I would imagine this is probably the most ancient of all ancients... this vignette portrays a group of Australopethicus Afarensis..."Lucy", and her immediate family...about 3.2 million years ago. Olduvai Gorge is part of Tanzania and is a main area of reseach and discovery.
Lucy is in the front, curiously looking at "something" just over the ridge. The male, her "mate" if you will, is gazing over her shoulder and keeps his weapon at the ready...the juvenile over-acts as he points it all out, and the older, greying female, through her one good eye, looks on, undaunted.
Lucy is a modified Kaiyodo limited edition figure (plastic toy type) and the others are scratchbulit from various bits and pieces...plastic, wire, epoxy (A+B), Super Sculpey...whatever I could find. They are about 75mm tall
Im trying hard to improve my photo-taking "skills" ( a stretch for me to use that word), but these are a little better I think.
Comments welcome...

PS. I do not wish to offend any Creationists or Intelligent Designers who may be members....this is purely a miniatures project for me...not a statement on science vs. religion.

Phil, great sculpting and nice interaction between the characters, who I might add are acting typical for their age and gender. Like it.

Cheers Ken

I really like what you have done here. A very creative and artistic
presentation of this subject in a unique way. Good sculpting and super
composition, re the base, its height (meaning that IMHO, height does
attract attention, especially on a contest category table) and how
the figures are displayed on top of it; and how they relate to each
other. Very well thought out.

Excellent - love the expressions on the figures...

What a great idea, I like this very much

Cheers
Tommi

Hi Phil,

I really like this imaginative vignette. You've captured a moment of time in early human history that may have been lost, but for the discovery of Lucy's bones some 3 million years after she died.

Thanks for the comments...I haven't done many uniformed subjects as a miniaturist in my many years, so I always wonder if my work is "kind of out there".
Trying to combine simian /human expressions was a sculptural and modelling challenge...it still boils down to composition, interaction, expression, etc. just like any piece, in the end. But be aware: if anyone tries anything like this, the normal body anatomy and scale goes out of the window...the arms are much longer, the mid torso is more robust compared to humans, etc.
Of course, the skull is a study in itself...the subleties and the not- so- subtleties are fascinating.
On to humans...maybe.

Very original a beautiful work !!

cheers

stefano

This was a neat idea and very well thought out. The ground work is very nice also. I really like your idea of using a plastic toy as a form for sculpting over. I have wanted to try sculpting also but didn't know where to start. I may give it a try using your technique.

Thanks for posting this.

Excellent and unique sculptwork.
I really like it.

Marc

Phil,

This is truly original, I like it a lot!
The composition is very well done, with something happening outside the vignette, the varying levels and 'types'.
Congratulations!

Cheers,
Adrian

Phil,
well done. I cant recall there ever being a figure study like this......outside of a museum or university.

To do what you did, that pushes the boundaries of planet figure.

Bravo!

Hi
Good to see something unique
I love all those Pre-history reconstruction tv programmes

you have created a fine piece that tells a story

Frank