Marble: matt or glossy?

[lowpoly]

I just finished my first piece in stone (white marble, lifesize):

http://www.lowpoly.com/sculpture/marble-ear-front.jpg

Wet-sanded with 120 (metric) grain sandpaper it has a rather matt surface. My wife says it looks like vellum paper and doesn't like it. I think glossy looks like plastic and therefore cheap.

Any opinions?

[Araich]

Makes me want to turn it over and see the workings inside :)

I like the soft matt, gloss does look like plastic - but you could selectively highight.

[Bettye]

Lovely work. I second the above opinion. Maybe a very small highlight where the ear normally reflects light. But I love the matte texture and the slight transluscence. Maybe your wife is used to seeing mass produced marble with a high gloss.?

Thanks for sharing the photo!
Bettye

[lowpoly]

Turned out she liked the chiseled surface better. But that would just ruin the translucency.

Thanks for the tips and comments. I'll try to add some highlights.

[Araich]

Is it for her? So she cannot say, "you never listen".

[goes away to weld an ear for Daniella]

[fritchie]

lowpoly - I had to think about this for a day, and it looks like you already may have your answer, but I’ll go ahead anyway. I was going to say that this image looks familiar - I think I saw it in computer-composed form awhile back, probably both as a wire grid and as a rendered surface. Is that the origin of the piece? If so, it’s a good way to compose a new form, and congratulations for putting it into marble so well.

My initial reaction was to say go for a higher gloss, but as I said, I was unsure about that path. My current reaction is to selectively smooth, about what you already seem to have decided. For instance, you could leave the lower or partially hidden surfaces slightly unfinished. There is no reason to be mechanical about the finish, to make it completely uniform. In my bronze work, I deliberately leave some of the initial black firescale and then use a subtly varied brownish patina over the whole piece.

On another track, how about telling us how you cut the piece. Did you chisel away the initial bulk, or cut/saw it away? And so on, to the state in the photograph. This would be an education for most of us.

[lowpoly]

Araich: :D No, it's not for her.

fritchie: I did something similar in digital 3d but not as a planned preparation. It helped a lot with this though. Here's a current version:

http://www.lowpoly.com/progress/babe006head019photo001.jpg

Thanks for the additional tips on surface finishing.

I basically used these tools (chisels are carbide tipped):

http://www.lowpoly.com/sculpture/marble-ear-tools.jpg

And chiseled everything away. First a basic sloped plateau roughing in the overall shape. Then I completed the inside with the undercut behind the ear still solid. Otherwise it would break immediately. Even then I managed to break a big part off the upper rim. Which was good because I learned what not to do. :)

Last thing for the shape was the undercut which I almost entirely scratched away because I didn't want to break it again. A bit more shape to the skull behind the ear. Then surface finishing with the stones shown in the tools photo. Then sanding.

Here's another photo showing the translucency:

http://www.lowpoly.com/sculpture/marble-ear-sss.jpg

The shadow in the front gives away that the undercut isn't as deep as it should be - added stability. People touch it and pick it up.

http://www.lowpoly.com/sculpture/marble-ear-back.jpg

[fritchie]

Nice head, too! These 3D computer models are coming along very nicely. Thanks for the carving introduction. The glasses speak worlds.

[anne (bxl)]

Is it for her? So she cannot say, "you never listen". (Araich)

I have made a piece quite similar whose title is "confidence on a pillow"....

[rderr.com]

Ideas are in one ear and out the other. The first example of the ear as a motif I saw in a catalogue of Art Nouveau as a front door answer phone for a house by Hofmanstal . I saw on your site your pillow, Anne. Have a look at my mobile telephone.

[redrajah]

lovely piece lowpoly.

[lowpoly]

Thanks for the additional comments.

I didn't know detached ears where that popular. :D

Someone in another forum pointed me to this:

http://www.freeweb.hu/schism/im08l.jpg

(music video "schism" by tool)

[Judith Kindler]

The translucency is beautiful. Definately keep it matt. More mysterious. :cool:

[fused]

Beautiful as is.

[GaryR52]

I'll second Fused's opinion. Leave it alone. The translucency duplicates the qualities of the human ear, itself and the surface texture, also. Ears don't normally get glossy unless we're sweating or haven't cleaned our ears in a while. ;)

Gary

[Carvnmarble]

Nice work. I would highlight the foremost parts if not all of it. Polished marble looks like polished marble and I think it looks great. - Kinder

[mtd]

matte or satin but definatly not glossy. I've spent many many visits to the met and my vist to Paris in January convinced me that all my marble pieces should be matte or satin.

The ear looks great BTW.
MD