"Goodbye Old Man"

[Anders Heintz]

Acctually, one of my horses lays down all the time! I guess he is a bum. Although taking a picture of him wouldnt really do any good as he is only a long yearling, and far fromfully developed.

Looking forward to see more!

 

[Dan Morton]

Anders - Thanks and I'm workin' on it!

All the best,
Dan

 

[renarts]

Dan, of course now I go out to the barn and no ones horse is laying down. Any other time I can go out there and 3 or 4 horses are laying down in the paddocks, in their stalls, where ever. We regularly find ours curled up or laying down resting.

I was thinking about it and (if I can I will try to get a photo of it) is that the ribcage offsets when a horse lies down. Alot of weight is exerted (one of the reasons why they don't spend alot of time on the ground) and the ribcage naturaly shifts (or more a case of the pelvis and shoulder drop a little lower thant the ribcage does).

Looking at your horse, I don't know if it makes a difference. Maybe because his neck is up (in an atempt to keep going?) like in the original illustration. The information is there though.

 

[Dan Morton]

Mike - Exactly right, the horse is trying to rise to meet the man and the man is cradling the horse's head. When you say the rib cage is off set I believe you mean it moves away from the spine and up and out, correct? The pelvis and shoulder dropping makes complete sense to me and I think I've already begun to show that in the changes I've made since the photos were posted. I'll try to post some more WIP photos this weekend so you can see the changes and help me correct them. If you get a chance to take some photos of reclining horses, please send me a PM and I'll give my e-mail address [or do you already have it? - Can't recall.] Many thanks!

All the best,
Dan

 

[renarts]

When you say the rib cage is off set I believe you mean it moves away from the spine and up and out, correct?

Correct.

 

[tonydawe]

G'day Dan

Here's a friendly suggestion...to add even more poignancy to this vignette, the rider could be holding a pistol behind his back getting ready to put his lame horse out of his misery?

It may be too much for some, but in reality most mounted troops cared too much for their animals to simply leave them to die a horrible death if they became lame or wounded. Most of them would have done it with tears streaming down their faces, knowing that it was the merciful thing to do.

Obviously its entirely up to you Dan, but I just thought I'd offer you my thoughts.

The horse looks great mate, keep going . I'm keen to see this one finished.

Cheers

 

[renarts]

I disagree with you Tony. I know where you're comming from on this and I can see it but in this case and scenario, as its illustrated, I think it detracts from the poignancy of the moment. Think of that emotional moment before he has to make that decision. The desire for everything to be ok "if I can just let you rest". "I want to spend one more minute with you." "I don't want to think about what I have to do." "C'mon old man, you can do it..."
I think it works better as an inferred concept rather than as a demonstrated one. The emotional impact is more visceral the way he's doing it now.

There is an old french illustration that has a dead curassieur lying on the ground with his horse standing next to him looking off to the side, ears pricked up. His loyalty keeps him with his rider but the rest of the unit and his herd mates are off in the distance. Thats the most powerful scene as it allows the viewer to make up his own information from the elements given him. You could ask "what is the horse looking at?" Is it the protagonist that shot? The rest of the charge? A way out? Help on the way? What keeps the horse with the rider despite something going on in the distance that we aren't given a view of? Those are the most engaging pieces of art.

I enjoy pieces like that. Engaging, thought provoking, flexible in their interpretation. Remember the diorama "My GOd, why have you forsaken me" with the SS officer executing jews or partisans and a little girl standing there with a teddy bear? I was floored when I saw this, but I also started thinking about my own twist on it. What if you had that SS officer helping that little girl down from the back of the truck? No execution scenes but still. You have to know whats comming. There is this paradox of an SS officer helping a little girl down from a truck only to lead her to fates cruel intentions. Gentility with insane violence. Its that whole I saw it, and 30 minutes later while eating lunch it hit me as it went from observation to summation of what could happen. Thats a provocative piece.

I think Dan is doing this with his piece.

 

[Dan Morton]

Tony - Thanks for the suggestion, but I kinda agree with Mike on this one. Mike - I haven't seen the diorama you mentioned. Brother, I thought some of my subjects were "hard". That one and Bob Tavis's Strange Fruit tops ANYTHING I'll EVER get up to playing with putty and resin.

"Gentility with insane violence." Mike - you have a way with words.

All the best,
Dan

 

[tonydawe]

You certainly do Mike. I defer to your poetry. I understand your point too - and its well taken.
Cheers

 

[renarts]

Here you go Dan. Found it. I was a little off on the title. It was a while ago that I had seen it.
http://www.track-link.net/gallery/2619

 

[Dan Morton]

Wow! That's hard stuff!

All the best,
Dan

 

[eissteban]

it's always the same question:
Can we show everything ?
Personally i don't find the answer of that !

In that case the diorama is so hard but it's pure history.
Remember the best of show of this year in Folkstone, a little girl in Hiroshima.The scene is very hard too.
Again it's a piece of history, so do you close the eyes on this ?
(I think it's a very hard question)

Seb.

 

[Dan Morton]

Good point, Seb. No - you do not close your eyes. Closing your eyes to such things only dooms us to relive all the hideous mistakes of the past. The knife edge for me is how to evoke interest, concern, empathy, etc., without being maudlin but also without in any way glorifying the evil deeds men have done.

All the best,
Dan

All the best,
Dan

 

[MSzwarc]

G'day Dan

Here's a friendly suggestion...to add even more poignancy to this vignette, the rider could be holding a pistol behind his back getting ready to put his lame horse out of his misery?

It may be too much for some, but in reality most mounted troops cared too much for their animals to simply leave them to die a horrible death if they became lame or wounded. Most of them would have done it with tears streaming down their faces, knowing that it was the merciful thing to do.

Obviously its entirely up to you Dan, but I just thought I'd offer you my thoughts.

The horse looks great mate, keep going . I'm keen to see this one finished.

Cheers

I hate to butt in on someone else's idea, but I just went through a situation pertinent to this diorama, so I thought I'd put my 2 cents in. I recently had to put down my 17 year old dog, Rudy, who I called "Old Man" for the last 3 or 4 years. While I knew it was time to do the merciful thing, the grief was incredibly intense. When I first saw this posting, the intense feeling flowed over me again. I think the original plan will convey to anyone who has loved, cared for, and depended on an animal will easily get what is going on in this poignant scene. The grief of the rider hugging his horse for the last time lets us know that he will do the right thing . . . but first he needs to say goodbye to an old friend.

Dan, I think this is a great idea for a diorama, and I think you are doing a wonderful job on it.

Mike

 

[Dan Morton]

Mike - I think I understand. I'm a dog lover myself and I confess to having felt that way about several dogs in my life. When I had to put down our schnauzer, Dickens, the whole family said good-bye to him. Thank you very much for your comment.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Zlobov*S]

Hi Dan! Probably I have passed{missed} - when we have pleasure to observe of process of modelling? First steps huge impression, also are not present patience to see continuation! Yours faithfully.

 

[Jim]

Goodbye, Old Man

I'm going to chime in here.
This diorama is going to break some hearts, particularly those of us who have (or had) horses (or, for that matter, any animal that we've loved). Personally, four years ago last month, I had to have my 33-year old Quarter Horse stallion put to rest after having him for more than 30 years. It was the hardest thing I ever had to decide, to endure and to survive. Clear Oak Bar (Oakie) had gotten me through a divorce, job changes and was the best and finest riding horse I had ever had. I can't count the number of miles we covered and Oakie was the consumate listener as I poured out my cares, woes and hopes to him. When I finally 'retired' him, he became the world's largest 'yard dog', when I would let him out to graze on the lawn, or nibble on my wife's bushes. I'd be working outside and hear her yell for me to come 'get your damn horse off of my porch'. He was gentle and curious and a joy to have. The last months of his life, he developed a lameness that could not be cured that was causing him so much pain that he couldn't put his weight on his foot. After it was over, it was more than six months before I could walk out to the corral where he had once been, the heart-wrenching pain was just too much. Even now, four years later, I still miss him everytime I have to be out by his corral.

Keep up your great work on that diorama - you will touch a lot of hearts.

Sorry to have rambled.
Jim

 

[Dan Morton]

Sergey - Many thanks for your comments!

Jim - Thank you very much for sharing Oakie's story with all of us! Never owned a horse, but I still miss every one of the dogs I've lost to age, sickness and accident. While I'm sitting at the PC, my two schnauzers are sleeping at my feet. If my little vignette of resin and putty breaks hearts, I hope it will also make us remember with nostalgia and love the many animals that have made our lifes so much more worthwhile.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Dan Morton]

WIP on the horse

I had to take these indoors yesterday. We had only grey overcast all day in Omaha. Anyways I apologize for the photos up front. Not my best.

I sent them to Mike Spivey, a horse owner and regular on PF, who tells me everything is about right except the ears. I'm not entirely sure I understand what is wrong, but as near as I can deduce from his comments, he feels the openings of the ears should turn outwards, not straight up as I've done them and (I believe) as Matania painted them in the original illustration. Those of you who are horse owners - please get me straightened out on this and I'll fix them or leave them alone - whatever.

The surface of the horse doesn't look smooth in these photos, but it is actually very smooth, except for the ears, tail and mane, of course. In one of the photos the knee of the horse looks a bit too large. It is due to the angle at which the photo was taken. The knee I sculpted is the same size as the other knee that I didn't sculpt.

This is definitely WIP, so your constructive critique is very welcome!

All the best,
Dan

 

[vergilius]

Great and touching idea !