August
15th 2009
Demo by Brian Chapman
Brian
Chapman is a commercial carver, one of the few people I have met who
makes a living out of carving. He brings a hard nose
commercialism to carving but retains a high artistic standard.
He decided not to produce for shops and galleries but work only on
commission. As long as the commissions keep coming in,this
gives him an assured market. Commissioners are demanding people
and so a high standard of work is required. It is more
satisfying to push oneself to achieve that high standard, rather than
churn out bread and butter stuff for shops. This does not
mean that he has not learnt a few short cuts along the way.
He showed us
some quick ways for starting to carve a face. Then he
explained how he modifies this to produce portrait heads. He takes some
very specific photographs, including one vital one from under the chin.
The answer, as always, is in the detail, one eye or
ear being lower than the other, and the size and shape of the nose and
mouth.
We were all fascinated and booked him for another talk next year.
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