UNDERSTANDING - STANDING

Not all sculptures truely require a stand be they in the form of an actual stand or a tail disguised as a stand or what ever device or method is employed. Take my screamers both troll & monster. Look carefully at them. YES, they have big feet but keep looking not all the foot/feet is actually on the ground at any given time. In both my troll & monster screamers ONLY the TOE or the HEEL section is EVER truely flat on the ground at any given time. Nor are the tails when present as with MOTS for instance. Look carefully at MOTS tail & feet in the pictures below. Click on each picture to see a BIGGER version in your browser.

Not only is MOTS tail NOT on the ground but he IS only standing on the TOE section of his feet. Still not seeing it? Go watch the building of MOTS. In the HOW TO video i actually 'rock' MOTS back & forth whilst waving a length of card stock under his tail proving it NEVER touches the ground AT ALL.

All you need to do whlilst creating some sculptures, obviously there are going to be times when this gravity defying feat will not work, most but not all mind you. No all you need to do is create the feeling or the impression of big feet but in reality ONLY build them so the real required portion IS flat on the ground for stability. Saying that the feet do not have to be comically big either. Why big feet though? Well for one thing when people first look they see big feet & automatically think that's the trick to the sculpture standing up unsupported right? But when they look closer they then realise not all the foot/feet are on the ground or the tail or walking stick or what ever. It's little touches like this that keep people going "Wow how did you do that", then they look again & see something else. Then they keep looking to see what else they can spot. Then your at first simple little sculpture goes from 'thats nice' to 'WOW look at this & this, hang on & this too'.

Had a look now look AGAIN. Can you see they physically look like they are going to fall backwards? They won't unless you give them a hard enough push, but then ANYTHING will fall over in that instance. The reason they don't fall over is because of how i have factored in & built my screamers around a central point of gravity which is present in every aspect of every day life in each sculpture. Don't understand what i mean?

Maybe this will help you.

This is my first screamer, a troll screamer i called Sluggich in his pre-finished state. You can see him finished further down the page. The BLUE line IS the 'fixed' central point of gravity. This remains fixed under normal circumstances according to the laws of physics. In this sculpture the GREEN line indicates the only TRUE section of the sculpture that actually touches the ground at any given time. The RED line's indicate how i have compensated for the shift in the central point of gravity giving Sluggich the impression of not only leaning backwards but also of appearing to be going to fall over at any moment. He won't of course lol. Oh & the little triangles indicate an estimated 'strength' imposed by the angles i have set. The amount of triangles is an estimated amount of gravity times weight being imposed in that region.

Still not convinced yet? Here is Sluggich from a back view.

His arms stretch above his head adding to the weight of him leaning over. There is just no way his feet alone could hold him in THAT pose lol.

Why not experiment today with your sculptures & see how far YOU can push the envelope & gain more attention when people view your work. Once you understand the fundamentals of gravity it's not a challange it's pure fun lol. If you think these two guys are amazing how they defy gravity as the old saying goes "You ain't seen nothing yet baby". Wait until you see what my next four are going to be getting up to lol.