Posted by Ken Gray
on April 25, 2009, 6:41 pm, in reply to "Models with a soul"
86.163.255.37
Hi Will,
You've asked the question that every artist/designer/architect would like answered.
Let me use drawing as an example.
There are two types of drawing, drawing as an art form, and drawing for information. The latter, for me, is a form of shorthand. I'm attempting to extract the essential information about a subject as economically as possible. This presupposes not just a working knowledge of the subject matter, but a total familiarity with every aspect of it, for only in this way is it possible to reduce a figure, or a building, or a ship, to a few lines, and still convey the total essence of it to the lay person.
It is therefore not essential to produce a highly detailed drawing of say, Dreadnought, for it to be recognisable. Any artist who knew what to look for, could produce a rough sketch in a few minutes that would include everything that made that ship "Dreadnought", and there is every possibility that the sketch would be more exciting, more full of life, than the detailed work.
This, I think, is why metal models have more 'soul' than resin. With the latter it is possible to produce very exact replicas, with wafer-thin bulkheads, and crisp mouldings. On the other hand, metal models, unless you get into the really expensive end of the market, are never going to have everything reproduced exactly to scale, and whilst they retain all the essential features of the full-size original, are best described as "interpretations". It is this 'looseness', in the artistic sense, that gives them such appeal.
At least, that's my opinion. Feel free to scuttle it.
Regards, Ken.
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