[doris]

i spent a wonderful saturday reading a new biography on michelangelo, and that made me want try carving a portrait of him. well, as you know he lived about 500 years ago, so no fotos of him exist. so, i am basing my portrait of him onto the few paintings artists have made while michelangelo lived (showing michelangelo in different ages as well), and there is a drawing, and a bronze sculpture of him, from which i have only one foto sadly .... oh, yes, and of course there are a few selfportraits in the artwork he produced himself.

my first step was studying this meager reference material, and ask myself if i think these representations show the same man... yes, i think they do, though they do differ in some aspects dramatically. so, my plan is, to try carve from this reference material a portrait, showing him how i see the man michelangelo was from the many biographies i have read of him, and from what i think i can read in his sculptures and fresko of the sixtine chapell... so what i will end up with, might very well not be any similar to the true michelangelo, but it will show how i imagine he was ...

i am showing the first 3 fotos i made of my work so far, now i am 2 days in the carving. the first foto shows that i first establish the plane of his forehead and the length of the nose and the eyeline, to have a reference for the size of the head to be carved, as well for its orientation in space...
the second foto is the first step in finding the skull. notice how oversized it still is, so big that one has the impression the block of wood is too small to the left...it is not, i believe...(well, lets hope i not made a bad mistake ;-)
in the third foto i have vagely established the hairline, the brow line, and have the head cut down in size, as well shaped it somewhat, so we can see the pose now almost. still the head is strongly oversized, i like work this way, since i often make mistakes and this way i have lots of room for correcting. i cut down in size only when i am really sure that all is where it should be...

i hope you will enjoy this one :-)

[Paul_Guraedy]

This will be a very interesting thread to follow. Already, I have questions. Painted or stained? How do you plan to mount it?

[doris]

not painted, only stained... it will be just standing... it is 2.5'' deep, and i made the bottom flat, so it can stand in a slight angle backwards. ... but i am open for suggestions, i not have expereince with putting extra mounting...

[Paul_Guraedy]

The display in this fashion sounds very effective. I would suggest that you consider attaching the bottom to a piece of dark wood such as black walnut. This will add an interesting base. Black walnut grain barely shows so it does not have any detail that would detract from your carving.

[mark yundt]

Hi Doris, Great project idea! I've had this photo hanging in my shop since I started. I'm sure you already have it or at least have seen it but thought I'd just post it here as reference. I'd guess it's the bronze you talked about.

[doris]

thanks paul for that idea, yes sounds good, i will try it toward end of carving and see how it looks :-)
ah, mark, yes this seems be same bronze, but a different view than i have. so indeed your picture is very helpful ! thank you :-)

[Eddy Smiles]

Doris... Looking forward to following your work on this project.

[doris]

hi eddy, nice you join in the fun :-)

so this is how far today work brought me... i tried to loosely define the main shapes and get the necessary depth. the eye are in particular need to be pushed down much further still ... as its now i find it really needs a lot of imagination (and trust in oneself) to believe this will become a presentable carving ... sigh ... but, i think he is still inside the wood... maybe next i will cut the nose, the big wedge there makes it difficult to see if proportions are about ok ... ... soon more :-)

[Keoma]

Hats off to you ...again! Doris you never cease to amaze me! I applaud you for never thinking something is to stout or un do able. Your heart must be so big. I look forward to following as well.

[RussL.]

I always fine new reasons to admire your work. You are truly an inspiration.
Thank you for sharing your projects.

All the best,

Russ