Saturday, September 04, 2010

The Grenadier.....Finished




Here's the first finished casting of The Grenadier. The sculpture is based on a photograph I took of a Lance Corporal Turchich during Operation Steel Curtain in November of 2005. The piece was created using a technique called ecorche. I built a wire armature, added the bones and then the muscles with plasticine clay to create a flayed man. The flayed man was then wrapped in a skin of plaster of paris cloth. The resulting naked figure was then fully fleshed out and geared up using sculptor's wax. Once this was all complete and the figure married to a small vinyette depicting a blasted concrete pillar, the foundry cast a series of molds. These molds were then used to produce a series of hollow waxes. Each wax was then re-tooled by me to bring back or add details. Finally, the waxes were prepped for and underwent the "lost wax" bronze casting process. And, viola, you have the first version of this, my third attempt at sculpture.
The figure is shown with a pomegranate in his right hand and his helmet in his left. Across his chest an M-16 rifle with an M204 grenade launcher hangs on a three point sling. On his back hangs an AT-4 rocket. At the grenadier's feet lies a branch blasted off a pomegranate tree and scattered leaves, and spent rifle and grenade casings.
The word for grenade originated from the word for pomegranate. The gardens in Iraq and Afghanistan are always filled with them.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Excellent !

Anonymous said...

WoW that is amazing
-M

Bag Blog said...

Your attention to detail is amazing. I love the way you capture the soldier's stance - so real.

Elize McKelvey said...

Good one!

Jo Castillo said...

This is absolutely wonderful. It is great to see such a great finish. Congratulations!

christian soldier said...

1/2 life size?
once one has sculpted - it is hard to go back to painting--
drawing is never a problem- is it?
have you tried stone carving...?

it is a pleasure to come here..
carol-CS

christian soldier said...

it would be an honor to have you visit my art web site--the sculptures are my passion for art...
http://www.blogger.com/profile/04781627688988991192

my web site is separate from my blog site---web- access -- upper left side of page..

C-CS

mathias said...

I must say this is Excellent job. You can improve your skills so keep up the good work.

why update drivers You shelled out your hard-earned cash for a brand new "plug-and-play" scanner/printer. It scans, prints and makes great photo copies. It works. So, why worry about updating your device drivers?

Polyminthe said...

Hello, I'm working in animation and illustration and I love sketching. Recently, I grew really interested into war photography and read a lot about it. But I didn't know that much about war sketching or war artists and I just arrived on your blog and links and it seems really interesting. I'll start browsing through all of this. Cheers.

Anonymous said...

1. Congrats on getting the cover of MOAA magazine.
2. Your work and Battles' were superb.
3. You need to market some sketches now that you are retired.
4. That is to say, want some of your work on my walls.
Anyway, congrats.
V/R JWest -a long time follower