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I think I found a solution to make the wings sturdy and nicely angled.I also realised that the hinged section fits perfectly to those 45 degree angled plates. The connection may be a bit forced, but there's no sign of bending. I'll upload some pics on the technique behind it soon.
(Concept art: www.flickr.com/photos/126096951@N03/14907640179/in/set-72...)
Pietra dura or pietre dure (see below), called parchin kari in South Asia, is a term for the inlay technique of using cut and fitted, highly polished colored stones to create images. It is considered a decorative art. The stonework, after the work is assembled loosely, is glued stone-by-stone to a substrate after having previously been "sliced and cut in different shape sections; and then assembled together so precisely that the contact between each section was practically invisible". Stability was achieved by grooving the undersides of the stones so that they interlocked, rather like a jigsaw puzzle, with everything held tautly in place by an encircling 'frame'. Many different colored stones, particularly marbles, were used, along with semiprecious, and even precious stones. It first appeared in Rome in the 16th century, reaching its full maturity in Florence. Pietra dura items are generally crafted on green, white or black marble base stones. Typically the resulting panel is completely flat, but some examples where the image is in low relief were made, taking the work more into the area of hardstone carving.
RELATED ARTS AND TERMS
Pietre dure is an Italian plural meaning "hard rocks" or hardstones; the singular pietra dura is also encountered in Italian. In Italian, but not in English, the term embraces all gem engraving and hardstone carving, which is the artistic carving of three-dimensional objects in semi-precious stone, normally from a single piece, for example in Chinese jade. The traditional convention in English has been to use the singular pietra dura just to denote multi-colored inlay work. However, in recent years there has been a trend to use pietre dure as a term for the same thing, but not for all of the techniques it covers, in Italian. But the title of a 2008 exhibition at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, Art of the Royal Court: Treasures in Pietre Dure from the Palaces of Europe used the full Italian sense of the term, probably because they thought that it had greater brand recognition. The material on the website speaks of objects such as a vase in lapis lazuli as being examples of "hardstone carving (pietre dure)" The Victoria & Albert Museum in London uses both versions on its website, but uses pietra dura ("A method of inlaying coloured marbles or semi-precious stones into a stone base, often in geometric or flower patterns....") in its "Glossary", which was evidently not consulted by the author of another page, where the reader is told: "Pietre dure (from the Italian 'hard stone') is made from finely sliced coloured stones, precisely matched, to create a pictorial scene or regular design". The English term "Florentine mosaic" is sometimes also encountered, probably developed by the tourist industry. Giovanni Montelatici (1864-1930) was an Italian Florentine artist whose brilliant work has been distributed across the world by tourists and collectors.
It is distinct from mosaic in that the component stones are mostly much larger and cut to a shape suiting their place in the image, not all of roughly equal size and shape as in mosaic. In pietra dura, the stones are not cemented together with grout, and works in pietra dura are often portable. Nor should it be confused with micromosaics, a form of mosaic using very small tesserae of the same size to create images rather than decorative patterns, for Byzantine icons, and later for panels for setting into furniture and the like.
For fixed inlay work on walls, ceilings, and pavements that do not meet the definition for mosaic, the terms intarsia or cosmati work/cosmatesque are better used. Similarly, for works that use larger pieces of stone (or tile), opus sectile may be used. Pietre dure is essentially stone marquetry. As a high expression of lapidary art, it is closely related to the jewelers art. It can also be seen as a branch of sculpture as three-dimensionality can be achieved, as with a bas relief
HISTORY
Pietra dura developed from the Ancient Roman opus sectile, which at least in terms of surviving examples, was architectural, used on floors and walls, with both geometric and figurative designs. In the Middle Ages cosmatesque floors and small columns etc. on tombs and altars continued to use inlays of different colours in geometric patterns. Byzantine art continued with inlaid floors, but also produced some small religious figures in hardstone inlays, for example in the Pala d'Oro in San Marco, Venice (though this mainly uses enamel). In the Italian Renaissance this technique again was used for images. The Florentines, who most fully developed the form, however, regarded it as 'painting in stone'.
As it developed in Florence, the technique was initially called opere di commessi (approximately, "Fitted together works"). Medici Grand Duke Ferdinando I of Tuscany founded the Galleria di'Lavori in 1588, now the Opificio delle pietre dure, for the purpose of developing this and other decorative forms.
A multitude of varied objects were created. Table tops were particularly prized, and these tend to be the largest specimens. Smaller items in the form of medallions, cameos, wall plaques, panels inserted into doors or onto cabinets, bowls, jardinieres, garden ornaments, fountains, benches, etc. are all found. A popular form was to copy an existing painting, often of a human figure, as illustrated by the image of Pope Clement VIII, above. Examples are found in many museums. The medium was transported to other European centers of court art and remained popular into the 19th century. In particular, Naples became a noted center of the craft. By the 20th century, the medium was in decline, in part by the assault of modernism, and the craft had been reduced to mainly restoration work. In recent decades, however, the form has been revived, and receives state-funded sponsorship. Modern examples range from tourist-oriented kitsch including syrupy reproductions of 19th century style religious subjects (especially in Florence and Naples), to works copying or based on older designs used for luxurious decorative contexts, to works in a genuinely contemporary artistic idiom.
PARCHIN KARI
By the early part of the 17th century, smaller objects produced by the Opificio were widely diffused throughout Europe, and as far East to the court of the Mughals in India, where the form was imitated and reinterpreted in a native style; its most sumptuous expression is found in the Taj Mahal. In Mughal India, pietra dura was known as Parchin kari, literally 'inlay' or 'driven-in' work.
Due to the Taj Mahal being one of the major tourist attractions, there is a flourishing industry of Pietra Dura artifacts in Agra ranging from tabletops, medallions, elephants and other animal forms, jewellery boxes and other decorative items. This art form is fully alive and thriving in Agra, India though the patterns in the designs are more Persian than Roman or Medician.
WIKIPEDIA
Hollowed bead technique..
" Cushy Puffy"
This "Cushy Puffy" hollowed bead technigue doesn't need to be carved after bake.
"Cushy Puffy " beads technique Tutorials are on my Etsy shop NOW!!...^.*
Drawing and painting with colored pencil : basic techniques for mastering traditional and watersoluble colored pencils ... Kutch, Kristy Ann
Color photography : a working manual; Henry Horenstein with Russell Hart; drawings by Tom Briggs…Horenstein, Henry ; Hart, Russell
The Gift of birds…National Wildlife Federation
The enlightened bracketologist : the Final Four of everything…Reiter, Mark ; Sandomir, Richard
Mathematics for the modern mind…Fuchs, Walter Robert
The orphans' nine commandments : a memoir…Holman, William Roger
Recent America : the United States since 1945…Grantham, Dewey W .
A history of India…Kulke, Hermann ; Rothermund, Dietmar .
Steering clear of highway madness : a driver's guide to curbing stress and strain…Larson, John A M.D
The perils of prosperity, 1914-32…Leuchtenburg, William Edward .
6 plays…Rodgers, Richard ; Hammerstein, Oscar .
The gift : poems by the great Sufi master…Hafi|z ; Ladinsky, Daniel James
One for the Road : An Outback Adventure…Horwitz, Tony
Zen in the art of archery…Herrigel, Eugen
The rise of Islamic fundamentalism…Margulies, Phillip
Hezbollah : a short history…Norton, Augustus R
Sikh religion
American born Chinese… Yang, Gene Luen ; Pien, Lark
Yell-oh girls! : emerging voices explore culture, identity, and growing up Asian American…Nam, Vickie
Counterculture through the ages : from Abraham to acid house…Sirius, R. U ; Joy, Dan ; Leary, Timothy Francis
Claudette Colvin : twice toward justice…Hoose, Phillip M
Ireland : the challenge of conflict and change…Finnegan, Richard B
Young Mandela…Smith, David James
Bury me standing : the gypsies and their journey…Fonseca, Isabel
Always my child : a parent's guide to understanding your gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgendered, or questioning son or daughter…Jennings, Kevin ; Shapiro, Patricia Gottlieb
Life during the Spanish Inquisition…Stewart, Gail
Let me play : the story of Title IX : the law that changed the future of girls in America…Blumenthal, Karen
The secret history of the war on cancer…Davis, Devra Lee
Scottsboro : a tragedy of the American South…Carter, Dan T
Just a table scrap creation. I wanted to make something using brick separators and here it is, an interesting Sci-fi floor technique.
Ranger Studio Day
“An all day workshop of creative techniques”
Saturday, March 31st / 10:00am-5:00pm
at CraftFusion in Chandler, Arizona.
Learn more at:
I was walking around KL hoping to buy some stuff (files, notepad, you-know-what) and was pretty frustrated that I didn't get to buy anything, since all those shops were closed. Lucky I brought my camera with me, so I took it out and began my street photography thingy, to cool me down abit
At the traffic lights, I was interested to try out the panning technique. And here it is, after a couple of shots, one of my results. This was my first time panning, and I'm pretty happy with my shots.
*Pictures cropped to suit the 1/3 rule*
Note the needle is parallel to the superior tarsal border - entering from the temporal side.
Photo: Anthony Hall.
Published in: Community Eye Health Journal Vol. 18 No. 53 MARCH 2005 www.cehjournal.org
Stamping with Bibiana: Tutorial How to Chalkboard using Wood Stamps by memory box, details at the blog;
stampingwithbibiana.blogspot.com/2015/04/tutorial-how-to-...
Breekoparend
(Polemaetus bellicosus)
The martial eagle (Polemaetus bellicosus) is a large eagle native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is the only member of the genus Polemaetus. A species of the booted eagle sub-family (Aquillinae), it has feathering over its tarsus. One of the largest and most powerful species of booted eagle, it is a fairly opportunistic predator that varies it prey selection between mammals, birds and reptiles. Its hunting technique is unique as it is one of few eagle species known to hunt primarily from a high soar, by stooping on its quarry. An inhabitant of wooded belts of otherwise open savanna, this species has shown a precipitous decline in the last few centuries due to a variety of factors. The martial eagle is one of the most persecuted bird species in the world. Due to its habit of taking livestock and regionally valuable game, local farmers and game wardens frequently seek to eliminate martial eagles, although the effect of eagles on this prey is almost certainly considerably exaggerated. Currently, the martial eagle is classified with the status of Vulnerable to extinction by the IUCN.
The martial eagle can be found in most of sub-Saharan Africa, wherever food is abundant and the environment favourable. With a total estimated distribution of about 26,000 km2 (10,000 sq mi), it is fairly widely distributed in the continent, having a somewhat broader range than species like the crowned eagle (Stephanoaetus coronatus) and the Verreaux's eagle (Aquila verreauxii). Although never common, greater population densities do exist in southern Africa and in some parts of east Africa. Martial eagles tend to be rare and irregular in west Africa but are known to reside in Senegal, The Gambia and northern Guinea-Bissau, southern Mali and the northern portions of Ivory Coast and Ghana. From southern Niger and eastern Nigeria the species is distributed spottily through Chad, Sudan and the Central African Republic as well as the northern, eastern, and southern portions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In east Africa, they range from northwestern Somalia and Ethiopia more or less continuously south through Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania and in southern Africa from Angola, Zambia, Malawi and southern Mozambique to South Africa. Some of the larger remaining populations are known to persist in Zimbabwe and South Africa. Generally, these birds are more abundant in protected areas such as Kruger National Park and Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park in South Africa, or Etosha National Park in Namibia.
The Accipitridae (hereafter accipitrids) family is by far the most diverse family of diurnal raptors in the world with more than 230 currently accepted species. As a member of the booted eagle sub-family, Aquilinae, it is one of the roughly 15% extant species of the family to have feathers covering its legs. This may be a useful feature for distinguishing these species from other eagles and raptors, as they are present even in tropical species such as the martial eagle. Under current classifications, booted eagles consist of approximately 38 living species that are distributed in every continent inhabited by the accipitrids, which excludes only the continent of Antarctica. Just under half of the living species of booted eagle are found in Africa. Studies have been conducted on the mitochondrial DNA of most booted eagle species, including the martial eagle, in order to gain insight on how the sub-family is ordered and which species bear relation to one another. DNA testing in the 1980s indicated the martial eagle was a specialized off-shoot of the small-bodied Hieraaetus eagles and one study went so far as to advocate that the martial eagle be included in the genus. However, more modern and comprehensive genetic testing has shown that the martial eagle is extremely distinct from other living booted eagles and diverged from other existing genera several million years ago. Genetically, the martial eagle fell between two other species in monotypical genera, the African long-crested eagle (Lophaetus occipitalis) and the Asian rufous-bellied eagle (Lophotriorchis kienerii), that similarly diverged long ago from other modern species. Given the disparity of this species’ unique morphology and that the two aforementioned most closely related living species are only about as large as the bigger buzzards, the unique heritage of the martial eagle is considered even superficially evident. There are no subspecies of martial eagle and the species varies little in appearance and genetic diversity across its distribution.
The martial eagle is a very large eagle. In total length, it can range from 78 to 96 cm (31 to 38 in), with an average of approximately 85.5 cm (33.7 in). Its total length – in comparison to its wingspan – is restricted by its relatively short tail. Nonetheless, it appears to be the sixth or seventh longest living eagle species. The wingspan of martial eagles can range from 188 to 260 cm (6 ft 2 in to 8 ft 6 in). Average wingspans have been claimed of 205 cm (6 ft 9 in) and 207.5 cm (6 ft 10 in) for the species, however ten measured martial eagles in the wild were found to average 211.9 cm (6 ft 11 in) in wingspan. Thus, the martial eagle appears to average fourth in wingspan among living eagles, behind only the Steller's sea-eagle (Haliaeetus pelagicus), the white-tailed eagle (Haliaeetus albicilla) and the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax), in roughly that order. For a species that is fairly homogeneous in its genetic make-up, the body mass of martial eagles is surprisingly variable. To some extent, the variation of body masses in the species is contributable to considerable reverse sexual dimorphism as well as varying environmental conditions of various eagle populations. Unsexed martial eagles from various studies have been found to have weighed an average of 3.93 kg (8.7 lb) in 17 birds, 3.97 kg (8.8 lb) in 20 birds and 4.23 kg (9.3 lb) in 20 birds while the average weight of martial eagles shot by game wardens in the early 20th century in South Africa was listed as 4.71 kg (10.4 lb). In weight range, the martial eagle broadly overlaps in size with the golden eagle (Aquila chrysaetos) and Verreaux's eagle (and is even exceeded by them in maximum known body mass). Based on numerous studies, the martial eagle appear to average mildly heavier than the Verreaux's eagle but (derived from the globally combined body mass of its various races), the mean body masses of golden and martial eagles are identical at approximately 4.17 kg (9.2 lb). The renders the golden and martial eagles as tied as the largest African eagles (by body mass but not in total length or wingspan, in which the martial bests the golden), as well as the heaviest two species of booted eagle in the world and as tied as the sixth heaviest eagles in the world, after the three largest species of sea eagle (Steller's being the heaviest extant, the others ranking 4th and 5th), the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja) and the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi). The longest African eagle (and second longest booted eagle after the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax)) is the crowned eagle by virtue of its relatively longer tail, as its body weight is slightly less than these three heaviest booted eagle species.
The martial eagle is to some degree adaptable to varied habitats but shows an overall preference for open woods and woodland edges, wooded savannah and thornbush habitats. The martial eagle has been recorded at elevations of up to 3,000 m (9,800 ft) but is not a true mountain dwelling species and resident eagles do not usually exceed an elevation of 1,500 m (4,900 ft). These eagles also avoid closed-canopy forests and hyper-arid desert. As such it is mostly absent from Guinean and Congolian forests, despite the species’ requirement for large trees for nesting purposes. It is shown that martial eagles can inhabit forests locally in areas where openings occur. For example, in a bird atlas for the country of Kenya, perhaps surprisingly, 88% of martial eagles were found to reside in well-wooded areas and they occurred in areas where annual rainfall exceeded 250 mm (9.8 in). In southern Africa, they have adapted to seemingly more open habitats than elsewhere in their range, such as semi-desert and open savanna with scattered trees, wooded hillocks and, as a recent adaptation, around pylons. In the desert areas of Namibia, they utilize ephemeral rivers that flow occasionally and allow large trees to grow. They usually seem to prefer desolate or protected areas. In the Karoo of South Africa, they consistently avoid areas with moderate to heavy cultivation or with heavier or more consistent winter rainfall. One study on the occurrence of diurnal raptors in protected areas versus outside unprotected areas, found that martial eagle detection was nearly twice as frequent in protected areas during the dry season and more than three times as frequent during the wet season. Some assorted diurnal raptors were even relatively rarer outside of protected areas such as hooded vultures (Necrosyrtes monachus).
Wikipedia
Four 8 x 8 wheels with spurs can be used to create an 18-tooth gear connection, potentially useful in gear reductions.
The wheels are 8 studs wide, and the spurs are 1/2 stud, so the axles are spaced at 7.5 studs.
Pvt. 1st Class Jon Wallace, 3rd Platoon, 570th Sapper Company, 14th Engineer Battalion, 555th Engineer Brigade uses a fire extinguisher to put out a tire fire, Feb. 15. The fire department offers classes to Army units to ensure that they are well trained in putting out mine resistant ambush protective vehicle fires during convoy operations.
Spot removal of the sign behind the shoulder, HSL manipulation, hue shift, curves layer edited, brightness adjustment, and cropped down
Practicing the pomodoro technique with a friendly onscreen message to prevent me from checking twitter and email
The number of nails varies in horseshoes; most shoes use six nails. When you build a shoe you can use as many or little nails as you want.
Photo Credit: Shaun Robinson / Calgary Stampede
Been playing around with some whip antennae. See what else they can do at dagsbricks.blogspot.com/2013/05/lego-tips-and-techniques-...
Natural textures can often be the most challenging parts to colour convincingly. Look closely at foliage or brickwork and you will see subtle - and sometimes surprising - colour variations. There is a simple way to achieve this with Photoshop but it does require an appreciation of thePaste Into and Colour Blend Mode functions. Here are two examples with the finished images shown at the bottom.
The focus in the left hand image is on the foliage, which would have been difficult to hand-colour colour convincingly. The first step was to select the area to be coloured. Then in a second, coloured image (in this case, a 'stock' background image), select an area containing the desired colours. Copy this and Paste Into the selected area in the target image using the Colour blending mode. Move or distort the pasted colours to fill the selection. We don't need to be concerned about resolution, scale or perspective of the source image - we are simply copying the colour data.
The focus in the right-hand image is on the block paving. The technique is as above, in this case using image of the Palace Het Loo at Apeldoorn. A second application, using a different source image was used on the building brickwork (updated 02-Nov-15).
All rights reserved. Follow the link below for terms and conditions, additional information about my work; and to request work from me:
www.flickr.com/photos/northernblue109/6046035749/in/set-7...
More adventures in crocheted crochet. I made the openwork base first, then crocheted motifs in the open spaces. I'm calling the technique interstitch-al crochet. The larger sample is the prototype; the smaller one is worked in finer yarn at a smaller gauge.
This classic lyric comes from an Eric B. & Rakim song called, “Don’t Sweat The Technique”. The beat itself is ridiculous!
Stamping with Bibiana: The Bokeh Technique with Distress Inks and fairytale, blooming happy birthday dies from memory box, step by step at the blog;
stampingwithbibiana.blogspot.com/2015/03/the-bokeh-techni...
Photo: Mario Saavedra
Model: Carolina M.
Camera: Zenit 122
Technique: Analog
Place: Beach of Algarrobo
Santiago, Chile
Neon Techniques & Handling, Samuel C. Miller, 1988 edition.
I went through a period in my sign painting career where I became enamored with neon. I knew an old glass bender named Jimmy (J.R.) Rogers who started teaching me to create neon. During that time period I bought this book to learn from. While I have done a little glass bending under the tutelage of Mr. Rogers, I must confess I never learned enough to make a living at it.
technique mixte : acrylique, vinylique
sérigraphie, marker, pochoir et bombe
toile de coton sur châssis 20 x 20 x 4 cm
COLLECTION PRIVÉE
mixed media : acrylic/vinyl painting
screenprinting, marker, stencil & spray
cotton canvas on stretcher 7.87 x 7.87 x 1.57 inches
PRIVATE COLLECTION
Northern Harrier | Hunting Technique
Smaller than the more common Red-tailed Hawk generally hunting from the periphery of woodlands, Northern Harriers, aka marsh hawk or ring-tailed hawk, prefer to fly low over open habitats, listening to prey activity below by twisting and turning abruptly over tangles of grasses and shrubs. Here, a male Harrier is seen flying over an open field into 50 km/h sustained wind gusting to nearly 100 km/h and from time to time touching down in search of small rodents, principally mice and voles. In addition to single action shots, some progressive composite images illustrating the Harrier’s sight and/or sound-based hunting strategy are provided throughout this photo album. According to “All About Birds”, Northern Harriers breed throughout Canada but generally do not winter north of the CAN-USA border. Granted, Kingston is on the northern fringe of the Harrier wintering range, however, the current mild winter and lack of snow in Southeastern Ontario may have influenced this bird’s innate desired to migrate south
ETA: When I saw the challenge over at Curtain Call I just had to link up:
curtaincallchallenge.blogspot.ca/2016/01/curtain-call-ins...
Blogged here:
Technical Meeting on Advanced Techniques for Equipment Testing Under Field Conditions (BRD TM). Division of Nuclear Security, IAEA Seibersdorf. 13 June 2019
Figure 12. Two technical participants attempt to locate hidden sources during a field exercise.
Photo Credit: Dean Calma / IAEA
Just for sharing...here is a "technique tag" I'll be teaching to beginning stampers. This uses kissing and masking! I used two of my favorites...Raindrop background and Old French Writing. TFL!
Relief, or relievo rilievo, is a sculptural technique. The term relief is from the Latin verb relevo, to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that the sculpted material has been raised above the background plane. What is actually performed when a relief is cut in from a flat surface of stone (relief sculpture) or wood (relief carving) is a lowering of the field, leaving the unsculpted parts seemingly raised. The technique involves considerable chiselling away of the background, which is a time-consuming exercise. On the other hand, a relief saves forming the rear of a subject, and is less fragile and more securely fixed than a sculpture in the round, especially one of a standing figure where the ankles are a potential weak point, especially in stone. In other materials such as metal, clay, plaster stucco, ceramics or papier-mache the form can be just added to or raised up from the background, and monumental bronze reliefs are made by casting. There are different degrees of relief depending on the degree of projection of the sculpted form from the field, for which the Italian appellations are still sometimes used. The full range includes high relief (alto-rilievo), where more than 50% of the depth is shown and there may be undercut areas, mid-relief (mezzo-rilievo), low-relief (basso-rilievo, or French: bas-relief /ˌbɑːrɪˈliːf/), and shallow-relief or rilievo schiacciato, where the plane is scarcely more than scratched in order to remove background material. There is also sunk relief, which was mainly restricted to Ancient Egypt. However the distinction between high relief and low relief is the clearest and most important, and these two are generally the only terms used to discuss most work. The definition of these terms is somewhat variable, and many works combine areas in more than one of them, sometimes sliding between them in a single figure; accordingly some writers prefer to avoid all distinctions. The opposite of relief sculpture is counter-relief, intaglio, or cavo-rilievo, where the form is cut into the field or background rather than rising from it; this is very rare in monumental sculpture.
Reliefs are common throughout the world on the walls of buildings and a variety of smaller settings, and a sequence of several panels or sections of relief may represent an extended narrative. Relief is more suitable for depicting complicated subjects with many figures and very active poses, such as battles, than free-standing "sculpture in the round". Most ancient architectural reliefs were originally painted, which helped to define forms in low relief. The subject of reliefs is for convenient reference assumed in this article to be usually figures, but sculpture in relief often depicts decorative geometrical or foliage patterns, as in the arabesques of Islamic art, and may be of any subject.
Rock reliefs are those carved into solid rock in the open air (if inside caves, whether natural or man-made, they are more likely to be called "rock-cut"). This type is found in many cultures, in particular those of the Ancient Near East and Buddhist countries. A stela is a single standing stone; many of these carry reliefs.
TYPES
The distinction between high and low relief is somewhat subjective, and the two are very often combined in a single work. In particular, most later "high reliefs" contain sections in low relief, usually in the background. From the Parthenon Frieze onwards, many single figures have heads in high relief, but their lower legs are in low relief; the slightly projecting figures created in this way work well in reliefs that are seen from below (see Moissac portal in gallery). As unfinished examples from various periods show, raised reliefs, whether high or low, were normally "blocked out" by marking the outline of the figure and reducing the background areas to the new background level, work no doubt performed by apprentices (see gallery). Hyphens may or may not be used in all these terms, though they are rarely seen in "sunk relief" and are usual in "bas-relief" and "counter-relief". Works in the technique are described as "in relief", and, especially in monumental sculpture, the work itself is "a relief".
BAS RELIEF OR LOW RELIEF
A bas-relief ("low relief", from the Italian basso rilievo) or low relief is a projecting image with a shallow overall depth, for example used on coins, on which all images are in low relief. In the lowest reliefs the relative depth of the elements shown is completely distorted, and if seen from the side the image makes no sense, but from the front the small variations in depth register as a three-dimensional image. Other versions distort depth much less. It is a technique which requires less work, and is therefore cheaper to produce, as less of the background needs to be removed in a carving, or less modelling is required. In the art of Ancient Egypt and other ancient Near Eastern and Asian cultures, and also Meso-America, a very low relief was commonly used for the whole composition. These images would all be painted after carving, which helped to define the forms; today the paint has worn off in the great majority of surviving examples, but minute, invisible remains of paint can usually be discovered through chemical means.
The Ishtar Gate of Babylon, now in Berlin, has low reliefs of large animals formed from moulded bricks, glazed in colour. Plaster was sometimes used in Egypt and Rome, and probably elsewhere, but needs very good conditions to survive – Roman decorative plasterwork is mainly known from Pompeii and other sites buried by ash from Mount Vesuvius. Low relief was relatively rare in Western medieval art, but may be found, for example in wooden figures or scenes on the insides of the folding wings of multi-panel altarpieces.
Low relief is probably the most common type of relief found in Hindu-Buddhist arts of India and Southeast Asia. The low reliefs of 2nd-century BCE to 6th-century CE Ajanta Caves and 5th to 10th-century Ellora Caves in India are noted for they were carved out from rock-cut hill. They are probably the most exquisite examples of Buddhist, Hindu, and Jain arts in India. Most of these low reliefs are used in narrating sacred scriptures, such as those founds in 9th century Borobudur temple in Central Java, Indonesia, that narrating The birth of Buddha (Lalitavistara). Borobudur itself possess 1,460 panels of narrating low reliefs. Another example is low reliefs narrating Ramayana Hindu epic in Prambanan temple, also in Java. In Cambodia, the temples of Angkor are also remarkable for their collection of low reliefs. The Samudra manthan or "Churning of Ocean of Milk" of 12th-century Angkor Wat is an example of Khmer art. Another examples are low reliefs of Apsaras adorned the walls and pillars of Angkorian temples. The low reliefs of Bayon temple in Angkor Thom also remarkable on capturing the daily life of Khmer Empire.
The revival of low relief, which was seen as a classical style, begins early in the Renaissance; the Tempio Malatestiano in Rimini, a pioneering classicist building, designed by Leon Battista Alberti around 1450, uses low reliefs by Agostino di Duccio inside and on the external walls. Since the Renaissance plaster has been very widely used for indoor ornamental work such as cornices and ceilings, but in the 16th century it was used for large figures (many also using high relief) at the Chateau of Fontainebleau, which were imitated more crudely elsewhere, for example in the Elizabethan Hardwick Hall.
In later Western art, until a 20th-century revival, low relief was used mostly for smaller works or combined with higher relief to convey a sense of distance, or to give depth to the composition, especially for scenes with many figures and a landscape or architectural background, in the same way that lighter colours are used for the same purpose in painting. Thus figures in the foreground are sculpted in high-relief, those in the background in low-relief. Low relief may use any medium or technique of sculpture, stone carving and metal casting being most common. Large architectural compositions all in low relief saw a revival in the 20th century, being popular on buildings in Art Deco and related styles, which borrowed from the ancient low reliefs now available in museums. Some sculptors, including Eric Gill, have adopted the "squashed" depth of low relief in works that are actually free-standing.
Mid-relief, "half-relief" or mezzo-rilievo is somewhat imprecisely defined, and the term is not often used in English, the works usually being described as low relief instead. The typical traditional definition is that only up to half of the subject projects, and no elements are undercut or fully disengaged from the background field. The depth of the elements shown is normally somewhat distorted. Shallow-relief or rilievo stiacciato, used for the background areas of compositions with the main elements in low-relief, was perfected by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Donatello. It is a very shallow relief, which merges into engraving in places, and can be hard to read in photographs.
HIGH RELIEF
High relief (or altorilievo, from Italian) is where in general more than half the mass of the sculpted figure projects from the background, indeed the most prominent elements of the composition, especially heads and limbs, are often completely undercut, detaching them from the field. The parts of the subject that are seen are normally depicted at their full depth, unlike low relief where the elements seen are "squashed" flatter. High-relief thus uses essentially the same style and techniques as free-standing sculpture, and in the case of a single figure gives largely the same view as a person standing directly in front of a free-standing statue would have. All cultures and periods in which large sculptures were created used this technique in monumental sculpture and architecture.
Most of the many grand figure reliefs in Ancient Greek sculpture used a very "high" version of high-relief, with elements often fully free of the background, and parts of figures crossing over each other to indicate depth. The metopes of the Parthenon have largely lost their fully rounded elements, except for heads, showing the advantages of relief in terms of durability. High relief has remained the dominant form for reliefs with figures in Western sculpture, also being common in Indian temple sculpture. Smaller Greek sculptures such as private tombs, and smaller decorative areas such as friezes on large buildings, more often used low relief.
Hellenistic and Roman sarcophagus reliefs were cut with a drill rather than chisels, enabling and encouraging compositions extremely crowded with figures, like the Ludovisi Battle sarcophagus (250–260 CE). These are also seen in the enormous strips of reliefs that wound round Roman triumphal columns. The sarcophagi in particular exerted a huge influence on later Western sculpture. The European Middle Ages tended to use high relief for all purposes in stone, though like Ancient Roman sculpture their reliefs were typically not as high as in Ancient Greece. Very high relief reemerged in the Renaissance, and was especially used in wall-mounted funerary art and later on Neo-classical pediments and public monuments.
In Hindu-Buddhist art of India and Southeast Asia high relief can also be found, although it is not as common as low reliefs. Most of Hindu-Buddhist sculptures however also can be considered as a high relief, since these sculptures usually connected to a stella as the background to support the statue as well as provides additional elements such as aura or halo in the back of sculpture's head, or floral decoration. The examples of Indian high reliefs can be found in Khajuraho temple, that displaying voluptuous twisting figures that often describes the erotic Kamasutra positions. In 9th-century Prambanan temple, Central Java, the examples are the high reliefs of Lokapala devatas, the guardian of directions deities.
SUNK RELIEF
Sunk or sunken relief is largely restricted to the art of Ancient Egypt where it is very common, becoming after the Amarna period of Ahkenaten the dominant type used, as opposed to low relief. It had been used earlier, but mainly for large reliefs on external walls, and for hieroglyphs and cartouches. The image is made by cutting the relief sculpture itself into a flat surface. In a simpler form the images are usually mostly linear in nature, like hieroglyphs, but in most cases the figure itself is in low relief, but set within a sunken area shaped round the image, so that the relief never rises beyond the original flat surface. In some cases the figures and other elements are in a very low relief that does not rise to the original surface, but others are modeled more fully, with some areas rising to the original surface. This method minimizes the work removing the background, while allowing normal relief modelling.
The technique is most successful with strong sunlight to emphasise the outlines and forms by shadow, as no attempt was made to soften the edge of the sunk area, leaving a face at a right-angle to the surface all around it. Some reliefs, especially funerary monuments with heads or busts from ancient Rome and later Western art, leave a "frame" at the original level around the edge of the relief, or place a head in a hemispherical recess in the block (see Roman example in gallery). Though essentially very similar to Egyptian sunk relief, but with a background space at the lower level around the figure, the term would not normally be used of such works.
COUNTER RELIEF
Sunk relief technique is not to be confused with "counter-relief" or intaglio as seen on engraved gem seals - where an image is fully modeled in a "negative" manner. The image goes into the surface, so that when impressed on wax it gives an impression in normal relief. However many engraved gems were carved in cameo or normal relief.
A few very late Hellenistic monumental carvings in Egypt use full "negative" modelling as though on a gem seal, perhaps as sculptors trained in the Greek tradition attempted to use traditional Egyptian conventions.
SMALL OBJECTS
Small-scale reliefs have been carved in various materials, notably ivory, wood, and wax. Reliefs are often found in decorative arts such as ceramics and metalwork; these are less often described as "reliefs" than as "in relief". Small bronze reliefs are often in the form of "plaques" or plaquettes, which may be set in furniture or framed, or just kept as they are, a popular form for European collectors, especially in the Renaissance.
Various modelling techniques are used, such repoussé ("pushed-back") in metalwork, where a thin metal plate is shaped from behind using various metal or wood punches, producing a relief image. Casting has also been widely used in bronze and other metals. Casting and repoussé are often used in concert in to speed up production and add greater detail to the final relief. In stone, as well as engraved gems, larger hardstone carvings in semi-precious stones have been highly prestigious since ancient times in many Eurasian cultures. Reliefs in wax were produced at least from the Renaissance.
Carved ivory reliefs have been used since ancient times, and because the material, though expensive, cannot usually be reused, they have a relatively high survival rate, and for example consular diptychs represent a large proportion of the survivals of portable secular art from Late Antiquity. In the Gothic period the carving of ivory reliefs became a considerable luxury industry in Paris and other centres. As well as small diptychs and triptychs with densely packed religious scenes, usually from the New Testament, secular objects, usually in a lower relief, were also produced.
These were often round mirror-cases, combs, handles, and other small items, but included a few larger caskets like the Casket with Scenes of Romances (Walters 71264) in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States. Originally there were very often painted in bright colours. Reliefs can be impressed by stamps onto clay, or the clay pressed into a mould bearing the design, as was usual with the mass-produced terra sigillata of Ancient Roman pottery. Decorative reliefs in plaster or stucco may be much larger; this form of architectural decoration is found in many styles of interiors in the post-Renaissance West, and in Islamic architecture.
WIKIPEDIA
Found in a bin of parts left over from some old/abandoned WIPs.
Pretty standard fair but I thought someone might enjoy seeing it.
Just love techniques and so glad that Shari is once again working with distress inks.
I used red brick, weathered wood and dusty concord distress inks for this card. The thing I love about these inks is that the colour only gets better as it dries.
I edited this picture by messing around with the contrast section in order to emphasize the shadow on the right side of her face. This also really brought out her freckles which was my main goal. I also used the healing brush tool to help with the bags under her eyes as well as on her lips!
This juvenile Ring-billed Gull demonstrates the proper technique for protecting a freshly captured Shrimp Eel: head out to sea and eat on the fly. Jamaica Beach, Galveston Island, Texas.
Rescued by the DDC at the Eagle's Club Swap Meet just off Lombard in North Portland. One fine morning; September 28th, 2008, to be exact.
Asking price: 25 whole cents.
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