Hurricane Harvey Heroes- LIVEstock- “bringing home the bacon” The inspiration?

He is one big pig, the beloved family pet that had to be hoisted upstairs to save him from drowning in the flood waters of Harvey. The idea of saving a pig was inspired by a YouTube video posted by a young family in Conroe, Texas. I hope you see in the figure not only the strength it takes to lift up a frightened squirming pig but also the determination that the figure has not to let the family’s favorite pet parish. The pig twist and turns  while straining his back legs straight out trying to reach the ground. 

photo by Nash Baker 

Bringing home the bacon

Bringing home the bacon

66” X 42” 60”

Steel, stainless steel lath, plaster, hydro stone, wire mesh, screen and cloth, and baling wire. 

the next pig post -  why a pig?

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 37 “bringing home the bacon”

Photographer Nash Baker getting the lighting just right before we take the piece of the pedestal. 

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Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 36 “bringing home the bacon”

Each piece is sewn onto the sculpture with a piece of wire in at least three places. It is slow meticulous work. It is a meditation. I have to really slow down and look very carefully for the best places to connect each piece to the sculpture. The wires used to attach the pieces can not look functional. The connections have to be hidden. My goal is to keep the water light and moving. Harvey was all about the water. 

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Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 14 “bringing home the bacon”

The tension is starting to build.

For this piece to work I have to be able to show the strain or tension between the man and the pig.
The pig is huge and would have been extremely heavy to pick up. And pigs are not comfortable being carried, he would have been squirming like crazy to pull away from the rescuer.  

I added the man’s head outline first. I want his head to thrust back to add to the tension between the man and the pig. Then I added the largest part of the pig's stomach. I need to know where the biggest part is in order to figure out where the man’s arms and hands are going to be gripping the pig. The man's hands will be just above the larges part of the pig gripping it tightly.

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Front view  

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You can now start seeing the tension created with the pull of the man’s head and his arms vs the pigs legs. 

Note to self on the head- make the armature on the small side, I can always add plaster to make it larger.  

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From the back

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I still need- pig ears, tail, and to finish the pig’s legs and abdomen. The man needs his head, hands  and more definition or volume on the arms.  

INSPIRATION- 

 I am always looking for inspiration to use when sculpting. I follow @mcteams3842 who photographs  Navy Seals in training. When I saw the image below I thought of the energy needed to of lift  a big pig. I took a screen shot and saved it to my file of photos I look at when working on the piece. I would love to have the rescuer’s head this far back ....... I will have to experiment with it. 

 

I highly recommend @mcteam3842 for amazing photography.  

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I am thinking of putting a cap on him and loved the brim on the below Navy Seals cap. instagram is a treasure chest of inspiration. 

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Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 11 “bringing home the bacon”

Today I made and attached the 2-4th legs and 3 hoofs. 

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View from the front 

Left side view  

Left side view  

View from the back  

View from the back  

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Right side view 

The legs are only attached by 1 piece of pencil rebar at this point. Once I know exactly what position I want them in I will attach them at 2-3 more locations.  

Hurricane Harvey - sculpture day 8 “bringing home the bacon”

I started the upper torso.  

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I always make the shoulders too broad and then have to adjust them. I will do that tomorrow.