You may have noticed I've recently begun to move my work towards a more shadier side of life. I've always been fascinated with characters - underdogs, the downtrodden - but also, more recently, I've been curious about small time criminals and people just struggling to get by. (Who hasn't been inspired by the characters in some of Tom Wait's songs?) I'm excited to explore this side of the human condition - and can't wait to see where this exploration might take me. Stay tuned!
This piece sort of popped into my head all at once - a police line-up with many seedy characters. I thought it'd be intriguing to have so many personalities in one scene. These men are all in the same situation; each dealing with it in their own way. And each figure has a different movement to convey their feelings.
Making this piece was like making 5 pieces at once. Everything took sooooo long - 10 hands, 10 arms, 10 legs, 10 shoes - and all the clothes that go with 5 figures. I really didn't save any time on making multiple pieces, except maybe some of the mechanical parts. I have over 250 hours in this piece.
It measures 32" x 21.5" x 8.5". It's powered by a 4.8 RPM gearmotor.
There's the final shot of the completed piece. The base is also made from scratch - the top is actually a board salvaged from the basement of our building.
A closer shot. Each figure moves in it's own unique way- see the video at the bottom of this post.
Another shot. The guy closest to the camera points to the others, as if to say, "It wasn't me!"
Left to right - the heads.
I like how the cigar adds to his guy's character. I grew up with a neighbor who always chompin' on a stogie, and looked a bit like this guy.
This guy is sort of the hippie of the group - his hair was inspired by a friend's hairstyle.
The most normal looking guy in the line up. (It's always the one you least suspect.) He holds a piece of rusty pipe in his hand.
This guy's a bit flamboyant, but that's okay. A good friend hand-knitted his scarf out of kite string, using 2 toothpicks as needles.
The last guy - he's not happy one bit.
One
of the last things I did was to carve this newspaper, (the guy needed a
newspaper in his hand). One of the headlines reads, "Crime Spree".
In-progress images........
Just starting out. Some of the torsos, legs and shoes are carved. Much work ahead.....
More progress..... I pretty much use basswood all the time.
The majority of hands where not holding anything, and I carved all of these in one day. No power tools are used; I do it all the old-fashioned way - with knives and small chisels. And sandpaper.
Eight of the 10 arms. Some had to be weighted with lead so they would "swing" when the body moved.
After all the carving is done, the
last part of the body to be made are the heads. I usually work on heads
one at a time - but with this piece, I wanted to keep the heads
relatively the same size - so I roughed them all out at the same time.
The finished heads - sculpted from polymer clay.
The bodies, waiting for their clothes to be made --- then on to painting. At this point all of the internal mechanisms have been figured out.
All the clothes are made. (I took this shot so I could remember who's wearing what.)
I always "wash" the clothes in a watery mix of raw umber to age them down. Then I hang them up to dry.
And I paint while the clothes dry.
When painting, these magnifiers really help me see all the tiny details. They're indispensable to me now, I use them a lot, in every aspect of fabrication.
The heads - painted, aged, and lightly sanded. I also give them a coat of paste wax.
The mechanisms.....
I
made 3 of the levers the same. (It saved a bit of time.) These levers
will pull down on a line to move various parts. I use precision bearing whenever I can; you can see 3 of them here.
These two levers control the last guy on the left. The lever with a
"3" on it, moves his arm, and the other one moves his head back and
forth. (The cams, that work these levers, are not in place yet.)
The 8 cams are ready to be installed in the base. This is after days and days of figuring out each movement, and mechanism. All this work is from scratch, using the trial and error method, which is pretty time consuming - but it's the only way to do it.
The cam assembly. You see 2 more precision bearings here. These bearings will never need oil and will last for decades, probably longer. (I love them.)
The cam assembly installed. Here you see the cams and levers which control the first 3 guys. The gearmotor, that powers the piece, is all the way to the left, (you can see the wires).
After the piece was completed, my gallery owner, Noah, suggested I make a back piece to complete the police line-up feel. It is slightly shorter than the base.
Another shot of the back piece.
I made a movie of this piece. I want to make a "making of" video too, but have not yet. Enjoy.
Thanks for looking.
tom
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