Animals at the Academi day 4 of 5

yesterday was the penultimate day of David Cemmick’s Animal Dynamics course at the Barcelona Academy of Art and we are all making progress. Sophie and Ella are both superb sculptors of the human figure but neither had tackled animals before. Rosa, who is a native Barcelona lady, has worked in ceramics but I think animals are a new subject for her. My only sculpting experience is that of modelling cartoon rabbits for a figurine company years ago and retired engineer Kevan has never sculpted anything at all before so tackling a life size parrot is an ambitious challenge! My attempt at sculpting a warthog is getting less like Pumba from the Lion King and more like the real thing, I think. After our coffee break David treated us to a speed sculpture demonstration of Carmelle’s ( our bunny model) head. Which was very helpful especially for the three women. Today is our last day so fingers crossed and good luck all!

Animal Sculpture Day 3 of 5

Today the group were back at the Barcelona Academy of Arts to start sculpting our desired animal. After a busy day’s drawing at the zoo yesterday the three ladies had decided to sculpt Carmelle our bunny model and the two chaps- me and Kevan, have decided to try to sculpt inhabitants of the zoo. Kevin has plumped for a parrot which is very ambitious as it requires a large armature and an exaggerated pose and after much rumination i’ve decided to attempt a warthog. They are odd looking creatures with faces like something out of the Star Wars cantina but I’m

having a go. By 3.30 we had all made a good start and headed home through the muggy heat of Barcelona to showers and siestas. More progress (we hope) tomorrow!

Animal Sculpture Course Day 2

On the second day of the course run by my brother David we spent the day at Barcelona Zoo with the intent of gathering enough reference material (sketches, photos and videos) for sculpting a bird or animal as an alternative to our rabbit- Carmelle. First we had a quick stroll around about half of this excellent zoo where we saw elephants feeding, a rhino having it’s face cleansed, a Komodo Dragon, parrots, warthogs and giant tortoises then we all convened at the penguin pond for some sketching before a coffee break. Between coffee and lunch we had a go at drawing the gorillas and chimpanzees  which proved very difficult as they are constantly moving. Then over lunch David had a look at everyone’s sketches and asked us all which subject we had settled on to try and sculpt for the next three days in the Academy. Sophie, Ella and Rosa will all be making sculptures of our supermodel bunny- Carmelle. Kevan went off to try and get reference material of the parrots and I spent the next hour or so sketching and photographing the warthogs, the giant tortoises and the vultures. I remain undecided which to attempt so I’ll look over all my ref and sleep on it tonight!

David Cemmick’s Animal Sculpture Course

I am attending a 5 day animal sculpture course at the Art Academy in Barcelona. My brother David is teaching the course as he’s been sculpting animals for many years having started his career as a taxidermist so he knows animals inside out- literally! There are 5 of us taking the course as it is a trial run and the Academy is officially closed for the summer months with a few specialised courses still running. From 9.30 until 3 on our first day we drew a live rabbit until lunchtime and then began sculpting rough versions of the bunny (called Carmelle) in clay. Tomorrow we are going sketching in the zoo with the intention of picking an animal and acquiring enough reference material with sketches, photos or video, to make a sculpture of our chosen zoo inhabitant or Carmella

for the rest of the week. Here are some photos from our first day. Drawing a rabbit from life is a lot harder than I expected so check out my blog tomorrow to see how we get on at the zoo and which animal I decide to sculpt!

Commissions!

Now that the exhibition in Galeria Pascual de Cabo is up and running in Palma, Mallorca I have some spare time on my hands so if anyone would like a piece of original artwork for a friend or partner for a birthday, wedding, retirement or whatever give me a shout. The three recent samples here are in three different styles depending on preference. The small family is in coloured pencil and watercolour as a piece of original artwork, the caricature of my friend Tony and his friend as Henry the Eighth and  HIS "friend" is done in pen line and watercolour wash and he large family is drawn digitally.

Call me for a quote if you'd like to commission a piece of unique art.

Thanks! Paul