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A prelude to your commission…As a commission artist, I have prepared the following guidelines to assist my clients in their commissioning of sculpture. First off, I enjoy making work for a specific place and I can assure you that every consideration of environment, architecture, landscape, light and shade and most of all, content will be made for my part. Preliminary designs and plans for a commissioned work rely on many factors, most of all communication between the client and the artist. In order to meet those needs best, the following outline will hopefully serve you as a guide in our preliminary design phase of your project. The entire process should take no more than three meetings. As for our three meetings, in our first we will discuss the overall scope of your concept. Our second meeting will focus on the drawings and models presented, and our third meeting, a commission agreement will be presented and discussed. During our first meeting, our talks should focus on the idea or theme that you want the sculpture to evoke. Factors as to whether the commission is to be indoors or outside, on a base or pedestal, its architecture or landscaping, and its overall scale will be at the heart of our conversation. Depending on these combined factors, we can then discuss the available and most appropriate materials for your commission, its color, and lighting. Please feel free to include or bring any supporting materials to this meeting that may include writings, photographs, and sketches, or examples of other works you have seen. We will also discuss the proposed dates for desired completion of your project, especially if there is to be any commemorative service, unveiling or dedication involved. Any supporting material should be brought to this meeting. If it is decided that you wish to have either drawings or a scale model made of your project, a preliminary design fee may be established. Please note that this fee will be deducted from the overall cost of the project if I am selected as the artist. In either case, the drawings and/or the model will remain the property of the artist and cannot be used by or for any other artist for any other purpose. Based on the results and the information provided, we can then move onto the design phase of the project. The time for making and producing a working model will be from one to two weeks, depending on the size and materials. In our second meeting, the models will be presented and we will further discuss the vision, composition, and how it meets the needs of the project. Here we will have a better idea as to eye levels required, scale adjustments, materials and colors available to meet the projects needs. The models will be done in scale in order to produce the best effects and readings. All views of the sculpture will be considered for their content and composition. You will also be given a written abstract of the theme and composition for you to review during the next ten days. Based on your findings, you will then have ten days in which to decide to proceed with the commission or not. If all is agreeable, at our third meeting, a written contract will be presented outlining all the issues previously discussed in the first two meetings, including price, dates, materials, installation, and your visits to the studio to see the work in progress. The contract will be yours to review for the next ten days. Once signed and returned, your commission begins! The commission is started, as outlined on the contract, and will be in three phases. During each phase you will be invited into the studio or the foundry to review the sculpture in progress and be asked to approve the work during its different phases. In all phases there are the possibilities to make adjustments that can further enrich the original theme and idea. In this sense, the process is not one of just technique but one of continual development as the sculpture evolves. In the first phase, there will be armature design, clay construction, and modeling, all based on the chosen maquette(s) and drawing(s). As the construction and modeling progresses, you will be asked to visit the studio during this period since any changes or suggestions are best made in the clay stages. Once the actual size is achieved, you will start to gain a sense of what effects the sculpture will produce when in situ. We will be better equipped now to discuss such issues as eye level and lighting. Once eye level is established, we can further discuss the base or pedestal. From this fully developed clay design, a plaster “waste mold” is made to produce a plaster cast. It is called a waste mold because it is broken into pieces to produce only one unique cast. You will again be invited to see the clay before the mold is made. In the case that you may not be able to attend theses visits, photos will be taken during each phase. These become not only a future reference for the foundry but also part of your documentation of the commissioned artwork. This plaster cast is then refined further and prepared for a flexible mold to be made of the entire sculpture. When the flexible mold is finished, a harder exterior or “mother mold” is made in order to produce a wax model of the sculpture. Any additions that must be added to the sculpture must be added at this point. This wax cast is then chaste to design and prepared for the “lost wax” bronze casting, a process by which the wax model is burned away and molten bronze is poured into the cavity. As for the casting process foundry time for a casting is approximately 90 working days from the finished plaster to the completed bronze. The bronze cast sculpture is then hand worked with hammers and chisels and files to bring out the forms and enhance the play of the light and shade qualities. Once the chasing is completed the client and artist may then choose a patina, a heat and chemically produced coloration that will remain a permanent part of the sculpture surface. The range of patinas is vast, as they can be warms and cools, lights and darks, and mixtures of both qualities. The patinated sculpture in then treated with waxes to fix the color, give it either sheen, satin, or matte finish. The bronze is then prepared for delivery to your designated site and mounted or installed on a predetermined base and location for your dedication ceremonies. ANTHONY VISCO / ATELIER FOR THE SACRED ARTS |
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