Sam Commision - Still detailing

just more detailing.. endless.. detailing..

2015 30th Annual, Hunter's Feed, Ennis Montana

Hunters Feed and Wild Game Cook Off is a very popular event for locals, neighbors and visiting hunters. Started as a way to clean out the freezer of last years game before hunting season. Merchants on Main Street cook up exotic wild game dishes and serve their culinary delights in front of their shops. Dishes such as wild pheasant with dill sauce, deer fudge, moose meatballs and elk chili delight diners. Visitors vote for the best dish and judges select other category winners. A great kick-off to hunting season in the Madison Valley. This event is always held on the Friday afternoon prior to opening day of big game rifle hunting season.

Sam Commission - Todd Connor, the client, puts his two cents worth in to...

Todd Connor, the client, and artist friend, stopped by my home studio to check out the clay of "Sam". He wanted to add some features to Sam's head that he'd grown to know over the years of owning Sam. He's an accomplished artist himself, so I told him, "go ahead.. Have at it." He did a great job adding things that only an owner would remember.

Sam Commission - Final Texturing, Hopefully

Late in the evening, and I'm just putting textures into the fur. I'll be showing it to the client tomorrow.

Final Day of Coloring Somewhere A Cowboys Walkin

14 hours to color "Somewhere A Cowboys Walkin". Talk about your complicated work of art. It's finished now and is just waiting to be based... crated.... and shipped to the client. I just know he's going to be very excited when He gets this bronze.

.Sam Commission - Nose Job Today

As I came back to the clay late this afternoon, I could see a potential problem with the head of the clay of "Sam" a Blue Heeler/Border Collie mixed Dog I'm sculpting. The eyes looked strange and the nose looked off.. wasn't sure why till I checked against a photo of Sam's face. I found the nose ran down instead of level with the forehead of the dog.
I made an incision at the base of the dogs nose, a wedge cut out of the clay and then moving the nose up, mindful of the armature inside the clay.. I corrected the angle. Wala.. it worked. The eyes now looked better and the face change a lot.
Funny how a small change can turn the whole look. I learned that years ago from another sculptor who's no longer with us. That's what it takes, years of learning and making mistakes and then correcting them.

.Two Days of Coloring Somewhere a Cowboys Walkin and Still not Finished

Spent the last two days coloring "Somewhere a Cowboy's Walkin" and still haven't got it finished. Tanner who's coloring it is doing a great job on it. It's probably the hardest of all my bronzes to color... Hopefully it will be finished by Monday so I can photograph it, and then get it shipped to the client.

Sam Commission - Hair Texture, Yeah Exciting Stuff

I started the hair texturing on the clay of Sam. Time consuming, and tedious... Using a candle, I heat the metal tool up to get a certain effect in that texturing . Hopefully giving the impression of long hair where there is long hair and short where there's short hair. You know.... Tedious...

Sam Commission Fine Tuning his Face and Eyes

Sam's face looked like he'd been in a fight. I needed to redo his eyes and muzzle.
I started with the eyes, then noticed the structure of his muzzle was thicker near the eyes, so I reworked that area.
then onto the nose and mouth. Tomorrow, I'll start working on the hair.

Sam Commission - Working on the Front Legs

Near the end of working on this piece. I mainly worked on his front legs and his hind legs. Next the face and then the final detailing of the hair on Sam.

Somewhere a Cowboy's Walkin - Making the Base out of Foam

This video is from 2009. It was blocked in many countries because of copyright music I used. I went to my Youtube video and was able to remove the offensive music.. So Youtube reloaded this today without the music. I have no idea how they did that. It's of me creating the base for "Somewhere a Cowboy's Walkin" using Taxidermy Foam.

Sam Commission - Sam Starts to Appear

Couldn't sleep last night so I got to work on the clay of the large version of the two copies of Sam, Todd's pet. I left off yesterday, not really happy with the way it looked, and starting today, I nearly tore it up.. but I held back, and gave it a chance. It's working. I feel Sam's spirit in this clay. I have fine tuning to do on it, but all in all, it looks less like a Giraffe every day.. haha

Sam Commission Starting the Sitting Sam

My friend Todd commissioned me to do two versions of his pet, Sam. Sam passed away a while back, and he wanted me to do two bronzes of him to honor his memory. Today I started the second one of him sitting.

Sam Commission Fine Tuning the Small One of Sam

Just putting the finishing touches to the small version of the two copies of Sam, Todd's pet.

First 12 minutes of a New Instructional DVD - Creation of "Somewhere Cowboy's Walkin"

A New Instructional DVD that will show the creation, from making the armatures,. to detailing. I also show working out the design for the piece, using forming a Marquette out of wax and bailing wire,  then using a unique form of reference to create drawings to work out movement of the horses.. Yes I said horses.. 5 to be exact. That's how "Somewhere a Cowboys Walkin" came to life on April 1st 2009.
Someone asked me how I came up with the story and the design, yesterday, and got the fire burning in me. This is going to be probably the best Instructional DVD I've ever made.

                                    "Somewhere a Cowboys Walkin" in the finished Bronze

Another Day of Fine Tuning - From a Video Published July 22nd 2010

This is a clay, that never got cast. It spent 3 years in foundry waiting... It eventually just started to fall apart, and had to be cut down to just the head. I then became my bronze "The Protector"... The sad thing is, this was an amazing piece.. lost forever.

This is he picture of "The Protector". This went from the tall clay above to the bust below.

Somewhere A Cowboy's Walkin - p17 from June 9th 2009

This was from June 9th 2009
While I was creating "Somewhere a Cowboy's Walkin" I produced this video during one of my modeling sessions with a local cowboy, Harry. I was taking photos of him for a local talent agency, MMM Talent Agency. He was dressed as a late 1800s Cowboy. I took the opportunity to get some reference shots for not only the cowboy's horse but also for the cowboy.

Photo of the finished, "Somewhere a Cowboy's Walkin"

Sam Commission - I'm putting a small base under the Dog Sculpture

Back on the Commission again. I'm making a base for the dog to sit on. There's some writing on the top of the Urn it's going on, and a base on the dog will cover that. I also cut the dog in half to lengthen him.