This semester I am taking my first ever sculpture class. I am currently on my third semester of ceramics which is a very fun 3D material but there are so many other materials to make sculptures with that I haven’t worked with before. In this Sculpture I, class I am getting to explore and try these different materials. I am also getting to learn the expressive nature of sculpture making.
I would consider myself an expressive artist. I really enjoy loose, free flowing materials; materials I can mold and shape to what I want. If the material a sculpture is made of in itself isn’t loose or fluid I still am able to enjoy them by painting them in an expressive manner, it often is even more fun. Being able to take a strong/solid material like wood and transform it to be really expressive and loose is very fun and I think it creates a beautiful product.
This first sculpture I have completed was made out of wood. I was able to cut a bunch of different shapes and put them together in a very dynamic way that focuses on rhythm, repetition, variety, and positive/negative space. After putting it together I was then able to paint it in any way I wanted, this is where I have the most fun. For my color scheme I focused on the complimentary colors of blue and orange. I mixed up 3 different shades of orange and 3 different shades of blue, I painted the 6 main blocks of wood one of these 6 different colors. Then for three of the smaller blocks I painted them each a different shade of purple. I made these shades of purple by mixing the blue and orange but adding just a little more red and some white. Then I painted each dowel that connected the wood the same shade of grey. I got this grey by mixing the blue and orange together. After this had all dried I took the blue, orange, and purple and mixed each with some white until I got a shade that looked lighter than all the others already used. I used these colors to create dots on the pieces of wood, I then built onto that by using the colors to create different intersecting curves, swooshes, and swirls. Finally I added some more swirls on top in the same dark grey that was used to paint the dowels.
Finally I have this very dynamic and expressive sculpture that has some interesting positive and negative space to look at and explore. Each swirl and curve in the paint is different and they lead your eyes around the piece. For this being my first sculpture I am very happy with it and can’t wait to dive deeper into the expressive nature of sculpture.
