wax Molding   Jewelry Based Technique - Also Used for Silver Sculpting.

Often used for the creation of luxury craft or jewelry, wax molding is a technique that has been around for ages. The process begins when a carved wax model is fit into a negative plaster mold. It is then burned out in a kiln or oven. The plaster case can then be used to create sculptures out of fine alloys such as rose gold or sterling silver.





Bronze casting    Difficult Process, but highly durable, long lasting and worth the wait.

This timeless process can be traced back to the aesthetics of early artisans. Currently, either sand-casting or the lost-wax process can be done to cast bronze, however the latter is more preferred by modern society. A model is first covered with rubber and allowed to harden. The inside piece is then removed and the two rubber negatives join to make a whole. The rubber is then filled with liquid wax to create a hard replica within. The inner wax will be melted away after encasing it in plaster. Melted bronze is then poured through the shell. After this tedious process, the plaster is then chipped away and the bronze sculpture sent to be buffed and furnished.







Carving Meaning To Contour or Shape Something Out of A Hard and Lasting Material.

Done usually in marble, wood or hard stone, carving is a definitely a physically difficult technique that demands stamina and endurance from the artist. Utilizing materials like the hammer and chisel (or in some cases- power tools), an artist whittles away at the material to contour and edge detail into the form. Carving produces very lasting pieces of art that can usually outlast generations at a time. The limitations of carving can be seen in the time and manpower required to produce large pieces such as monuments.

Assemblage/ Construction Putting Together to Create Something New.

These kinds of sculpture are also known as mixed media or “found-object” art. Usually composed of materials such as wood, glass, and metal parts among others. Elements are arranged or welded into a collage-like pattern, creating a relief canvas or a freestanding three-dimensional object. Being a fairly new type of fine sculpture, Assemblage is a unique discovery popularized in 20th century galleries.

Chroma Keying in Sculpture Photography

A couple of days ago, I was mulling over some issues about a three-dimensional sculpture gallery on the internet. A lot of people suggested creating a CAD or computer-aided design of each and every piece and pasting it onto a digital-landscape. This would be possible I suppose, however the drag time and creation curve of making this perceived 3D rendering would be a stretch too far away from my immediate goals. I don’t really need to portray a whole reenactment of the gallery scenario with its tremendous free space and breathable room. The main conceptual elements and pure unobstructed ambiance are all I really need to produce a genuine gallery experience. I wonder if this methodology would fit better for another objective though- the world of online sculpture art competitions (which are bulky and involve a lot of loading and unloading time in real life).

Anyway to get back to the point, I had a brief conversation with some of my colleagues the other day. We talked about the 3D sculpture gallery project, and I shared the fundamental methods I’ve come up with so far. A friend then suggested that to cancel out the wavering backdrops in the succeeding photography. I could make use of chroma keying; a method popularized by movie directors and animation producers in the efforts to match characters with unreal or foreign worlds.


Chroma keying involves either a green screen or a blue screen backdrop and the placement of a subject in front of it for visual capturing. Digital editing is done utilizing a number of programs (Photoshop, After-Effects, etc.) to crop out the easy-to-grab color background and isolate the subject. In this manner, subjects can then be purely isolated in full color and stitched together using scripts to make up a much better rendering of a 3D artpiece. It was a nice little discovery for the day.

Purchasing Artpieces Online

Recently, there has been a growing trend of patronizing art on the internet. Several innovative sites that showcase artists’ works are already up and running as we speak. The global scenario for art is changing, and so are the habits of our collectors and curators.

Despite this, it is still a novelty for most people to acquire fine art via the web. Not being able to sense the work up close can sometimes spur uncertainties and impulses. Both the mind and taste is fickle at this stage and needs the proper vantage points to accurately assess an artwork’s beauty on screen. Soon better and better galleries will come out into the open to allow the digital world more capability in showcasing works of fine art. In light of this knowledge, more people are slowly starting to accept secure online transactions and viewings by artists and galleries alike.

When purchasing art exclusively from my web network, I would rather meet you with a face and a personality, so currently I’ve only set up a contact methodology where you can send me a direct message about your topic of interest. Everything else is to follow. If by chance a work on my site catches your fancy, specify in your message which one it is. For most cases, the sculptures that are on my blog are already sold, save for some of the newest ones and limited editions. If there is a piece that you feel your eyes connect with at a crucial point and you sincerely wish to patronize it, we can arrange to work together, drawing inspiration from this design. We can build a new sculpture with a similarly themed composition and nature to match your artful taste.