I know it looks like I fell off the face of the earth

Yes, the posts in my blog have been scarce. I am still here, and have not fallen off the face of the earth. I'm just focusing on getting my chapters into the publisher. That is taking all of my focus and concentration.

Of course I have had other distractions as well.

* Bidding on new sculpting jobs in the studio
* Taking care of jobs in house, or at the foundry
* Visiting with my daughter and new son-in- law, when they came into town
* Taking care of elderly relatives- it seems like that is my other job. Yes, I am at that stage in my life.
* Working on my house, or portions of it that seem to be crying for my attention, and just won't wait anymore.

But mostly it has been the book. Hopefully this chapter will be out this next week and I'll be able to see straight. Of course it will be on to the next chapter.

It is strange but true- My interview

It is strange but true. I thought I would share this podcast with you. I was interviewed by Strange But True Podcast out of UK. Please note:I ask my Christian friends please don't freak out over my interview. I have prayed over this, and been prayed over. My minister knows and I do consider it a gift. Please be assured, I'm not possessed.

Besides creating fine artwork, most of my blog readers know that I sculpt deceased loved ones. I have written a book titled "Bringing to Life the Spirit of the Deceased- A Sculptor's Journey." Still looking for a publisher. It is about the science behind some of the "strange" things that happen during sculpting the deceased as well as my own experiences. I'm still searching for a publisher for the book. I an also writing another book titled "Kisses from Heaven" based on what others have said about their experiences. Now I am searching for more stories about others having different experiences when someone dies. You can find more information here.

Anyway. It was a fun podcast. If for any other reason it is good to hear that UK accent from my interviewers. You will have to wade through some of the "strange" items before hand. Unless you forward to 1/2 past the hour or move your player curser to 38.40 to hear my interview.

Twitter answers?

I have been twittering, which is a very short comments on different things that I post through the day. Most people twitter from their phones, I twitter on my computer. People can subscribe to your twitters. I have no idea exactly who subscribes to my twitters, but right now I assume they are anyone that is interested in sculpting, digital sculpting, art, marketing, and the like. My twitter name is sculptorwriter for my fine art and creategodsword for my gift line. Just incase anyone wants to subscribe.
My twitters appear on my facebook home page as well as on my blogs. Some people actually answer me through my twitter posts, giving me resources or answers to questions. This is really cool, but warning, I have no idea how to answer someone when they respond to my twitter post. But I'm not sure if that is really necessary.

When tweeting about my frustration with accounting and Quick Books I tweeted about wishing my accountant offered help with my Quick Books. there are just some things I don't know how to figure out. So instead of trying to pose a twitter question on quick books in only 140 characters,( the max when tweeting) I'll post it here.


QUICK BOOKS QUESTION NUMBER ONE

If I have a vendor- foundry that gives me an estimate on the project. It is awarded to them when I get the job and then I pay them in two installments, but I'm not sure how to set it up. You see right now I have to receive the item in QB before making a payment. That means I have to say " received bronze newsboy cast" even though it may take up to two months and will have a couple of payments. So what is the best way to set up this vendor and the payments in Quick books?

There you have it. I'll let you know what others say.

Wax newspapers!

One of the things that needs to be prepared for the life size newsboy to go into bronze is his newspapers. I offer, for an additional cost, a change of the masthead and above the fold headline. That means my client can recreate any headline in history. That is really cool when you think about it. What it entails for me is to carve all of these papers. Now it is try I could carve one and make a mold, but frankly that is almost as much trouble as carving the entire paper. Here is the old Texas Press Messenger paper. It will be covered in wax and then the new headline will be hand carved. Now all of this would be o.k. if it were just one paper. But the newsboy holds one in his right hand, a bunch were tucked under his left hand, and there are a pile by his feet. So basically I have to recreate at least three papers.

Of course the rest of the waxes also need to be cleaned. This is usually done by the foundry, but I like working my waxes and adding detail. The waxes are made from molds and where the molds come together there is often a seam of wax. Of course you also need to be sure that all of the pieces go together. It is much easier to put together waxes than it is metal.

Studio is a buzz!

The contract came in for the new newsboy. I'm not sure I can divulge where it is going. Something to look forward to.

Meanwhile I'm reviewing and learning to use the Next Engine Scanner. Be prepared to see some video coming up on this process in the near future. Yes, the price tag looks hefty, however you must remember that sending one sculpture out for scanning can cost about $1,000.

This tool has so many applications for the studio. I just can't wait to share it with everyone. I'm working on an article for my column at Best of Artists and Artisans website. I'll let you know when it is up.

fooling around- in mudbox

A very good exercise in traditional sculpture is to set a timer and sculpt something as quickly as possible. It keeps you form getting bogged down in the details. As I begin to work in mudbox I gave myself that same exercise. Of course I always like working from funny photographs and I love people, so here is one I found to work from. It felt good to put "gram" aside and work on something fast. I may do a couple more of this one and then it is on to a little child or baby funny face. the first one was done in 28 minutes( I had to go to church) the others 30 minutes.

A picture is worth a thousand words.

I thought I would share this with you. As usual maybe you can follow along. This is mudbox. I am working on my first portrait. Here is mom. Yes, the wonderful woman that is found on our podcast, and is known as "gram". Anyway, it is a long drawn out process of sculpting in Mudbox but she is coming along.

This is what all my fuss has been about in the last few weeks, needing more RAM, new graphics card. And now to find the one thing that was bugging me may actually be a bug in OS 10.5.7. But, today I can use mudbox again, and I am thrilled to be able to do so.

Writing a book is more than just writing....

I"m so glad that things are being solved. My graphics card should come fed ex today. I waited most of the day and missed it at 9:05 p.m. yesterday. How that happen when we work and live in the same place? What up with that fed ex? For those who don't know. I'm trying to write a book about Mudbox. However my graphics card does not work with the new version of Mudbox for the mac. Making it extremely difficult to make my deadlines with the publisher.

I think I am resolving my retopologizing problems. For those of you who don't know what that means it simply is this. When working in mudbox there is a mesh, that is under the clay that you see when you are sculpting. The mesh has to have an appropriate form. If you think of a window screen the mesh that underlies your piece should have quads and not triangles and be all of similar size. So in other words. If I want to scan a mock up lose clay piece. I will Use the Next Engine Scanner, which I am also reviewing and hope to show how to use in a variety of ways. This is a 3d scanner that can scan my artwork and make it into a digital image that I can then either send for output as shown in the latter part of this you tube video that I created or bring into mudbox. However. The mesh that will come out of this is too tight and may have triangles. I will need to change that mesh so that it can be sculpted upon. This is called retopologizing. My problem is that I have not been able to find a retopologizing tool that is a stand alone tool. I hate for artists to have to go and buy and learn an entire 3d program just to be able to retopologize. So I think I have this finally figured out. I'll let you know. So I have graphics card, and retopologizing tool, more RAM and I'll soon be ready to go. It is a good thing because many chapters are due to the publisher at the end of June, and until this point I have not been able to work on the program. Oh sure, I can open it and play around, but then it might flip upside down or backwards, when I am turning the sculpture and studying it, or worse yet. It disappears. All results of a graphics card problem. Never have I sculpted in the traditional studio when a sculpture has disappeared. It feels good to get things together to proceed.