Mid-Week #8: Wired Wednesday Part 6

 Wired Wednesday is off and running! This week's theme is...well...there really isn't one...I guess wire? Yeah, I'll go with that. Anyway, here we go.
This first one is a unicorn, as is strongly hinted at by the singular sharp horn protruding from its forehead. Unlike most of the sculptures I've posted pictures of so far, this one is in fact the third of its kind.  I produced the first one as a gift. When a co-worker of the gift recipient saw it, she offered to commission a second one.  While I was making the second one a thought occurred to me. "Why not make a third unicorn to keep for display?" I thought. Not exactly a riveting story, I know, but important nonetheless. Had I not made this one, I couldn't be sharing it with you today. The final product stands 9.5 inches tall and is about 11 inches from head to tail. I like the way the whole thing turned out, but my favorite part of this one is the mane, on which I used a smaller gauge stainless steel wire.

At this point, I imagine that seeing another mask shouldn't come as much of a surprise.  This one is fairly unique in that it has almost no story of how I was inspired to make it.  Basically, I started bending some wire and really liked the shapes that began to form.  At some point in every work of art the artist has to step back and say, it's finished.  That time came fairly early in this mask's creation process. It's about 9 inches tall.

I'll conclude this week with one that isn't nearly so simple in design, but also started as a mask.  This, in case it isn't immediately apparent, is a chimpanzee head. My fascination with most primates is the short form explanation of the "why?" of this one.  It started off in much the same way the mask above did.  I first set out to make a slightly abstracted (read cartoony) monkey mask. Somehow in the process of creating it, the project took on a life of its own and became the approximately 1:1 scale chimp head you see now. Unfortunately, due to the complexity of the wiring, it doesn't translate as well into two-dimensional photograph as I would prefer. The first shot shows it in profile, the second viewing it from the front, and the third viewing it from the back.  Like the full scale hand I made and showed in this post, I hope to one day complete an entire body for this guy.  If and when that day comes, I will most assuredly post pictures of both the process and the final product.  Until then, a disembodied primate head it shall remain.

Though I will still post wire sculptures periodically, my weekly Wired Wednesday series will be drawing to a close before long.  Keep checking back though to see what other projects I have in store for you.  Rest assured that as long as there is life in my body, I will continue to do my best to translate my art from ideas to realities.  As usual my art challenge to you all stands and don't forget to support your local artists of all forms. Have a great week and as always...
Stay creative.
-AH!

Reptiles... Mostly

As the title indicates, this week features three pictures of reptiles... sort of.  I really like drawing reptilian skin and scales. There's something about the details of the skin and scale textures that puts me into an almost Zen state. Drawing plain old lizards and snakes over and over and over again gets a little monotonous, though. To  combat the tedium, I improvise.

First up this week is an amalgamation of a Tyrannosaurus Rex and a chimpanzee. Whether it's deserved or not is up for debate, but the T. Rex has the reputation of being one of the baddest of the big-bads in the dinosaur world. Then I thought about a chimp (Don't even bother trying to figure out how my train of thought reached that station) Chimps, as entertaining as they are, also have a mean streak at least a mile wide.  Since the eyes and hands, in my opinion, are the most expressive aspects of any primate, I combined the Rex and the chimp into the roaring beast you see here.

 And here's Ossie.  He's unlike the other two creatures in today's post in that he is entirely reptile. The inspiration behind this drawing is actually found in the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. According to the Genesis account, prior to tempting man to commit the original sin, the serpent got around in Eden by walking. After the fall of man, he was cursed to slither around on his belly. This is my idea of how he might have gotten around before the curse. The name is an acronym for Original Sin Serpent In Eden.

Finally is another student inspired creation. I'm not exactly sure where he got the idea, but somehow the idea of a bull/alligator hybrid seemed to click with me. A short while later the bulligator came into being. I took an alternate approach to the combination of these animals than I did with the chimp and t. rex, opting for a blend of their aspects throughout the body this time. Regardless of those differences, I can safely say that I wouldn't want to run afoul of either of them (or Ossie for that matter).

Thus ends another post. My mid-week Wired Wednesday series continues this week, so check back then for more of my three-dimensional art. Before I sign off, here are a couple of reminders.

REMINDER #1) As an artist I thrive on feedback from my audience, so questions, requests, ideas, or comments about this or any other post are both welcomed and strongly encouraged. That's what the comment section below and my email are there for.

REMINDER #2) There's still an artistic challenge waiting for your response here. It's not too late to take up the challenge.

Looking forward to hearing from you all.

Stay creative,

AH!