Calamón - Porphyrio sp.

Calamón, Porphyrio sp.
Oil painting on wood, 42x61'5 cm.


Sketch
Graphite pencil on paper, 21x28 cm.
In one of my usual visits to Navaseca Lagoon I was lucky to watch how an adult Purple Swamp-hen was feeding its chick (almost grown-up). The curious thing about it was that it was at the end of November and it was already cold.
The birds were three metres away from my car, which I use as hide. I could make a pencil sketch and take a series of photos which I´m using for this work.
Here are the first steps of the creation process (one more...ha ha)of this painting.

Good and Bad, equal at the mirror II

Head of pike, Esox lucius
Left size
Galvanized sheet and tin-silver copper, 25x11'5x10 cm.


Head of pike, Esox lucius
upper left side
Galvanized sheet and tin-silver copper, 25x11'5x10 cm.


Head of pike, Esox lucius
Upper view
Galvanized sheet and tin-silver copper, 25x11'5x10 cm.


Head of pike, Esox lucius
Right side
Galvanized sheet and tin-silver copper, 25x11'5x10 cm.

For two years I have been thinking about making a large-scale sculptoric group. I´d like to contrast shapes, materials, concepts…
The group would be composed of an otter, made of wood or bronze and a pike, made of sheet; both of them surrounded by aquatic plants and framed within my characteristic rectangles.

Nowadays I have the time and space needed to approach the project. I don´t know when it will be finished but I have already made the head of the pike… I have to think out the movement of its body and study the pose of the otter. There is still a lot of work to be done. I´ll show you my progress.


Head of pike, sketch, Esox lucius
Graphite pencil on paper, 42x30 cm.


Otter, sketch -Lutra lutra- made from some pictures taken at the Botanic Zoo in Xerez,
Graphite pencil on paper, 25x25 cm.


Study of the proportions of the pike, Esox lucius
Graphite pencil on paper, 50x25 cm.


Initial sketch of the sculptoric group
Biro on paper, 15x21 cm.

Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula

Tufted Duck - Aythya fuligula
Graphite pencil and watercolour on paper, 21x29'7 cm.

Due to flu, I have spent in bed and on the sofa, the time I had the intention of spending painting during Christmas...
Well, one must try to put a brave face on it. I want to show you a work I made some months ago. I drew this Tufted Duck at the `acclimatization pool´ in N.P. of Daimiel; perhaps one of the unfortunately few places where you can always see some birds in this Park.

Common Snipe 2

Common Snipe, Gallinago sp
Oil painting on wood, 30x42 cm.
I´d like to show you the work I had made until, approximately, the `long weekend´in December. I consider the stage of graphite finished. According to Yolanda, it is perfect as it is, and it doesn´t need colour.
December is a bad month for working on the `pencils stuff´, especially if you are a teacher... With long weekends, Christmas dinner, correcting tests and giving marks, you don´t have time for anything.
I think that until this `shopping-production-pollution´ period is over, I won´t be able to go on with it and the other four pictures I´m tied up with.
I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a MERRY CHRISTMAS and suggest that you don´t buy unnecessary things, as every purchase involves some pollution that we could avoid. Our New Year´s Resolution for 2011 could be buying only what we think it is strictly necessary. The reason for all the ills afflicting Our Planet is the excessive consumerism of our society.

Common Snipe

Common Snipe, Gallinago sp
Oil painting on wood, 30x42 cm.
As many blogger mates such as Juan Carlos Gálvez, Luis Sogorb, Antonio Ojea... have done, in this post I´ll show you the creation process of a small oil. It is a common snipe - Gallinago sp-. I´m drawing it from a photograph I took at the Navaseca Lagoon in Daimiel, while I´m trying to draw the landscape on site (but the weather is not good). The base of graphite is almost finished and when it isn´t cloudy I´ll try to colour it.

Painting in Doñana

Sketches on site of Avocets, Recurvirostra avosetta
Watercolour and pencil, 29'7 x 21 cm.

Last weekend I travelled to my homeland. I enjoyed it a lot, especially on Saturday. In the morning I was painting with my niece, who made her first `Wildlife Art´work; I enjoyed collaborating on it. Then, after a splendid meal, an afternoon working in one of the most beautiful places to watch birds, the marshes of El Rocío, in Doñana. I was with my colleague of the AEAN: José A. Sencianes. Besides talking about wildlife art, it´s a pleasure to watch how he works... so fluid, quick and, of course, well. Thanks for these moments, mate.



Watercolour made by my niece Aurora(she´s only 4).

Alpine Swift - Apus melba

Alpine Swift, Apus melba
front view
Galvanized sheet, 24x55x4'5 cm.



Alpine Swift, Apus melba
dorsal view
Galvanized sheet, 24x55x4'5 cm.

Nowadays I'm working with metals.I show you the main figure of the sculpture I'm making. It is made of galvanized sheet, embossed and soldered. It still needs the assembly and perhaps I will give it patina.





Details of the work



Previous drawing

Before making the piece I design it to be very clear about the different pieces which compose it.





Creation process

Course on Drawing and Bronze Sculpture, Priego 2010 (My work)

Northern Lapwings,
Bronze and iron, about 50 cm3.

Creation process


Casting wax model


Casting wax model with casting tree


Plaster blend coating (tabular alumina+colloidal silica+graphite+talc)


Adding of molochite


Removing wax hood at work


Pulling out the piece after removing casting wax. We get the ceramics shell mould


Ceramics shell mould


Crucible full of pieces of bronze ready to melt the piece


Micro melting kiln-the technique we used


The kiln during the melting process


Pulling out the piece. After melting bronze, it is placed in a container full of sand to cover the piece in order to avoid the knocking over and leaking of material in case the mould breaks down.


Removing the ceramics shell


Brushing the piece


Making the pedestal to assemble the piece