Originally I did not have any idea how I was going to modify the blank, but after I had done my assignment for another class which was supposed to be a candle stick, I put the two together something triggered my imagination into thinking that the candle stick is a cliff that the figure was standing on and suddenly something just feels very epic and heroic. So I decided to make a small Wuxia (武侠, aka Chinese folklore heroes/swordsmen) out of the blank.
So I laser-cut a piece of plywood and made a straw hat out of brown paper bags.
And then I put them all together. The effect it better than what I imagined and the sword and the hat are so iconic that for people with the corresponding cultural background it is very immediately recognizable.
The lighting outside the studio was absolutely perfect later that day, so I had to take this picture.
Thoughts after class:
In class Ben was saying that the texture on the base is kind of robbing the attention off of the main piece which is the figure itself. Though I do agree that the base is standing out a little too much because of the texture, but for me the form of the figure itself is so recognizable that it doesn’t really take away attention because of the base — the figure I feel like gives enough for my eyes to look at so that my attention won’t very easily slip elsewhere. Also the color is very consistent throughout the whole piece which definitely helps to blend in some of the more prominent features in the base.