A few words about reining horse gifts and bronze reining horse sculptures.

Reining horse bronze horse sculpture - Lady Reiner

I love sculpting a reining horse in action. They are so amazing and athlethic to ride.
I have been showing reining horses for over 20 years, and yet I still learn more about the balance and movement of a reining horse when I sculpt them.
The best reining horses and riders operate together to the point that the curve of the spine and roll of the pelvis of both horse and rider match in a good sliding stop.
The movement of the reining horse and rider are synchronized to the point that if I see the form in which the rider sits the sliding stop, I can have a pretty darn accurate idea of how hard that rider's horse will be stopping.This also works the other way around. If I can observe the form and body of the

Reining horse bronze horse sculpture and door knocker horse, I know what the matching form of the rider must be in order for the horse to slide stop with that intensity
I really enjoyed spending time with this beautiful champion reining horse as I sculpted his likeness for this bronze reining horse door knocker. The slide plate horse shoe that is a part of this door knocker is a direct bronze copy of one of this wonderful horse's horse shoes.

This bronze reining horse door knocker makes a wonderful gift for the reining horse rider in your life.

See more of my bronze horse sculptures at:
www.corpany.com

Creating a custom bronze horse sculpture. The process of turning a clay sculpture into a bronze casting.

Bronze Horse Sculptures 

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Creating a Custom Bronze Horse Sculpture: 

I recently gave a presentation at the Silver State Select Horse Expo in Reno, Nevada 
teaching about how a bronze sculpture is made.  

The process of creating a finished bronze horse sculpture from a clay model is a 

complex one involving many steps, time and many hands working on the sculpture 

through the different parts of the process. 

This bronze horse sculpture of a running thoroughbred stallion was first modeled 

in clay. In the photo we can see a supporting pipe going up into the horse's belly. 

It is part of the armature that supports the clay.

Next, the clay version of the bronze horse is 

coated with liquid rubber & the rubber is 

allowed to set up.Subsequent layers of rubber 

are added after each coat dries.  

After the third coat of rubber, aluminum shims 

are added to allow the mold to be opened and 

the clay horse sculpture removed from the 

finished rubber mold.

Mesh fabric is embedded in the rubber after the fourth 

coat of rubber to give the mold strength, then more 

coats of rubber are added to finish the rubber part of 

the mold over the horse sculpture. 

Paper shims are added to divide the pieces of the 

fiberglass Mother Mold. The fiberglass "mother mold" 

is then built around the rubber mold

The finished mold is then cut apart, removed from the 

clay model and reassembled. 

Wax is then poured into the mold and the hollow wax 

sculpture is cut into pieces to allow it to make a good 

casting. 

A bronze sculpture must be hollow in order for the 

bronze to cast well.  The walls of the wax piece must 

be relatively thin, 1/4 inch or less.  In bronze casting, 

a thin bronze is a good bronze because there will be 

less shrinkage or distortion in the sculpture.  A good 

bronze sculpture casting that is thin reproduces the

fine details of the artists original work without distortion. 

The wax pieces are then attached to a wax cup with 

wax "straws" or sprews.
The horse sculpture head shown is a hollow wax copy 

of the original clay model which has been attached to a 

wax cup with "sprews" or "gates" which are solid wax straws. 

The wax is then coated in slurry and covered 

with sand.The first layers of sand are a fine grit that picks 

up all of the detail of the sculpture, even down to the

artists fingerprints that were left on the piece. Then the 

later layers are a coarse sand to add strength to the shell.

Successive layers of slurry and sand begin to build a 

ceramic or "rock" shell around the wax.

Next comes the step that the lost wax bronze casting 

process is named for.

The "rock" or ceramic shell that coats the wax sculpture 

is then placed in a burnout furnace where the wax is flash

melted out and the shell is heated to about 1800 degrees.

At the same time, bronze ingots are heated in the crucible 

furnace until they are liquid and also about 1800 degrees. 

The shell is then pulled out of the burnout furnace and 

placed in a sand filled cart which is wheeled under the 

crucible where bronze has been heated until it is molten. 

The next step in the lost wax bronze casting process.

Molten liquid bronze is then poured into the red hot

ceramic shell. 

The ceramic shell filled with molten bronze is then 

set aside to cool.  
When it has cooled and the metal is once again 

solid, the shell is broken off to reveal the bronze

sculpture.

The raw bronze pieces are then sandblasted to 

clean them, and any parts that were cut off to 

cause the piece to cast better are welded back on. 

The welds on the bronze sculpture are ground 

down and then re-textured in a process called 

"metal chasing". A final sandblast and check are 

then done on the bronze sculpture to prepare it for 

the patina or color.
The raw bronze horse sculpture is sandblasted and 

ready for patina. A bronze sculpture, if left in this raw

state will naturally go darker and darker, eventually 

becoming nearly black, or if exposed to moisture, 

green, due to the copper content of the bronze metal. 

The finished bronze horse sculpture after patina 

(color) is then applied by the use of chemicals and 

heat processes to change the color of the metal, 

The finish is then sealed with a coat of hot wax, and 

the piece is mounted on a beautiful walnut wood base.

See more bronze horse sculptures by Kim Corpany

at www.corpany.com

How a bronze horse sculpture is made. Shipping and installing

Follow the Arabian bronze horse monument to Abu Dhabi where it is installed in front of the Al Forsan resort. A larger than life size bronze equestrian monument like this is not simple to ship. In order to air freight this horse statue to it's destination, we finished and sandblasted the entire piece at the foundry, then cut it into large sections, crated and air freighted it.

When our crates arrived, we reassembled the parts, added the reins, sandblasted the entire bronze horse, applied patina and installed it on it's pedestal outside the front gates of the resort.

See more bronze horse sculptures by Kim Corpany at www.corpany,com

Building a one and one half life size bronze horse and rider Part One

The finished Al Forsan monument in place in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Making a bronze monument: This larger than life size bronze horse statue was sculpted in clay.  A mold was then made from the clay model and wax was poured into that mold.  The wax was then "invested" or dipped in a liquid ceramic slurry and coated with sand to create a thick, hard ceramic shell surrounding the wax.  That ceramic shell was then heated to remove the wax and molten bronze was poured into the hot shell.  The pieces of the cast bronze were then welded together and textured to erase any seam lines from the welding.

The finished clay sculpture of the Arabian Knight. It is shown here ready for the mold making process to begin.
The entire bronze monument was them sandblasted for an even finish on the metal.

Shims are added to divide the sculpture into sections and mold is painted on.

Because of the size of this bronze monument and the region of the world to which it was delivered, we then cut the monument into large sections to be crated in order to fit the size requirements for crates that can be shipped by air frieght to Abu Dhabi.

Sliding the sections of the bronze horse together.

Kim using a grinder to smooth and re-texture the welds while Dan works on welding the tail onto the horse.

Dan and Trevor attaching the upper body of the bronze Sheikh.

Welding the bronze Arabian horse's head in place.

Coming soon...   finishing the 1 and 1/2 life-size bronze horse and rider for Al Forsan.

See more of my bronze horse sculptures at www.corpany.com

The sculpture process - from drawing to bronze sculpture. The jumping horse.

The finished jumping horse bronze sculpture with multi-tonal patina which highlights this intricately detailed bronze sculpture of a leaping horse as she leaves the ground to clear a tall jump. 

The double reins and martingale of this bronze horse were added after the sculpture is cast in bronze.

See more bronze horse sculptures at www.corpany.com 

The finished clay sculpture is photographed and the photos are sent to the client for approval. Upon approval of the clay model, the bronze horse sculpture is ready to go to the foundry for the mold and lost wax bronze casting.

Hand drawn sketch for the jumping horse bronze sculpture, "Liftoff!"

This original sketch was done as a composite of a number of good photos supplied by the client. None of the photos captured the horse and rider in exactly the position I wanted, but I was able to get enough information from the measurements and photos to create this sketch. Once it was approved by the client, I went to work on the clay model. 

The clay model is formed by first building a metal armature, and then adding wire to the armature to support the legs, head and neck, and the tail of the horse. Then clay is added to the armature, shaped by hand and using various sculpting tools to create the form and detail of the bronze.

The difference an amazing patina makes on a bronze sculpture

I find the different patinas that are possible in bronze sculpture to be amazing. The appropriate application of heat and chemicals to the surface of a bronze sculpture cause chemical reactions in the metal which can bring out a myriad of gorgeous colors. The patina helps to bring a bronze horse sculpture to life. It also serves to seal and protect the surface of the metal.

Above is a Silver Nitrate patina on an Arabian horse bust. Patinas on this page are created by patina artist Laurie Tidwell.

It may well surprise you to learn that the patina on this pinto Arabian bust is not paint, but layers of different chemical reactions which change the color of the actual metal itself.

Patination is the process of applying layers of color to the surface of a bronze sculpture. The patina artist creates this color by applying chemicals on the sculpture with heat. Patina is also the natural reaction of bronze to atmospheric conditions, such as chemicals and humidity and even man made environmental conditions such as water from sprinklers. The artist or the foundry will protect the patina with coats of wax or a lacquer to deter change in the patina. Because atmospheric elements constantly work on bronze surfaces after leaving the foundry, certain steps can be taken by the art collector to help preserve the original patina of the bronze sculpture. 

Bronze is a very durable metal. Your bronze sculpture can last for centuries! The patina is the most delicate part of your bronze. Regular application of a wax coating to a bronze sculpture will help to keep the elements sealed out and prevent color changes in the patina.

Many bronze collectors prefer to let the wax coating wear thin and enjoy the natural reaction and aging process of the patina especially on outdoor bronze sculptures. 

Wise collectors consult with a patina artist, foundry, or art conservator regarding any major changes in your bronze sculpture's patina.

This exquisite sculpture of a Quarter Horse's head will be part of the Quarter Horse fountain. The segments of the fountain are shown here as they were sculpted in clay.

Call Kim Corpany direct to take advantage of the pre-casting special price on this quarter horse head fountain.
It will be cast as a limited edition of 500 in white bonded marble.It will also be cast as a limited edition of 50 in bronze.
1(801)845-5168

The upper part of the surround frame featured hand sculpted leather like carving as well as the heads of four of the Foundation Quarter Horse Stallions: Peppy, Leo, King, and Doc Bar.

This is what the finished fountain will look like.

Liftoff! Bronze jumping horse sculpture by Kim Corpany

I am thrilled to share the bronze sculpture "Liftoff!" in it's finished form.

 I was even more excited to receive the response from the client for whom this bronze was created as a surprise anniversary present for his wife. His very skilled wife and one of her awesomely talented show jumping horses were the subject of the bronze sculpture.
His note to me:

Kim,

The sculpture arrived today and is absolutely beautiful. What a work of art! It brought my wife tears of joy, and was admired all evening by our 2-year old daughter.

Thank you for all of your hard work; it will be cherished for years to come.

Patrick

So pleased that they now have this bronze sculpture!

To see more of my bronze horse sculptures, visit www.corpany.com