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: