Sketching In Clay

Michael Whynot. Torso Study, 2012. Water-based clay.

Michael Whynot. Torso Study, 2012. Water-based clay.

Michael Whynot. Torso Study, 2012. Water-based clay.

Michael Whynot. Torso Study, 2012. Water-based clay.

"I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free."  Michelangelo

"Matter, material, is without definition, without beauty; into matter, form is introduced, which is a beautiful and definite thing. Giving form to material is the practice of the artist"  David Summers



The above photos are of a quick (30 minutes) torso study done from the imagination in water-based clay. Sketching in clay, for me, is little different than sketching with pencil on paper. While the end product may appear different to the viewer, the ability to visualize the form in three dimensions is the foundation upon which either manner of sketch must rise.

The process of modelling in clay or describing form in line on paper is a skill that can be learned, but the imaginative faculty is infinitely more complex and may be beyond teaching or learning.

Imagination begets creation. What an intoxicating experience, to imagine form, which does not exist, and, through the act of visualizing it, create that form in charcoal or clay with your own hands, like an inexplicable magic trick, or a sideline in which God might dabble in His spare time: the physical manifestation of thought itself.