Sculpture

I have finished my giant tortoise.  I started making him over a month ago, shortly after my release from Big Brother.  I enjoy making 3D sculptures in SL.  These tend to take me countless hours; I refuse to keep track of my time that I spend on them.  Often I can only work a few hours at a time before reaching frustration.  Prims must be manipulated to simulate the look of real life.  It is a challenge.  Though I am not making a real life looking object, I want it to look enough like what it is without having to tell anyone what I made. 

My first sculpture was a sea otter that I did for a Dreams competition.  I copied a small sculpture that I brought home from my Alaskan Cruise.  My finished product amazed me, it was a duplicate.  But being me, I felt like it wasn’t totally my art work.  I needed to work from something besides something someone else had made.

The next one I did was an elephant.  Though it started from an inspiration of a sculpture that is at the Omaha Zoo, the two do not look alike.  The only similarity is that the elephants are both in the sitting position.  Working from a 2D picture and forming a 3D image presented a new challenge.  I used picture mainly to develop a sense of proportion.  I had trouble with the feet.  I don’t remember how many different ways I did the feet, but I know the delete key was used liberally.  The biggest problem was the texture.  I had intended to make it look like a brass sculpture.  Nothing I did worked for me.  One day, while taking what I called a frustration break, I checked out a few lucky chairs.  The black and red décor of an Asian inspired store gave me the idea of an Ebony Elephant.  Using the blank texture and then black did the trick.  I learned that the blackest black hid the lines and shape.  I had to use a less intense black color.  The different lighting from the different times of day changes the look of the elephant with light reflections.

I saw a cat made out of a sphere in a RL store.  I took home the memory and made a cat.  It is very symmetrical and went together quickly.  I used the basic idea, but the cat is definitely something that came from my mind.

And that brings me to the tortoise.  My favorite sculpture at the Omaha Zoo is the giant tortoise.  I had wanted to try this earlier, but felt overwhelmed.  Other than my photos from the zoo, I did a lot of on-line research.  I watched a video of a walking tortoise to help with feet and leg placement.  My biggest problem was the feet.  I finally gave up and not even looked at my project for over a week.  Then I had inspiration about how to handle the feet.  Within a few hours I had the feet on and the tortoise textured. The rock texture I used came quite by accident.  Often I use different colors or textures while building to help with prim placement and size as it is easier to see shape and placement when things aren’t the same color.  I don’t know what possessed me to use rock texture during this phase.  While I worked on the sculpture and studied giant tortoises, I felt that the rock gave a sense of antiquity and survival.  My favorite part is the face.  It went together quickly for me and developed a neat personality. 

After I complete a sculpture I bake it.  Well, at least that is what I call it.  I place it where I will see it regularly.  This gives me a chance to tweak things before setting it out to sell. 

I have no idea what my next sculpture will be, except it will be an animal.  I have some on going projects that need working on.  So, until I get an inspiration from somewhere I will be busy, but not sculpturing.