This is the first of the sketches for the miner monument. I will try a few different designs, some just standing and others in action before creating a model of one of them. I have not used any reference so I would hope that the anatomy and folds in the clothing etc will be much more realistic in the finished model. I, like many sculptor's prefer to just get on with the sculpture instead of making loads of sketches. The actual model will have more accurate physical features, down to veins and wrinkles.
I guess the town's committee, who are asking for submissions, want to glorify their mining history. The research I have done reveals that mining was hard work, hazardous, involved children aged 12 and below, and meant a life expectancy of 30 - 40 years!
I did consider featuring a father and son but I'm not sure they want that aspect of mining to be represented.
A miner would have to spend up to 2 hours climbing down wooden ladders just to get to his place of toil. And he would have to climb the trecherous ladders 'up to grass' at the end of an exhausting 8 hour shift. So I thought a miner on a rickety ladder could be quite poignant. But from distance it could look like a fireman.
I guess the town's committee, who are asking for submissions, want to glorify their mining history. The research I have done reveals that mining was hard work, hazardous, involved children aged 12 and below, and meant a life expectancy of 30 - 40 years!
I did consider featuring a father and son but I'm not sure they want that aspect of mining to be represented.
A miner would have to spend up to 2 hours climbing down wooden ladders just to get to his place of toil. And he would have to climb the trecherous ladders 'up to grass' at the end of an exhausting 8 hour shift. So I thought a miner on a rickety ladder could be quite poignant. But from distance it could look like a fireman.
A 'static' figure would have to be very sympathetically sculpted to convey a look which shows the years of toil, steely determination with a touch of fear etched on his face.
An action figure may have more immediate impact and a look of exertion easier to achieve but I think a statue should evoke an emotion. But then again maybe I'm setting the bar too high.
Comments
I find that with the figures i make in needle felt, even if I try to work from a sketch, they tend to 'morph' into something different. For example the yellow elephant which is on my blog and that I use as an avatar started life as a hedgehog ... ;-)
Goodluck with the mining sculture - it's quite a difficult one to do, especially with all the negative history.
Have a good Christmas - and here's hoping 2009 is THE YEAR! (for both of us).
-Gail X