A Zebra Hoof...

Spring 2011

Unfortunately for this semester, I had to take an elective outside of my true major due to a lack of VCD (Visual Communications Design) electives/faculty. So I decided to go with wood carving; there is always something to learn, and I've always wanted to try it out. Well I loved it! I am amazed at how things can come out a block of wood, I don't know, that's just my opinion. Here's my first sculpture (1 of 3):

These are in sequence. This is the first picture I took but the first mistake was to not take a picture of the untouched block of wood because you want to see what I started with, right?..

It was a 6' x 10' piece of white pine. This kind of wood is very soft (so easy to work with) and doesn't have a lot of knots either so that helped a lot.

Every area blocked out
and then rounded edges.

This is the back. A rough stump.

This is the smoothest I got it
before I carved the stripes.

I think the sculpture is so dynamic
viewed from this angle.

I took this picture right after oiling it.
It's not this dark after it dries.

So first, I chose the zebra theme because it seems like I have a few zebra things in my bedroom. It seems like I'm subconsciously attracted to that animal/zebra pattern.

A few concepts for this sculpture:

• The beauty of anatomy, what life creates, natural shapes in the wild.
• I chose this position (half-bent) to make it more engaging and interesting to look at. Especially that space between the hoof and the stump near the bottom.
• The contrast between the smooth leg and the rough stump. I love contrast. Also the base is half-smooth, half-rough. It's supposed to represent a mound of earth.
• The stripes are not painted. I sort of want the viewer to get closer to get the full effect, to figure out there are stripes, and it is not a horse hoof but a zebra hoof. I also like the effect of carved out stripes.
• Note: the leg broke, but the crack is hidden within the stripes. I learned my lesson: don't whack at something that has not support or isn't connected to much.
• Note: the hoof doesn't touch the base. One of the things I'm really proud of.

So now I might make wood carving my new hobby in the near future :).