matt harvey art
Portrait paintings, art demonstrations, figurative painting, landscapes
Portrait of a baby in Carrara marble, direct carved using hand tools
Posted on April 21, 2013
Miki, Carrara marble – This was a portrait commission for a marble bust of a child. Carved over one month in hand tools, working directly from photo references
Alice’ carved in Carrara Marble. 20x25x20cm. The sculpture is created from photos – One master photo, and then others to guide the 3D form. When someone smiles the cheeks get pulled up, they then narrow the eyes, the ears get pulled a bit, the neck creases.. All these things need to be pulled together at the same time to create the piece. Working in stone always makes me think of a Nichiren Buddhist quote: ‘It is like the case of a fishing net: though the net is composed of innumerable small meshes,when one pulls on the main cord of the net, thereare no meshes that do not move. Or it is like a garment: though the garment is composed of countless tiny threads, when one pulls on a corner of the garment, there are no threads that are not drawn along.’ The 2 milk teeth were fun to carve, but I need to get some really small chisels to carve inside the mouth
Posted on April 8, 2013
I came across this portrait bust of a man [Roman 1st Century BCE] the other day online, in the Met’s great collection. Some of my favourite Roman portraiture is Republican. If you like the ‘lived in’ face look, no one did it like these guys. Long days at the office and on the battlefield really took their toll on a person. And this is what the society of the day expected their artists to depict, as they were the values of the time. Devotion to the Republic has really upset him, and that’s a good thing, as no one likes a frivolous politician. It still seems strange to have your face eternally carved into stone with this expression. I’m sure he also had a sense of humour but that’s not what people wanted to see. He couldn’t have been a very serious politician or soldier if he did.
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