Crystaline Print

To me this design represents a very complex precise operation. I think it would look great in front of some organization who was very successful and wanted to show that all it's parts worked well together. If you like this piece you might like to see more. I have hundreds more in different styles and themes on this site. Enter "Arfsten sculpture" in the search box in the upper right to see them. Why Build a Maquette? The major value in these pieces is the maquette aspect. The maquette is a three-dimensional model or blueprint that works to show that the design is accurate and can be built larger. A metal fabricator measures off of it to make the patterns to build from, just like a tailor uses your measurements to make your clothes. When presenting ideas to a client for consideration most sculptors submit a concept drawing on a piece of paper. A maquette is the actual sculpture in miniature. When you lift it up to view at eye level it will depict the sculpture exactly as it will be seen in real life as if you were walking up to it. Pricing It seems that what I read in the art magazines for a formula for pricing art comes from people who live in LA LA Land. They recommend using the time to make it, times an hourly wage, plus the cost of materials to come up with a price. But what about the studio rent and overhead? Or the hours of time spent on the computer marketing the work? And the fact that a foundry must be paid? When creating a sculpture I am not just dealing with a piece of canvas and some paint. The price of the sculpture/maquette must also take into account the years it has taken me to develop my sense of design. The hundreds of designs that I will not sell because I am not proud of them. Or the hundreds of deigns that failed in the casting process. Many expert foundry men have told me my process is impossible to do. Obviously I have figured out something they do not know. Add to that the inability to cast new pieces. I cast these pieces myself at the foundry because they did not have the knowledge to work with my delicate foam patterns. Then the foundries closed. So now I would have to build a foundry of my own if I were to cast any more. That’s a huge expense I cannot undertake. So that leaves a finite number of pieces that are cast and are being offered for sale.These pieces are too complex to make copies of them in the traditional foundry casting manner, so they are one-of-a-kind. The cost to the sculptor also includes the commission to sell the work. The sales agent can get up to 70% of the selling price. Being a sculptor is not an easy way to make a living. As you can see, there is a very large cost involved in casting sculpture. You never know when a piece will sell so it’s all a gamble. I am 77 years old as I write this. Once I die the price of my work can skyrocket just as it does for a lot of art when the artist dies. Purchasing a piece might be a good investment for a client. The prices of the pieces listed are for use as desktop sculpture. If you want to use the maquette to have a larger version fabricated there is an additional fee based on a percentage of building costs - similar to fees that interior designers or architects charge. Please contact me for more details on enlargement.