The past semester working with Anthony Visco has been an amazing experience. I have learned so much valuable information that I will be able to carry with me in my future as an artist.

Through working with Anthony, I have gained firsthand experience in working with all different types of materials. The main one and most important, since I am a sculptor, being clay. Through working on the Guardian Angel figure for the majority of my time with Anthony, I have gained so much knowledge with clay modeling and figurative sculpture. I have also learned compositional skills in regards to multiple interacting 3 dimensional forms, something that I have not had much experience with in my classes. I have witnessed and helped to transform the sculpture into its current state, which is not far off from being 3D scanned and printed twice its size in order to be turned into bronze!

I also learned a lot dealing with 2 dimensional work when we had worked together with the Stations of the Cross. I saw the pros and cons of the use of computers in the making of modern art, and also how relying on outside printing services can either benefit or really mess up a project. All in all, it has taught me to thoroughly think about each step you make in the process of a project, and sometimes a few extra steps will save you time in the end. It has also taught me how important it is to thoroughly think about everything in you do, since the satisfaction of the client is always on the line when dealing with commission work.

The past couple of weeks I have continued to work on the Guardian Angel sculpture. Since the finalization of the piece is happening, he has been teaching me details like form separation, modeling facial expressions, closing off the forms, and modeling hair. These are all techniques we never get to in classes at school, since everything is usually cut short by the length of the semesters.

I have also been helping Anthony paint wax into a past John the Baptist Mold for a local parish in order for it to be cast in bronze. This consists of painting layers of wax until it is about 1/4 inch thick, then taking it out of the mold (which is the pink stuff in the picture) and connecting the multiple pieces with a torch. After that you chase the edges using a hot metal tool in order for it to be sent t the foundry to be cast.

I know I have not posted updates for a while on what I have been doing with Anthony Visco at my internship. We have been working on the same projects every week. This consists of finishing up the stations of the cross in order to be printed, and also finishing the modeling of the Guardian Angel statue in order to be prepared to be scanned. Since these are such large projects, it entails the same duties week to week. I have some great pictures of the Guardian Angel model that I will post below. As for the Stations of the Cross, they have been completely scanned and we are now cleaning them up in photoshop in order to be printed on canvas. Here are the pictures:

February 14th

This week I continued to help Anthony with the Stations of the Cross. As there are 15 stations, each one is a lot of work and requires a lot of time. I helped him with the compositions on each station, rearranging the figures and the architecture in order to fit the required "grid" of the future tiles. Although we did the same thing as last week, I got new pictures. Here they are:

February 7, 2013

Today I assisted Anthony with the Stations of the Cross commission. As I stated in my first post, the stations are currently drawn out. The plan is to perfect the compositions of the drawings. Anthony explained that it is difficult as each station is being made up of 12 ceramic tiles, so you need to create a perfect composition, then "tweak" it in order that none of the figures' heads or hands are cut off by the edges of the tiles. Each of the pieces of the compositions are all done on separate pieces of tracing paper in order for us to change the compositions without having to redraw them. When the compositions are complete, each station will be scanned and printed onto canvas, then painted, then transferred to ceramic tile.

First Day- February 1, 2013

Today I met with local Philadelphia Artist Anthony Visco for my first day of the semester's internship. We began the day with discussing his multiple projects he has for the upcoming months, and which ones I will be helping him with. As of right now there are two commissions that he will be needing my help. The first is a 10 foot bronze guardian angel statue. As of right now, the model for it is already made out of plasteline clay. The next step in the process for it is to complete the model in order for it to be 3 dimensionally scanned and enlarged by a 3D modeling company. Anthony says that this is what I will be primarily working on this semester. By doing this I will learn how to fully prepare a sculpture for 3D scanning, and also how technology is incorporated into the modern day artist. This is very exciting for me as I am currently taking a 3D Modeling course, along with my figurative sculpture classes.
The second project is a series of the Stations of the Cross. The stations are currently being drawn and assembled into compositions for large panels, and will be done in ceramic tile in their final stage.


Here are some pictures of the model of the guardian angel that I worked on today:

 As you can tell from the picture, the guardian angel is overlooking two young children praying while holding an infant child.

 I primarily worked on the bottom portion of the statue, which consists of geometric rock formations transforming into organic cloud compositions. My job was to clean the debris and scraps of clay from the sculpture and to model the clouds and rocks.