Tuesday 1 July 2014

Words, like arrows


I quite like this phone-camera picture. Maybe because when taking it, I didn't realise that H.I. was going to pop into view and be the off-centrepiece of the anti-clockwise, spiralling structure. This is the sort of structure that she spends hours analysing, but with me it was a happy accident. I can recognise it when I see it though, as most people instinctively can.

I tried to get her involved in the design of a 17th century style fire surround I had to make in stone a while ago, and the client said he wanted the theme of pears in the design, living in an area which had been known for its Perry production for many hundreds of years. (Yes, I know you have seen it before, but I don't think you saw the drawing.)

I bought a few pears, and left them with H.I., together with a scaled down rectangle which was the proportions of the space in which the design was to fit. She promised to set to work with pencil and paper as I went to the workshop to bash some more stone.

When I got home, I found that she had produced a drawing of a single pear.

I told her that I already knew what pears looked like, and that what I was really after was a flowing design which incorporated several of them in a visually pleasing manner.

She is a genuinely brilliant draughts-woman - I mean she can really draw - but her mind just does not run along the same tracks as a 17th century stone carver's.

Whenever we have been to a sculpture exhibition which includes working drawings by the sculptor, she has always expressed her dislike of the drawings, on the basis that most of them are utter crap.

Despite my defence of the artist in saying that a drawing which will be transposed into 3 dimensions will never contain the same sort of information as a drawing done for its own sake, she insists that this is no excuse to produce an ugly drawing.

She sort of has a point, but I think that if drawings have been made to help a sculptor carry out the work sitting as a great lump in the middle of a gallery, it might be interesting for the viewer to see how they got to that finished point.

What I hate is when the sculptor proudly frames and displays the working drawings, as if they were works of Art in their own right. They aren't, and most people will throw them away in shame when the work is done.

It's the same with film-maker's story-boards. Not many directors can draw to save their lives, but they still have to show the cinematographer what they want to see on screen in terms of composition, scene by scene. Have you seen Martin Scorcese's story-boards? They are truly awful, but the films are quite good.

Very occasionally, you will get a sculptor who can really draw. Rodin is a rare example, but when you consider that he never actually carved a lump of stone in his life (all of them were executed by Bourdin) it is easier to understand how - or why.

I can use a pen or pencil quite nicely, but I just don't have the eye or inclination to sit down and make a drawing for its own sake, unless it is a 'cartoon' type thing giving an instantaneous result which doesn't improve in the staring.

When you are plastic-modelling, you can build-up or remove the material as you think fit, but when you are carving, you can only remove it. You have to know exactly what the finished article is going to look like before you start.

I heard once that ancient Japanese archers were so accurate - even with seemingly impossible shots - because they had already released the arrow in their minds several times before letting go of the string, in the meditative build-up before the shot.

After this, there was only one place the arrow could go.



24 comments:

  1. I have always liked the drawings of Henry Moore of which there are many volumes in the Norwich library and I have sat absorbed by them for many hours. Perhaps he is an exception to what you describe about sculptors drawings.

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    1. I prefer his drawings to his sculptures, that's for sure. They are much better, in my eyes.

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  2. Darling Tom,
    This overmantle is strikingly attractive. The fine detail is beautifully executed and the overall design has a playfulness and movement to it that is most appealing. We wish that it were ours......indeed, we wish that we had a fireplace....but that is another story!

    We do see what you mean about drawings as art in their own right and working sketches but, from our perspective, which is shaky to say the least, the sketch looks more than competent. However, we do admire the way that sculptors and, presumably, stone carvers, can visualise the finished three dimensional work before the first chip is made. Something rather along the lines of removal men who seem to know exactly how the furniture has to be placed into the removal van in order to maximise the space........only in reverse! On the other hand, perhaps it is nothing like this at all.........who are we to say.....we have problems carving slices of bread evenly!

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    1. Thank you for those lovely comments, and thank you for referring to me as 'Darling' as promised.

      I have one question - will you still love me tomorrow?

      I am still trying to digest the removal van analogy, so once I have, I will give you by best Cambridge opinion on it.

      I went to Cambridge, you know - unlike Rolf Harris.

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  3. I don't remember seeing it before, but it's definitely worth a second viewing, it's really rather good! I love the analogy with the removal men..

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    1. If you don't remember seeing it before, I am not going to trust your opinion on removal vans, let alone 'rather' as a description of how good it is. 'Extremely' would have been better...

      (only joking!)

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  4. A brilliant drawing and a beautiful fireplace, as they were when you showed BOTH to us before !!!!!!! XXXX

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    1. Oh ….. and, I really like the photograph ……. the shadows, the leaning gravestone, the accidental addition of H.I ….. very nice. XXXX

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    2. This was just a test to see if you were displaying any signs of Dementia. You're ok. Next!

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  5. I'm going to use an over-used word, but what the heck - that mantlepiece is STUNNING, Tom. Wow!

    I don't like to draw; and I am piss poor at it.

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    1. You have just stepped a few rungs up the ladder which is my fan-club, Carol. IRIS! WHERE ARE YOU? !

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  6. Absolutely beautiful Tom - I would love something like this - it is a pure work of art.

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    1. Thank you Weave. Give me £12,000 and your dream will come true.

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  7. I'd like one of those.

    When we got married, a friend carved a tree stump into intricate designs using his chainsaw. It sits in the top of the garden. I don't think he can draw but the piece in the wood is beautiful.

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    1. That sounds good. If you can carve without drawing or modelling, then that's all that matters - and it saves time.

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  8. Replies
    1. Thank you, Rachel. I keep going back to thsi thing, because I think it is a good example of what happens if a client knows what he wants, and has found someone who knows how to do it - everything becomes so clear, and everyone ends up happy. It's a rare thing.

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    2. That is all that matters. I have a man who works for me in the house and we have that relationship. I trust him and that is it. I suppose he trusts me because he knows I will pay.

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    3. That is all you can ask of a good client/provider relationship.

      And it is a genuine relationship, based on trust and respect. Everyone knows what is expected of them, and supplies it without disappointment.

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  9. Beautiful, Tom. I am impressed.

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    1. Thank you, Jennifer - you are giving Iris a good run for her money.

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  10. I usually prefer the drawings of artists to their more serious painted work for example but I completely see that for sculpture it's more a case of laying out what must be done. Sorry - I have a stinking cold and that last sentence was about as inelegant as they come. I think I'll stop before I embarrass myself further. Love HI in the photo. I can see it on the cover of a sedate British crime novel.

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