Arthur Gonzales Sculpting a Hand

(This is cool - I saw Arthur demonstrating at the first NCECA I ever attended. )
Flatten ball, make hollow for palm. Makes life line and head line.

(Then I missed a whole bunch of stuff figuring out how I will be able to get the bus back the the hostel ugh this conference has been all logistics)

Make stand for sculpted hand, so fingers will stay upright once attached

You want the coil that becomes the fingers to be carrot shpaed, not undulating out & in. Fingers taper
Compare where the lines on your fingers land, how they line up (or don't ) with each other.

Sizes each finger to his own finger, puts in the lines, cuts at the widest part - where it attaches to the hand - at a 45 degree angle. Just spritzes, no scratching or slurrying. Cutting at angle naturally creates the crease where your finger meets your hand.
Takes clay from the middle of the bag because it's the wettest there.

Pinky finger attaches on a downward slope away from the others. Makes coil (like the others) with his own hands at opposites, right on top, fingers over left wrist. Making finger too curved "defeats the believability" of the finger. First knuckle straight, 2nd knuckle slightly bent. a relaxed hand.

Pokes a finger into the hand, pushes out from inside to fill out the fat part of the hand below the thumb. Notice difference of thumb: not a carrot. (I dunno, mine kinda is.) Only two section. Is attached at different angle.
Common error: attaching thumb too high, too close to finger. Double distance between index finger attachment & head line, that is the distance from index finger to thumb. Thumb has to attach so the pad side faces toward the fingers, not outward.

Palm first because that's where the muscles are, more detail. The knuckles on the back are defined by what's happening in the palm side.

Fingers are still pliable enough to bend, or squeeze pal, to create the gesture. He brings middle finger to touch thumb, straightens index a bit.  "It's communicating more"
Now he can look at his own hand in that gesture and see where lines and bulges occur. Adds a little bit of clay on the spot where the knuckle lands. Finger is three short straight lines with angles at the knuckles.

Adds clay where dents occur.
Arthur started sculpting hands in the mid 80s.
Question: Do you do life drawing?
A: Yes, but not as a studio practice. Teaches drawing, so sometimes does as part of class.

Back of hand looks puffy (beestung) Hand should round from side to side, straight lengthwise, along the bones.
Talks about how people will make BONES curve around the torso when they want the arm wrapped around, instead of making the flesh push in.
Paddles with the pinky side of his own hand back straight along the plane of the bones. Uses hand because "I don't have the patience to pick up a tool" but also because it makes everything soft & organic, no tool marks.
Will go back & make knuckles look more believable.

Cuts off the bottom edge to start with a fresh edge to make the wrist. Will make the wrist bend more, because the angle will make the shape more interesting, aesthetically pleasing "that's a very old rule."

As he adds coil he pushes on the inside. One coil at a time, not overlapping (snaking) one around. More control. Squeezes on outside to resize the wrist. Pinches to even the wall and create the desired shape.
Sprtiz, adds another coil.
(Oh I just realized people are making hands right along with Arthur at the tables near the front. Dammit I wish I'd been here for the beginning. )
Creates curve of wrist. "More dynamic" "How do you make a painting more interesting? Add angles. Your eye likes that."
How do you make a sculpture more intereting is add negative space. Why he made the thumb touch the middle finger, to creat the loop of negative space.
Uses fettling knife so the opening at the wrist is pointing in the right direction.

Makes lines of hand & wrist with his fingernails, because it is a soft line.
Adding third coil to wrist. Joins coil completely, no seam inside or outside, will create a vulnerability to cracking.
"That's the key, to everytime you make something, you have to look at it like you didn't make it. You have to see it. When you get to the point that you don't know what you are seeing 'I don't know whether this is good or bad' you have to stop. Take a break, go have lunch. When you come back you will see it right away. "
I guess they are going to take a photo with all the make-along hands? So I'm out. Super excited to be seeing my old studiomate, Mary Jo Schmith of Front Avenue Pottery and Tile tonight for drinks!

Thanks for following along with my NCECA notes. It's more fun with you along for the ride!