To add or to subtract?
A sculptor’s dilemma
Back in the day, I was a keen amateur sculptor. As a young editor in Oxford, England, I used to take my entire annual leave in Wednesday mornings, so that I could attend a local life sculpture class.
I found life drawing and sculpture utterly absorbing. The stillness in the room was accentuated rather than broken by occasional murmured exchanges, as students emerged from their rapt concentration. It didn’t matter whether the model was young or old, plain or beautiful, male or female: I was in my happy place.
Although it has to be said: the 30 hours I spent sculpting Helen, a flame-haired, lightly pregnant Venus à la Botticelli, were possibly the most chastely erotic in my entire life.
I digress (but ah, Helen!). Ahem … what I meant to discuss here is the difference between additive and subtractive sculpting processes. Both equally pleasing and equally infuriating in their way.
Working in wet clay was a sensuous delight, even without Helen. Because the material is so easy to handle (as long as you don’t over-handle it), you can concentrate fully on the subject, and elicit those details from the clay…
