Day Three, Thursday, Jan 28
Another good day as we try to delineate the complicated curves in David's design. Some sun at noon was a small problem, but we did not bother with a protective sail. We might have to use the sail tomorrow to protect the south side, but tonight we were able to sculpt it well in the late afternoon and evening. After dinner we did something cool with our scaffolding which we could use to just barely straddle the sculpture, allowing Dan to work the top section easily from the highest piece of scaffolding. It is certainly satisfying to see the form emerge, as the block we are faced with at the start always seems impossibly large and difficult to sculpt.
The flow of the curves is determined by David. One technique we use is to have him use an ice saw to turn small areas into a corduroy-like surface when we can then peel off easily, as I am doing in the photo below.
Of course, the model is critical to everything we do, as we try to match it as closely as we can. Using the same colors to mark the curves helps.
The moonrise in the evening keeps Dan company as he works on the south side. When the sun is strong it is impossible to work on the south side because of the mush. But it refreezes in the late afternoon. The overall quality of the block this year is remarkable: there are no areas of bad snow or dirt, and not too much ice at the very bottom. We rely on some of the ice at bottom to stop our scupture from tpping over. When we are done we expect that the center of gravity might well be outside the block.
