New at the forum

[Adriënne]

Having looked at this interesting forum for a while, I decided to register. I am an anthropologist by profession, but sculpturing is a serious side activity. I just jump directly to the figurative sculpture forum because here my interest lies. I make small (up to 60 cm) figures of clay, mostly black clay from Germany, because of the intensity of the colour. I would love to get some feedback on my work and I am quite sure that I will be inspired by this forum and learn a lot on the technical side of sculpturing. Thanks!
Adriënne
www.adrienneheijnen.dk

[HappySculpting]

Hi Adrienne- Welcome to the site! It's good to have more people like yourself on this forum who like to work with water clay.

Hope to see you post some of your work here at the forum. If you'd like a critique, it's probably best to pick out one or two pics and post them in the "Unveilings" category. Then let others know to feel free to post their comments. Critiques can be hard to give for most of us but we all need that honest opinion.

Glad you're here,

Tamara

[Merlion]

Hi Adrienne, and welcome. I notice from your website you enjoy sculpting human figures with clay. They are interesting. Do you just leave them to dry and harden ?

I sometimes do so when I am not interested in turning them into something permanent. But when they are very dry, I spray paint on them to increase somewhat their durability.

[fritchie]

Welcome, Adrienne, and I'm glad you decided to post. Unfortunately, my Internet connection has been very slow tonight, and I couldn't see your website. I barely got this Community site, but I wanted to say Hello. Hopefully my connection will be better tomorrow, and I'll see some of your work. Meanwhile, please feel free to attach some of your images to a message.

[fritchie]

Adrienne - I got in with ease tonight. Don't know what was wrong last night. That was one of only 2 or 3 bad experiences in many years of Internet use.

I liked your clays very much. Some of the poses are quite original, which is hard to do with a subject that has seen so much study for so many years. Others are more typical of practice pieces, because, after all, the figure can be arranged in only so many ways.

Overall I think you have made a fine start. Please post here as often as you can, and keep us updated with your work. As you can see, we're short on members outside the U. S., so you are doubly valuable for your location.

[Adriënne]

Hi

Many thanks for your welcome and comments!

To answer your question, John: All sculptures on my website are fired, except of course the one found under WIP. When I don't get out of a figure what I aiming at, I often choose to turn them into clay again and try making a better sculpture next time. If I am not really pleased but find some detail interesting or like the expression or balance, I choose to look at them for a while and only later they are recycled when space is lacking in my living room.
I do not want to paint them because I try to keep an open structure in my figures to preserve the clay's characteristic. That is why I mainly choose black clay from Germany (just a literary translation from Danish), because I like the colour when it is fired, of course depending on the temperature.

Here are two of my most recent works, again in black clay not yet fired, 35-40 cm high. Would love to get your comments. Thanks!

Adriënne

[fritchie]

Adrienne - I like these two figures, and the left one again expresses what I meant when I said some are reminders of student poses. Please don't take these comments about "student poses" as overly critical.

That pose is one I used very early in my own career, escept that I think the right hand was on the knee and the left hand probably was holding the left ankle. Work like this is good practice, and to realise another person has done something similar should be taken as educational and not discouraging.

As far as the two standing figures, how about giving us other views? The enlargement is good, but really doesn't provide better understanding of the concept.

And another question. I studied German as part of my college requirrements many years ago, and I wonder what you mean when you say "black clay" is a literary translation from Danish. The original was "schwarz ....?".

[Adriënne]

Thanks for your comment, Fritchie, very much appreciated.

I easily can understand your remarks regarding student poses. Broadly speaking, I make three kind of figures: very quick sketches of 20 to 40 minutes after model; the category 'student poses', which are figures also after model, made in ca. 5 hours, mainly at my sculpture class; and lately I began working more freely, as the two tall slim figures posted earlier are witness of.

I am not working result orientated at the moment, but focus on the learning proces. When I model a figure, I might arrive at a stage where I am pleased with the expressive or aesthetic nature of the figure. I then nevertheless choose to continue, herewith taking the risk of destroying the figure's 'aesthetic value' (which often happens), for the sake of learning technique and above all to see. A beautiful result which is the outcome of a coincident is not my objective. To be surprised by your own work is of course admirable but this should take place on the right premises.

I post two additional pictures of the 'sitting man'. One could categorise the figure as mediating between a student pose and a more free attempt. As you can see at these pictures the man is not in a relaxed position but rising up. It was this dynamic moment that I tried to catch.

To answer your question regarding 'black clay'. I only know the name in Danish and assume that the clay might have a different name in other countries, in Germany as well.

I don't have yet a better picture of the other two figures. The quality of photos is always disappointing, but I will give it another try soon.

[Adriënne]

Here's finally another attempt...

[fritchie]

I like your two standing figures in this paired relationship to one another. I've only done one grouping of figures, several years ago and specifically for a local, public exhibit space. I found the experience both challenging and rewarding, but as I use bronze more or less exclusively, this was too expensive to repeat. Your photo’s show the value in being able to move individual components. A great idea for learning.

On your “rising” male figure, I now see what you had in mind, and this trial also has to be a good learning experience. I think you might want to catch the pose with the figure’s weight a little more off-balance. That, too, is a very tricky decision, but will yield great results when mastered.

[Arnis]

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