20% off all products!   Sale ends tonight at midnight EST.

Return to Main Discussion Page
Discussion Quote Icon

Discussion

Main Menu | Search Discussions

Search Discussions
 
 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

New Work,critique And Opinions Needed.

I just completed this sculpture, it's another in my Ant series. I would appreciate your critique of this copper sculpture, please address the following,#1 the sculpture, #2 the image of the sculpture,#3 the titles and #4 which of the 3 images do you think is best.

Reply Order

Post Reply
 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Photography PrintsSell Art OnlineArt Prints

 

Murray Bloom

9 Years Ago

I like the center one best, since it shows the droop of the head; but it seems too tightly cropped. It needs a bit more breathing room at the top of the image.

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thank you Murray, I think I can adjust that. On second thought , No I can't adjust that, it's how I shot the image on my kitchen counter top.

 

Julian Banks

9 Years Ago

1. The sculpture is cool in my opinion. It has a simple, primitive feel to it which I personally like. 2. They all look like they've been taken with a good camera. I like the pictures. The Please God picture is my favorite though. The subjects just look better in where they're placed at and I like the way you used the negative space around the subject(s) 3. Although I like the Please God image, I like The Why God title the best. It's simple, but holds a lot of meaning, but that's just my opinion

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thank you Julian, I appreciate your input. Well my camera is my cell phone, still trying to get used to it, it's a samsung Galaxy 4 iphone.

 

Barry Lamont

9 Years Ago

Mario.. This is a highly emotive and moving piece of sculpture.. very well executed.
I agree with Murray on both counts.. the drooped head looks better but it needs more room at the top.. The wonderful colours which you achieve in your sculptures aren't evident in these shots either. I agree with Julian on the title.. simply "why god?"

 

Melissa Herrin

9 Years Ago

You have definitely captured the torment and grief of the subject. The frame would most likely cover a part of the head if not given enough space though.

 

MM Anderson

9 Years Ago

Beautiful sculpture! Could you try shooting it again with a little more space around it? Of the three you have now, I like the third one the best for overall lighting and composition. This work reminds me of the Pietà.

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thank you, Barry, Melissa and MM, I will re-shoot with the advise provided also I will re-heat the sculpture and see if I can give it more color. But right now I am working on another one which shall be completed today and I will also bring here for critique, this is very helpful to me to have other eyes see for me what I don't, especially in the image department.

 

John Wills

9 Years Ago

Hi Mario, dramatic and effective work. However, if you didn't say they were ants, I would have thought it was abstract human anatomy. That being said, I like the middle one with the head drooping. I'll concur with more space above the head, but not much more..

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thank you John, I have re-shot the "Why God?" sculpture and I also just completed these two new ones. I'm not happy with the image for "Circus Ant" I will probably re-shoot that one, so any critiques are welcome for all the sculptures, I don't sell images but any tips that will help in showcasing my sculptures are appreciated. If you have alternate suggestions for titles feel free to mention them.

Art Prints

Sell Art Online

Art Prints

 

Barry Lamont

9 Years Ago

Yo!.. Colours look much better this time round and you have composed the shot better too! I love Eleventh Dimension.. great sculpture.. may have the same issue with headroom though. there seems to be a little too much space at the bottom. Is it a copper kitchen worktop you have? It looks great! nice and warm..but I think the sculptures might show better on a darker background... Anyhow.. that's my 2c.. you'll get the experts opinions soon enough! :-) peace!

 

Murray Bloom

9 Years Ago

Hi Mario. I like everything about "Why God" except for the light parch above the head. It's a distraction.

"Eleventh Dimension" is cool. Neat concept.

"Circus Ant" is the wrong angle, I think. I'd like to see a low frontal angle, which would accentuate the juggling.

 

Roger Swezey

9 Years Ago

Mario,

I must say, this burst of creativity is amazing.

The sculptures are truly wonderful.

And the portfolio is very impressive.

But when it comes to photographing sculptures, no one photo is best.

Sculpture requires a continual changing Point of View.

So, I suggest keep all the photos of each of your pieces, so when someone inquires you have other views available.

By the way, do you post your work on Etsy? Where they have provisions for posting multiple images of any given work.

You could "Cut and Paste" several views into one image....But I don't think that would be a good idea on this site.

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

@Barry, thanks your 2 cents are worth more than you think, I re-torched all three sculptures again trying to bring out more of the blues, purple and green hues, (purple my favorite). Yes, Barry I made a hand hammered copper counter top for my kitchen and the section I use is about 30" x 36" so it limits me in terms of the angles I can shoot. I really like the copper background by I also agree with you that the contrast is not the best, my second favorite background is black and I have shot many of my sculptures with that option and they really stand out nice and the colors are enhanced greatly, I do need to go back to that at least for the taller pieces because that's why I have the problem with framing the image on top.

@Murry, thank you for the input, your observations are taken very seriously as you are often if not always dead on. Yep " Circus Ant" because of it's height I choose to shoot from the above angle and I screwed it up, that angles sucks as the unicycle is not even in focus, I will have to re-shoot that with a different set up. Murry my equipment is nothing like yours, I have a single flexible clamp on lite I use.

@ Roger, thank you for your observations and compliments they are very meaning full to me. I agree that no one photo is best, you have no idea how I struggle with this, it's not easy capturing the essence of a sculpture with one picture, I take about 20 photos or more of each sculpture and then I start the process of elimination from there. I did list a few on Etsy some time ago but not recently. As for the burst of creativity, I am a little obsessive to put it mildly,Lol, I often go through stages, I'm back from a 2 year period of no new work so I had a few saved up, since June I have made some 30 sculptures. The Ant series has really allowed me to do this for the most part, and with each sculpture I'm able to make them faster and with minimum materials, and the ideas just keep flowing, I am able to focus more on movement and emotion and story telling, some thing that my work was lacking before the Ants.

 

John Wills

9 Years Ago

Circus Ant is awesome,.

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thanks John, and of the three sculptures that image really is the worse one I took, I have to re-shoot that one as Murry pointed out the angle is all wrong. I have another Unicyclist in mind, it's gonna be a high wire act gone bad.

 

Suzanne Powers

9 Years Ago

I agree with Murray, the light is distracting reflecting on the table surface, shadows are also distracting. I think the first set of images have the best lighting. Circus Ant is hard to see not enough contrast. The sculptures are almost the same color as the wood table I would try putting them on a lighter surface or darker surface (core foam) for contrast. Figuring out what time of day to shoot and how to position sculpture for the best light takes a lot of practice.

 

Abbie Shores

9 Years Ago

I have nothing to say about the photography as it's been said already but Mario, I LOVE these sculptures!

 

Mario Carta

9 Years Ago

Thank you Suzanne & Everyone for the critiques and suggestions. I appreciate every ones input.

@Abbie, thanks so much! It really means a lot to me coming from you as I'm sure you get to see your share of new work all the time in these discussions.

 

This discussion is closed.