Starting the Golden Eagle

The Beginning of the Body

This is the very humble start of the Golden Eagle body.  Basically starting with an oversize piece of annealed copper sheet with a centerline drawn with a marker.  As this progresses the base of the wings will be added.  This will include the muscles that control the wings.  This is new to me and think this will be more accurate to include the muscles on the body and not on the ends of the wings.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Forming the Wing Muscles

The wing muscles are formed and the top of the body are fitted and tacked.  The opening shown is where the neck and head are joined to the body.  Hopefully all the copper will transition smoothly to the next.  If not....copper scrap is running $2.40 per pound.  This looks rather unconventional but it will work.  If this doesn't work there might be a long pause between blogs.

 

This eagle will have a wingspan of about 24" and even now I would like to have one myself.

 

                     Tim Summerville, copper artist      timsummerville.com

 

Mallard Finished

 

Mallard Finished

Please enjoy these nice large photos of the finished mallard duck.  The sculpture has been waxed and well illuminated. 

 

I learned one thing from this piece, "If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, then it is probably a duck".                        Thanks,   Tim Summerville       timsummerville.com



Mallard Wing and Leg Detail

Primary Flight Feathers

The primary flight feathers are ready to be shaped to fit in the wing.  This is something new that I am trying, my thinking is that with individual feathers more curvature can be formed.  During flight these feathers show more deflection during the downstroke of the wing.  As the process of making the wing continues we will see if this works (actually I already know because the wing and mallard is done).

 

 

 

Starting the Leg

To help with the size, shape and placement of the leg, a paper mock-up was created.  This really helps because I can preview the finished copper.  There is probably a "mallard with a paper leg" joke but nothing comes to mind.  During the creative process sometimes we tend to get too serious.

 





This photo shows the underside of the wing completed.  There is hidded support metal inside the wing to strengthen it for mounting this bird outside in high winds.

 

All metals are silver\gray color...except gold and copper.    Tim Summerville

 timsummerville.com

Mallard Wings

First Wings

The mallard face is finished and the two body halves are joined.  When joining the halves together I start with the head, making sure the eyes are directly opposite when view from above.  In the past I have made this mistake and the position of the eyes were wrong...bad mistake, really bad mistake.  The head is relative small and there is little adjustment but the remaing body is larger and can be "tweaked" if needed. 

The tail feathers were drawn on paper, then transfered to copper, hammered into shape and then brazed on the mallard body.

Extra copper is left at the end of wing during the hammering process.  This extra copper is trimmed to fit around the mallard body  All wings are first created as a straight wing and then hammered to form a wing that is curved.  A flying bird's wing actually flexes during flight and this must be included to add realism to the copper.  This sounds like Bird Wing University.

                           Make Something out of Nothing, and Good Luck,  Tim Summerville

                                   Check out my Website:   timsummerville.com

Beginning the Copper Mallard

 

Beginning the Copper Mallard 

I have started a full sized hammered copper sculpture of a mallard duck.  This will be auctioned at the annual meeting of Ducks Unlinited.  It is my sincere hope there will be plenty of interest once this mallard is completed.  A photo album will accompany the mallard duck and will be given to the successful bidder.

This photo shows the very beginning of forming the body.  As the copper moves ridges of copper develop.  This are worked down, creating a more rounded body.

Copper has been trimmed close to shape around the body areas and extra copper is shown around the neck and head.  More refining will be necessary before the two halves are ready to be brazed together.

I think this will be a really nice sculpture and I would like one for myself.  It's amazing how the artist can identify with the artwork after hours of researching and planning.  Adding to this is watching the piece develop as each phase is completed.

Visit my website   timsummerville.com