Seahorse sculpture

[chunkolini]

I had a customer make me a really insulting offer of £400 for my seahorse 2.5m tall.

I refrained from kicking her out of the exhibition.
She asked if I could make a smaller version for a still insulting sum.
I agreed to make a simplified 2 dimensional version within her budget.
After a month I got a small deposit off her. I always get a deposit before I start work.

I finished this on Friday and have put it outside with ammonium chloride to get it rusted before I varnish it for her. I finished up being quite pleased with it and can see myself making more stuff in this simpler style.
if she does not like it she goes in the slurry pond and I will sell it for more than she is paying.

The body is made of 1.6m mild steel, the seahorse itself is about 1m tall.. I draw the lines on with chalk then weld over them, ignoring most of them and letting it happen freely. Then go around the edge with the plasma cutter. This gives much more definition and texture. Also a quick way to work. Probably three hours to make the body and cut it out.
The single leg goes onto a an 'H' shaped platform of box section and extends up the body to give some stiffness.

 

[Shox Dr]

Both are very nice, you certainly have talent. Out of interest what would have been happy with price wise.

 

[Robotstar5]

It does look a very effective technique do you get much distortion laying that amount of weld on or allow cooling between welds?

You need to perfect the artists "flouncing off in a huff" when insulted by a derisory offer!

 

[gordon stephenson]

2D model looks great,Very artistic and perfect design, Do you weld both sides?

 

[stuvy]

It does look a very effective technique do you get much distortion laying that amount of weld on or allow cooling between welds?

You need to perfect the artists "flouncing off in a huff" when insulted by a derisory offer!

mincing?

im not sure which one i prefer, id like to see the second when its rusted a bit more

 

[Seano]

As usual Chunko....excellent work

 

[chunkolini]

One would simply have to mince off.
I confess one has developed a slightly camp artiste character for use when relevant.
Some women love it.
On this version I only welded the one side as I can see it being site specific. I have welded both sides of stuff in the past but you have to be careful on the second side.
Distortion? yes it buckles to hell while you are doing it. First time I thought I had ruined it, then realised it gives it a much more organic look, avoiding slab sided manufactured lookingness. Yes I can say that I am an artiste.
You can also beat it severely with a mallet to get the shape you want.

Price wise? for the small one I quoted £200.00 I figure that covers a good days work. As I like it and it is a decent size I would ask for more for a repro.

I had planned on shaping the body with the fly press to get a bit of a 3d curve across it but realised that this was not needed.

 

[Hitch]

If i'm honest, i prefer the cheapo one!
The proportions look 'betterer'

 

[brightspark]

If i'm honest, i prefer the cheapo one!
The proportions look 'betterer'

and more realistic

 

[strube1369]

Chunk'o, I think this just shows that even us poor folks appreciate your work... I know I do! And, as always, very very cool piece of art.

 

[Springerdinger]

Hi Chunkolino
always enjoy looking at your work, the sea horses look fantastic
It must be a wrench sometime to let these pieces go

chris

 

[blacksmithstris]

But you're an artist, so you should work for free, right?



Beautiful seahorses!! Love to see a pic of the new one rusted.

 

[shirazman]

I had a customer make me a really insulting offer of £400 for my seahorse 2.5m tall.
View attachment 27225
I refrained from kicking her out of the exhibition.
She asked if I could make a smaller version for a still insulting sum.
I agreed to make a simplified 2 dimensional version within her budget.
After a month I got a small deposit off her. I always get a deposit before I start work.
View attachment 27223
I finished this on Friday and have put it outside with ammonium chloride to get it rusted before I varnish it for her. I finished up being quite pleased with it and can see myself making more stuff in this simpler style.
if she does not like it she goes in the slurry pond and I will sell it for more than she is paying.

The body is made of 1.6m mild steel, the seahorse itself is about 1m tall.. I draw the lines on with chalk then weld over them, ignoring most of them and letting it happen freely. Then go around the edge with the plasma cutter. This gives much more definition and texture. Also a quick way to work. Probably three hours to make the body and cut it out.
The single leg goes onto a an 'H' shaped platform of box section and extends up the body to give some stiffness.

Kinda glad you posted this...you will be the very man to ask...I did a car boot sale yesterday and took along my Eagle Owl with some pics of other work, put a sign for commissions on it and spent the whole day with prospective customers and 2 orders, a really pleasant outcome. How the hell do you price your work? The Eagle for example I was offered £1800 and that was just looking at the pic. I said I wasnt selling that one so they ordered another and would i do it for £1800? I said I would and know i can make good money at that but then loads of folk saying today I was to cheap!!! Beginnning to wonder if i wanna make them to sell. Also you said you were at an exhibition? Do you have an open house and exhibit your work or do you book a venue? Quite like the idea of making a few more and having an exhibition

 

[chunkolini]

Occasionally I dont want to sell stuff.
Typically these are the pieces that people want.
A few years back I made myself an angler fish, my first treat to myself.
I put it up on show a couple of years later and this old guy wanted it.
He came back three times to look at it each time asking for a price. I thought of a figure and doubled it.
He paid cash and took it away with him.
After that I was deepy flattered that he appreciated it so much.
I am usually glad when stuff goes as it means I have to replace it, also seems like getting paid for nothing once the piece of work has been standing around for a while.

Seahorse rusty
I put the chemical on 48 hours before taking this picture.

Getting there, tomorrow I will give him a gentle scrub and see how it looks, might be ready for varnishing by the end of the week?

Pricing stuff?
Impossible. I try to keep an eye on how many half days something takes, but pricing by the hour makes things seem like commodities. Stuff like the small seahorse I am happy to treat like this, it becomes a formulaic way to work and should be priced accordingly. When it is a larger or more difficult thing to make that I have got involved with I never know how to price it. These days I work out a figure, add on a lump for materials and if I like it I add a bit more on then top it up with a haggle factor.
If I am skint I might take a bit less.
Usually I find with the big stuff people see it and want to commission something similar to make it their own sculpture.

Shirazman, in Scotland they obviously have to much money. Take that to a carboot sale round here and you would be offered 50p. Did you really make sales at one of these events?
Top tip here. If anybody commissions anything get a deposit off them before you do anything, there are a lot of people who talk the talk etc etc. Usually I ask for about 50%. No deposit? no sculpture.

Exhibitions. I have done lots of them at gardens and garden centres. Generally a waste of time. They butter up the artist, usually charge you to take part, then charge the public a fiver to get in and make no effort to sell anything.
An exception is this one http://www.showborough.com/ lovely country house, owned by an nice guy who likes the arts and his garden, charges a tenner to take part, takes 10% commission and makes a massive effort to sell stuff.
I get a lot of sales through the local open studios event Hereford Art Week http://h-art.herefordshire.gov.uk/hartvisithart2011/hartsouth.aspx a massive pain to do but well worth the effort I am on this page as 'sculpture on the farm' this is last years page. There is likely to be a similar event near to you.

Also have a look for the 'artparks' website an online gallery that seems to sell stuff and not rip off the artiste.

Selling stuff is the hardest part of the job.

Good luck. Oh and thanks everybody else for the comments. To me the smaller seahorse is not a patch on the large one, more of a nice thing for the garden. I think I will have to make another when this is gone and also have a look at more stuff in this style and price bracket.

Chunko'.

 

[Shox Dr]

I don't beleive there is a price you can put on art. It's only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it.

 

[blacksmithstris]

If I have spent a lot of time on a sculpture, that I have made of my own accord, as in not a commission, then I almost just see it as a big self indulgence, put a big price tag on it and I don't really worry so much if it sells. Sometimes they do, and that's great, but sometimes they hang around for a while, and while it's always good to get a fat wad of cash, while the works are hanging around they are great promotional items, showing people what you are capable of etc. A lot of people can't afford the big ticket items, but will see them and like what has happened with your Seahorse, they want something a little smaller in their budget, which is usually pretty easy to make because you've already done the "staring really hard for a long time at a bit of metal" bit, so you can just get on and make it and get paid, and then make something else!!

Pricing is a nightmare, but I do similar, I have a daily and hourly rate for the small stuff, plus add on for materials and a figure I've worked out for overheads etc. Then I try to add on some extra, but it's all dependent. At the moment I'm not doing so much big stuff, but I've moved recently so hoping that's just down to that, takes a while to get noticed, so will have to do the small stuff for now..

Chunko for me, the smaller seahorse is an ornament, whereas the big one is sculpture. Each is valid in it's own right tho.

 

[shirazman]

Occasionally I dont want to sell stuff.
Typically these are the pieces that people want.
A few years back I made myself an angler fish, my first treat to myself.
I put it up on show a couple of years later and this old guy wanted it.
He came back three times to look at it each time asking for a price. I thought of a figure and doubled it.
He paid cash and took it away with him.
After that I was deepy flattered that he appreciated it so much.
I am usually glad when stuff goes as it means I have to replace it, also seems like getting paid for nothing once the piece of work has been standing around for a while.

Seahorse rusty
I put the chemical on 48 hours before taking this picture.
View attachment 27253
Getting there, tomorrow I will give him a gentle scrub and see how it looks, might be ready for varnishing by the end of the week?

Pricing stuff?
Impossible. I try to keep an eye on how many half days something takes, but pricing by the hour makes things seem like commodities. Stuff like the small seahorse I am happy to treat like this, it becomes a formulaic way to work and should be priced accordingly. When it is a larger or more difficult thing to make that I have got involved with I never know how to price it. These days I work out a figure, add on a lump for materials and if I like it I add a bit more on then top it up with a haggle factor.
If I am skint I might take a bit less.
Usually I find with the big stuff people see it and want to commission something similar to make it their own sculpture.

Shirazman, in Scotland they obviously have to much money. Take that to a carboot sale round here and you would be offered 50p. Did you really make sales at one of these events?
Top tip here. If anybody commissions anything get a deposit off them before you do anything, there are a lot of people who talk the talk etc etc. Usually I ask for about 50%. No deposit? no sculpture.

Exhibitions. I have done lots of them at gardens and garden centres. Generally a waste of time. They butter up the artist, usually charge you to take part, then charge the public a fiver to get in and make no effort to sell anything.
An exception is this one http://www.showborough.com/ lovely country house, owned by an nice guy who likes the arts and his garden, charges a tenner to take part, takes 10% commission and makes a massive effort to sell stuff.
I get a lot of sales through the local open studios event Hereford Art Week http://h-art.herefordshire.gov.uk/hartvisithart2011/hartsouth.aspx a massive pain to do but well worth the effort I am on this page as 'sculpture on the farm' this is last years page. There is likely to be a similar event near to you.

Also have a look for the 'artparks' website an online gallery that seems to sell stuff and not rip off the artiste.

Selling stuff is the hardest part of the job.

Good luck. Oh and thanks everybody else for the comments. To me the smaller seahorse is not a patch on the large one, more of a nice thing for the garden. I think I will have to make another when this is gone and also have a look at more stuff in this style and price bracket.

Chunko'.

No in Scotland they want everything for 10p at carboots. I was getting rid of crap so I just decided to take the bird along and see what happened.
Love the big sea horse.. fantastic

 

[Shox Dr]

Chunko for me, the smaller seahorse is an ornament, whereas the big one is sculpture. Each is valid in it's own right tho.

Well put

 

[chunkolini]

'Chunko for me, the smaller seahorse is an ornament, whereas the big one is sculpture'
Spot on. Sometimes it pays to make people 'nice stuff' and it pays for the mad bigger stuff.
my master plan is to steal all the plough blades from the local farms and use them as scales on a fish sculpture.

 

[blacksmithstris]

I just wish that more people could and would pay for the big stuff...

Chunko, I recall, you've made big fish before... you seem to do a lot of sea creatures, why is it you live so far from the sea?!! And this master plan is trying to turn the agricultural hereford countryside into a sea life centre on a grand scale!! (no pun intended lol) (groan!)