Common Snipe 2

Common Snipe, Gallinago sp
Oil painting on wood, 30x42 cm.
I´d like to show you the work I had made until, approximately, the `long weekend´in December. I consider the stage of graphite finished. According to Yolanda, it is perfect as it is, and it doesn´t need colour.
December is a bad month for working on the `pencils stuff´, especially if you are a teacher... With long weekends, Christmas dinner, correcting tests and giving marks, you don´t have time for anything.
I think that until this `shopping-production-pollution´ period is over, I won´t be able to go on with it and the other four pictures I´m tied up with.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and suggest that you don´t buy unnecessary things, as every purchase involves some pollution that we could avoid. Our New Year´s Resolution for 2011 could be buying only what we think it is strictly necessary. The reason for all the ills afflicting Our Planet is the excessive consumerism of our society.

Common Snipe

Common Snipe, Gallinago sp
Oil painting on wood, 30x42 cm.
As many blogger mates such as Juan Carlos Gálvez, Luis Sogorb, Antonio Ojea... have done, in this post I´ll show you the creation process of a small oil. It is a common snipe - Gallinago sp-. I´m drawing it from a photograph I took at the Navaseca Lagoon in Daimiel, while I´m trying to draw the landscape on site (but the weather is not good). The base of graphite is almost finished and when it isn´t cloudy I´ll try to colour it.

Painting in Doñana

Sketches on site of Avocets, Recurvirostra avosetta
Watercolour and pencil, 29'7 x 21 cm.

Last weekend I travelled to my homeland. I enjoyed it a lot, especially on Saturday. In the morning I was painting with my niece, who made her first `Wildlife Art´work; I enjoyed collaborating on it. Then, after a splendid meal, an afternoon working in one of the most beautiful places to watch birds, the marshes of El Rocío, in Doñana. I was with my colleague of the AEAN: José A. Sencianes. Besides talking about wildlife art, it´s a pleasure to watch how he works... so fluid, quick and, of course, well. Thanks for these moments, mate.



Watercolour made by my niece Aurora(she´s only 4).

Alpine Swift - Apus melba

Alpine Swift, Apus melba
front view
Galvanized sheet, 24x55x4'5 cm.



Alpine Swift, Apus melba
dorsal view
Galvanized sheet, 24x55x4'5 cm.

Nowadays I'm working with metals.I show you the main figure of the sculpture I'm making. It is made of galvanized sheet, embossed and soldered. It still needs the assembly and perhaps I will give it patina.





Details of the work



Previous drawing

Before making the piece I design it to be very clear about the different pieces which compose it.





Creation process

Course on Drawing and Bronze Sculpture, Priego 2010 (My work)

Northern Lapwings,
Bronze and iron, about 50 cm3.

Creation process


Casting wax model


Casting wax model with casting tree


Plaster blend coating (tabular alumina+colloidal silica+graphite+talc)


Adding of molochite


Removing wax hood at work


Pulling out the piece after removing casting wax. We get the ceramics shell mould


Ceramics shell mould


Crucible full of pieces of bronze ready to melt the piece


Micro melting kiln-the technique we used


The kiln during the melting process


Pulling out the piece. After melting bronze, it is placed in a container full of sand to cover the piece in order to avoid the knocking over and leaking of material in case the mould breaks down.


Removing the ceramics shell


Brushing the piece


Making the pedestal to assemble the piece

Course on Drawing and Bronze Sculpture, Priego 2010 (Drawings)

Nude portraits
Charcoal pencil on paper, 42x29,7 cm.



Luna, our fantastic model. Here she is almost asleep at the workshop waiting for the melting of a small spoon she had moulded.



Showing my drawings to Mr. Venancio Blanco to make the selection for the exhibition. I exhibited the two drawings at the beginning of this post.

Course on Drawing and Bronze Sculpture, Priego 2010 (Carmen Marcos' lecture)

Doctor of Fine Arts and Full Professor in Valencia Polytechnic, Mrs. Carmen Marcos, gave two lectures: one on her work (`Walking through a problem and its several solutions: sculpture as a vital need´) and in the other one she showed her work as a Professor and her specialization studies on ceramics shell.
A very interesting complement for the training we were receiving.



From left to right: Luis Cordero, Mrs. Marta Campos, Mª José, Santi, Bego, Bea, Lolita, Eusebio, Jorge, Irene, Vanesa, Gil, Andrés Ortega, Belén, Mr. José Antonio Aguilar, Rocío, the Town Councillor of Culture at Priego Town Hall, Andrés Naranjo, Paco, Dª Carmen Marcos, me and David.

Group photo of those present at the lecture in the Adolfo Lozano Sidro Museum, head office of the Municipal Foundation which organizes this course and the place where we drew in the mornings.

Course on Drawing and Bronze Sculpture, Priego 2010 (Closing ceremony)

Mr. Venancio Blanco, who, for personal reasons, arrived at the closing of the course. That night a dinner took place to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the course. I take the liberty of giving thanks, on behalf of those who have attended the course, to the teachers who have devoted their summer holidays to train us as sculptors.



From left to right: Jorge, Belén, Mª Carmen, Manuel, Mª José, Rocío, me, Luis Cordero, Yolanda, Andrés Naranjo, Ana, Mr. Venancio Blanco, Bea, Lolita, Mr. José Antonio Aguilar, Cristina, Irene, Gil, Andrés, Eusebio, Bego, Paco, Mr. Luis García and Mrs. Marta Campos.

As the saying goes: 'If you like the scratch, then you do not mind the lice', and, the same as last summer, I have devoted this August to improve my knowledge of Bronze Melting.It´s hard work but sharing my holidays with these marvellous people is worth it. I take this opportunity to send them all a warm hug.



These are the awarded pupils this year: Award for Sculpture to Irene; Consolation prize for Sculpture to Eusebio; Award for Drawing to Gil and Consolation prize for Drawing to Bea.



Andrés Naranjo, Yolanda, me, Luis and Tannia, with Luis's work.



Lolita -a lovely and hard-working person- and me, with my work.

The lesser kestrels at the Cathedral

Giraldillo
Oil painting on wood, 150x70 cm

In this post I show you the works (and some details of them) which I have presented to the exhibition:`The lesser kestrels at the cathedral´. It will be open to the public until November 21st at the Forum for Dioversity, Patio de Banderas, 16, in Seville, next to the Cathedral.


Giraldillo, Detail.


Lesser kestrel nestbox
Polychromed polyester, 52x40x25 cm


Falco naumanni male, detail


Inside of the nestbox, detail


Chicks, detail


Members of the AEAN who went to the opening. From right to left:Francis Hernández, José A. Sencianes, Manuel D. Galeote, Gabriel de la Riva and me.
Click here to see the catalogue.