Andrew Jackson Complete

So I actually finished this guy about 2 weeks ago but just realized I never posted it.  It only took another hour or two in the studio.  I pulled out the pins from his jacket and added some trim that I bought at Joanne’s Fabric.  His neckerchief is just some cut and folded paper towel and the sword is some carved and spray painted bulsa wood.  I had to bust out the electric sander to file down his hand so that I could glue the sword on at the right angle but even that moved quick.  The last touch was attaching the epaulettes which was also some trim that I picked up at Joanne’s and then… President Jackson was DONE.

Building Andrew Jackson

My son did a book report on Andrew Jackson and I was so impressed by the job he did I thought I’d build a little Andrew Jackson to stick on a shelf.  I still have a fair amount of details to add but here’s what two nights in the studio has yielded so far…

Step #1 – Carve some foam, paint it all fleshy color-like, pin in some eyes to get a sense for placement and then start hot glueing foam onto his head for hair…

Step #2 – Add more hair, glue on all the good stuff like eyes, nose, mouth and crazy bushy eyebrows…

 

Step #3 – Measure and cut a cardboard roll, stuff it with foam, jam in some bulsa wood legs, wrap the legs with tape to make “boots” and paint it all white…

 

Step #4 – Add wire for arms, carve little feet and hot glue ’em on.  The tricky part is making sure he can actually stand…

 

Step #5 – Wrap the arms in tape, add “hands” and paint the whole thing white.  Eventually he will be holding a big sword because Andrew Jackson was kind of a bad-ass…

 

Step #6 – Paint the whole thing up, hot glue on the head and jam little pins in for buttons…

 

So I still have to finish up his sword, add details to his jacket and the epaulettes to his shoulders but all of that should move pretty fast.  I figure after a few more hours there will be another ridiculous president standing on a piece of furniture in our house.

And if anyone is actually still reading this I would just like to add that while I find Jackson fascinating, he was also kind of a JERK.  The Indian Removal Act was certainly not America’s proudest moment :(

 

General George Washington

It has been a whirlwind two months at work so 1) I have not been back into my studio in WEEKS and 2) I have not even posted work that was done 2-3 months ago.  I had the privilege of meeting Kyle Kesterson earlier this week and I told him about my George Washington made out of toilet paper rolls.  He asked to see it so I figured I might as well take 10 minutes, dust off the ole blog and post it.

 

 

George Washington

Went into my studio the other night and started a new toilet paper roll sculpture.  This one will be George Washington riding a horse…

 

Self Portrait

This is a quick two night project just for fun.  I got frustrated with the mechanics on the Unicyclist and I had a great time making the character so I figure why not make another one.  Here is yours truly…

The Unicyclist

I started this project ages ago and it was originally going to be a frog on a unicycle but this weekend I went back into my studio and just started messing around with it.  The frog became a dude and I spent some time cleaning up and reworking the mechanics.  In addition to just pedaling the single wheel I would like the guy to teeter back an forth as he tries to find his balance.  We’ll see if I can actually get it to work…

Painting Class

Here’s two more from the painting class I am taking.  I’m seeing big improvements over the past few weeks but I am still the worst person in the class.  It is really humbling to be surrounded by people that are clearly much better than you.  I would swear some of these people are friggin’ magicians!

Self Portrait

I started a painting class last week and it’s the first time in 17 or 18 years that I have picked up paint brushes. Tonight I went into my studio to mess around and this is what I came up with. It’s only black and white which makes figuring out values a bit easier but hopefully in time I’ll move comfortably to color…

Trying to remember how to draw…

My God, it has been YEARS since I sat down somewhere and just tried to draw a picture of what was in front of me.   It has been easily 12 years or more and it was uncomfortable and awkward and haunted by the memories of what I *used* to be able to do.  Even though the process was more frustrating than enjoyable there was something in it that made me remember why I used to enjoy it so much.  The problem is the constant judging I do of myself and my short temper when my hand does something my eyes don’t want it to.  The thoughtless connection between my eyes and my hands was something I spent years working on but now it seems I’ve spent more years neglecting it than I ever spent fostering it.  It’s strange how time speeds up!

Here’s some drawings I did of my buddy Josh before I left for Europe and then a few drawings of the Madeleine in Paris.  Who knows, maybe I can start to make this something of a habit again?

Silly Little Chicken

I made this in about 5 hours yesterday so that I could contribute ‘something’ to this month’s Loop de Loop.  It’s not really on theme with the competition but I really like chickens so I figured, “Why not?”