Imaya
New Member
Sorry if this is the wrong forum, it seemed most appropriate!
I have my bachelor's in Fine Art for the simple reason that I really, really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed sculpture work. In the years following graduation, I have struggled to find something to do with my degree, and have been working dead end entry level jobs just to survive.
Frankly, I am sick of it. Art is my passion, and I want to get back into it... but I am so lost as to where I should direct myself! I have always had a great interest in objects in general, authenticity, process, and the stories they tell. I love to look at other artist's sculpture work, preferring pieces with many elements as opposed to simplistic or minimalist ones. I have also found that, when presented with reproductions, I LOVE to scrutinize them, trying to figure out the processes used as well as scan them closely for authenticity and appropriate use of materials.
I went to Disneyland with my family last month, and really enjoyed the animatronics in the dark rides, the carefully themed areas in the queue lines, and all the various theming throughout the park. Obviously on the rides I was unable to study pieces up close or for very long, but I really liked pouring over the theming in the lines as much as the rides themselves. I studied the Iron Man set pieces on display in tommorrowland, and was disappointed to find all the suits were mere molded and painted set pieces, which was obvious when looked at from even a couple feet away. I was delighted to see that one suit, the Mark 1, was the exception, and was an actual suit. I must have studied that one for half an hour! It was really, really beautiful work! Actual wires were used, instead of molded pieces. Actual bolts were in it. A pair of torn up pinstripe pans could be seen protruding from the joints. I could not figure out what kind of material was used for the suit (I imagine a plastic, unless they used aluminum to be super cruel to the stuntman!), but the paint on it was OUTSTANDING. The finish on it was perfect to achieve the old metal look, and did not look 'plasticy'. I am not much for costuming, but I think I would make an exception for the opportunity to make something like an Iron Man suit! I realized that last time I visited Disney with the family was 8 years ago, and I enjoyed the exact same things. This was right before I even changed my major to art, let alone dedicated so much time in the studio, immersed myself in the art world, and graduated. I love big rollercoasters and thrill rides, but I get just as much enjoyment immersing myself in art, even if the ride is just a boring flat ride. The trip pretty much cemented it for me, that I need to persue my interests in prop and set design.
I am not sure if prop design is even where I should go. I have experience with basic workshop tools, but have never worked with CNC machines, made molds, or worked with plastic or fabrication of manmade materials. I am not sure if that is something I would even enjoy, nor do I have any clue as to how I could get access to such equipment to wet my feet. I mostly worked with found objects, wood, and basic welding. I also painted quite a bit, though I am not good at that and would prefer it as a supplement (like painting textures and details on set pieces or props) to sculpture instead of making standalone works. I have managed to make some fantastic texture and effect paint jobs on cakes when I went above and beyond at work (and was one reason in a laundry list of other positive things I did that they got rid of me...) and have developed knife skills at my current job. I try to stay positive and think that I am still able to develop artistically while working crap jobs, but ultimately, they aren't getting me where I want to be. If I am headed in a direction that is somehow related directly with sculpture skills, I think I would be eons happier, even if it isn't the perfect fit.
In terms of what I can make at home to practice, I am limited. I have basic hand tools, none of the workshop equipment I used at school, nor do I have access to any of them. Found object projects are basically all I can do, but there are no scrapyards or army surplus yards within 50 miles or so, so sourcing inexpensive objects has been a challenge compared to where I used to live. I feel stuck in a rut, restrained at work, but no way to let it out at home as I angrily shuffle through scrap bins over and over again that have very little in them that inspire me.
Anyways, here are some of my pieces.
This is a cyberpunk helmet I made. It is wearable, but very heavy! I didn't think it would be very heavy until I put it on, but it was too late by then. I used lots of tin and aluminum to keep the weight down, but my favorite part, the steel 'braid' on the back is very, very heavy. I learned SO MUCH from the project. Lots of epoxy experiments, paint experiments, filler experiments, and working with half a dozen different mystery metals I learned from the beginning couldn't be welded, as well as attaching metal to plastic. I would have loved to rivet things on, but I didn't have the equipment for it.
The base helmet was a brand new plastic military helmet replica, which I 'aged' and gave it the beat up look. It looked like plastic and completely out of place with the old metal bits. The pictures are low quality, I need to get better ones one day... but the white on top, when seen in person, are actually tattered computer schematics of some kind. It looks really cool. I had a companion piece for it, which I don't have good pictures of, and is gone. Thrown into the scrap pile in the sky because I left it in the studio too long, and someone decided to clean up... I also lost a painting because it was too large to transport, and when I got a car big enough, the lab was closed for the summer and I was moving before they opened it again. Boo... Anyways, future helmets I will make much lighter for longterm wear, as well as adding high quality audio systems in the helmets to make it both fashionable and functional art. Easily my favorite piece to date. It was chosen for the student art show by someone who curated 'pop-art' pieces, but didn't win. A 'dog' made out of a ****ty wire armature that barely held together and scraps of shag carpeting (the artist said it represented her step-mom...) won second place, and neon paintings of taxidermed animals (I believe she just said that she found taxidermy ghastly, and wanted to brighten them up) won first. I knew both artists, as they were in my classes. Both made pieces were much more 'ironic' than my piece, obviously. When it was originally selected, it was unbelievably placed on the pedestal UPSIDE DOWN. So... ya.... that's the story of this one!
An early picture of the outside bottom of the companion piece, an arm cannon. The inside was the cool part... electrical components and everything glowed. It was meant to be viewed in blacklight, and I had a flickering florescent light set further away to catch the outside metal so you could see that part too. I needed a serial number for the outside, and this one was requested by a friend and a picture was sent to him, which is why it is the only picture I have... -_-
Eh, I figure you guys don't care much about cakes or anything. Airbrushing is kind of a dime a dozen. My paintings aren't anything special either. The rest of my stuff is more about character design, and doesn't show much regarding sculpture work. And I don't seem to have pictures of of most other pieces... meh. And I don't think food art is very important either, mostly because I don't do anything advanced since I am still pretty new. Good enough start!
I have my bachelor's in Fine Art for the simple reason that I really, really enjoyed it. I especially enjoyed sculpture work. In the years following graduation, I have struggled to find something to do with my degree, and have been working dead end entry level jobs just to survive.
Frankly, I am sick of it. Art is my passion, and I want to get back into it... but I am so lost as to where I should direct myself! I have always had a great interest in objects in general, authenticity, process, and the stories they tell. I love to look at other artist's sculpture work, preferring pieces with many elements as opposed to simplistic or minimalist ones. I have also found that, when presented with reproductions, I LOVE to scrutinize them, trying to figure out the processes used as well as scan them closely for authenticity and appropriate use of materials.
I went to Disneyland with my family last month, and really enjoyed the animatronics in the dark rides, the carefully themed areas in the queue lines, and all the various theming throughout the park. Obviously on the rides I was unable to study pieces up close or for very long, but I really liked pouring over the theming in the lines as much as the rides themselves. I studied the Iron Man set pieces on display in tommorrowland, and was disappointed to find all the suits were mere molded and painted set pieces, which was obvious when looked at from even a couple feet away. I was delighted to see that one suit, the Mark 1, was the exception, and was an actual suit. I must have studied that one for half an hour! It was really, really beautiful work! Actual wires were used, instead of molded pieces. Actual bolts were in it. A pair of torn up pinstripe pans could be seen protruding from the joints. I could not figure out what kind of material was used for the suit (I imagine a plastic, unless they used aluminum to be super cruel to the stuntman!), but the paint on it was OUTSTANDING. The finish on it was perfect to achieve the old metal look, and did not look 'plasticy'. I am not much for costuming, but I think I would make an exception for the opportunity to make something like an Iron Man suit! I realized that last time I visited Disney with the family was 8 years ago, and I enjoyed the exact same things. This was right before I even changed my major to art, let alone dedicated so much time in the studio, immersed myself in the art world, and graduated. I love big rollercoasters and thrill rides, but I get just as much enjoyment immersing myself in art, even if the ride is just a boring flat ride. The trip pretty much cemented it for me, that I need to persue my interests in prop and set design.
I am not sure if prop design is even where I should go. I have experience with basic workshop tools, but have never worked with CNC machines, made molds, or worked with plastic or fabrication of manmade materials. I am not sure if that is something I would even enjoy, nor do I have any clue as to how I could get access to such equipment to wet my feet. I mostly worked with found objects, wood, and basic welding. I also painted quite a bit, though I am not good at that and would prefer it as a supplement (like painting textures and details on set pieces or props) to sculpture instead of making standalone works. I have managed to make some fantastic texture and effect paint jobs on cakes when I went above and beyond at work (and was one reason in a laundry list of other positive things I did that they got rid of me...) and have developed knife skills at my current job. I try to stay positive and think that I am still able to develop artistically while working crap jobs, but ultimately, they aren't getting me where I want to be. If I am headed in a direction that is somehow related directly with sculpture skills, I think I would be eons happier, even if it isn't the perfect fit.
In terms of what I can make at home to practice, I am limited. I have basic hand tools, none of the workshop equipment I used at school, nor do I have access to any of them. Found object projects are basically all I can do, but there are no scrapyards or army surplus yards within 50 miles or so, so sourcing inexpensive objects has been a challenge compared to where I used to live. I feel stuck in a rut, restrained at work, but no way to let it out at home as I angrily shuffle through scrap bins over and over again that have very little in them that inspire me.
Anyways, here are some of my pieces.
This is a cyberpunk helmet I made. It is wearable, but very heavy! I didn't think it would be very heavy until I put it on, but it was too late by then. I used lots of tin and aluminum to keep the weight down, but my favorite part, the steel 'braid' on the back is very, very heavy. I learned SO MUCH from the project. Lots of epoxy experiments, paint experiments, filler experiments, and working with half a dozen different mystery metals I learned from the beginning couldn't be welded, as well as attaching metal to plastic. I would have loved to rivet things on, but I didn't have the equipment for it.
The base helmet was a brand new plastic military helmet replica, which I 'aged' and gave it the beat up look. It looked like plastic and completely out of place with the old metal bits. The pictures are low quality, I need to get better ones one day... but the white on top, when seen in person, are actually tattered computer schematics of some kind. It looks really cool. I had a companion piece for it, which I don't have good pictures of, and is gone. Thrown into the scrap pile in the sky because I left it in the studio too long, and someone decided to clean up... I also lost a painting because it was too large to transport, and when I got a car big enough, the lab was closed for the summer and I was moving before they opened it again. Boo... Anyways, future helmets I will make much lighter for longterm wear, as well as adding high quality audio systems in the helmets to make it both fashionable and functional art. Easily my favorite piece to date. It was chosen for the student art show by someone who curated 'pop-art' pieces, but didn't win. A 'dog' made out of a ****ty wire armature that barely held together and scraps of shag carpeting (the artist said it represented her step-mom...) won second place, and neon paintings of taxidermed animals (I believe she just said that she found taxidermy ghastly, and wanted to brighten them up) won first. I knew both artists, as they were in my classes. Both made pieces were much more 'ironic' than my piece, obviously. When it was originally selected, it was unbelievably placed on the pedestal UPSIDE DOWN. So... ya.... that's the story of this one!
An early picture of the outside bottom of the companion piece, an arm cannon. The inside was the cool part... electrical components and everything glowed. It was meant to be viewed in blacklight, and I had a flickering florescent light set further away to catch the outside metal so you could see that part too. I needed a serial number for the outside, and this one was requested by a friend and a picture was sent to him, which is why it is the only picture I have... -_-
Eh, I figure you guys don't care much about cakes or anything. Airbrushing is kind of a dime a dozen. My paintings aren't anything special either. The rest of my stuff is more about character design, and doesn't show much regarding sculpture work. And I don't seem to have pictures of of most other pieces... meh. And I don't think food art is very important either, mostly because I don't do anything advanced since I am still pretty new. Good enough start!
