SEMESTER 1 FINAL
Original Painting and Artist
The artwork that inspired this piece was Tadpole, a sketch by French artist Odilon Redon (pictured on the right). Redon was born in Bordeaux, France, in 1840, and quickly showed an interest in drawing and art from a young age. He began to formally study drawing at the age of 15, but stopped after his father insisted he switch to studying architecture. However, his failure to make it into the Paris Ecole des Beaux-Arts ended his study of architecture. Back in Bordeaux he continued to pursue art, learning things such as sculpture and etchings. After fighting in the Franco-Prussian war he moved to Paris, where he would live out the rest of his days. In these years he first worked a lot in charcoal, but later moved on to more colorful mediums like oil paints and pastels. Today many of Redon's pieces are displayed in prestigious museums such as the Musée d'Orsay in Paris and the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.
Construction
I chose this piece in part because I felt like it was something that was achievable to sculpt. I knew I wanted to bring my artwork to life with form and sculpture rather than elaborate painting. To make this piece I first made the head, then rolled out a long coil for the tail and scored and slipped them together. Then I attached the feathery bits on the head and tail and added some texture to them. I knew I wanted my glaze to be minimal, so I did just a solid brown for the whole piece. I deliberately did just one coat to make it look patchy, and thus capture some of the texture in the original sketch.
Results and Reflection
Overall, I am very satisfied with how my piece came out. I think it is a fairly accurate reflection of the original sketch, but brought into 3D. Some things I would have done differently in construction would be to alter the expression of the face - the original piece looked tranquil, while mine is somewhat wide-eyed. I would also alter what I did with the glaze a bit. While I like the monochrome brown, next time I might layer different shades of brown and tan to create more variation and interest. However, I am quite happy with the piece overall.
