It
takes an exceptional artist to seize the delicate structure of
his magnificent subjects; capture our hearts. Caesar Yanez gives
us our beloved pets in their true breed standard with realism as
he captures the essence of each breed.
Each sculpture is revised several times until the breeders; judges of each
breed in question approves of the pieces. The artist learned many years ago
that collectors, breeders; judges desire pieces that are a true representation
of their breed. They are the experts with a keen eye; however, the artist
realizes that he may never get 100% accord from everyone; though, striving
for +90% agreement in a piece is reassuring.
The
process begins with Caesar’s imagination, interpretation; research
even before he begins to sculpt the clay. The piece will undergo
several revisions until the desired confirmation and expression is
captured. He depends on experts with a finely honed eye to critique
his work, for many artists have the tendency to become complacent
with their artistic license. However, they do not seem to realize
that after working endless hours on their craft they become oblivious
to faults dog fanciers wish to eradicate. Hence, a subjective opinion
is needed to point out the imperfections. Moreover, even putting
the piece away and returning to it in a few days helps immensely.
Caesar will often go to bed with the intention of subconsciously
visualizing the piece in order to get his creative juices flowing.
Once
the final proof is approved, a team of skilled mould makers create
a flexible rubber mould from the original clay piece, capturing every
fine detail. Next the original clay piece is removed from the mould,
the original is destroyed and the clay is usually recycled to create
other sculptures. Then the resin and fillers are poured into the
mould. The catalyst which is added aids in heating and hardening
an exact duplicate of the original sculpture. The casting is then
examined and detailed. Solvents are used to clean the piece before
any layers of paint are added. The process may endure several layers
of paint before the detail and realism of the piece is achieved.
There are many techniques to attain the end result. The process has
been called bonded marble, cold cast marble; crushed alabaster to
name a few.
