Charon was the ferryman from Greek mythology who brought the dead across the river Styx to the underworld and he was the subject matter for my first ever sand sculpture of a human figure.
Like a virgin
I had never really made any sculptures of people before except for some baby figures as part of my college work so I was a bit apprehensive. This was also my second time to make a sculpture from sand and I was still nervous working in a public area especially on busy Scheveningen beach in the Netherlands. This location had for a few years been a popular place for sand sculpture with yearly competitions and exhibitions.
The competitions were preselected teams of around 9 amateur carvers all working on a sculpture that now a days would be the work of one. Trying to decide what to make in such a large group is one thing , trying to give everyone space to work is another.
Luckily I was given my own little satellite sculpture to do.
Design? more a montage of stuff.
The overall design was to depict Hades coming up from the underworld and abducting Persephone, other characters involved were Cerberus (the three headed dog) and Charon.
I was quite happy how he turned out as he rowed his little boat away from the scene of the crime. Old faces with big long beards are a great subject for sand. Wrinkles give nice contrast and the beard means you don't have to carve a neck meaning the face is less likely to fall off.
Loose ends
When he was made I then went to help on the main piece making Hades. As you can see my anatomy carving skill was pretty crap. What the hell was going on with his arm? I then remember doing some work on Cerberus. I really don't remember what the other eight people were doing except for Fergus Mulvany who made Persephone.
It was a fun project and it was great to be learning by doing. The team was a mix of guys and gals and for me these foreign girls were still quite exotic so there was lots of fun and flirting to be had. We were all quite bad so nobody stood out as the spanner in the works and in the end I think we got away with is even receiving a prize.
Ps
Thanks for stopping by. I'm glad to be able to document even theses old sculptures on Steemit. Please stick around and you will hopefully see my work improving with each post. If you are hungry for more check out some of my earlier posts below.
Monther Earth - sand sculpture
Glitch - Short film
Atlantis Super8 - Short film
Atlantis - sand sculpture
I hope you'll join me again soon.
@ammonite
Now I have "Don't pay the ferryman!" stuck in my head! :)
I forgot to mention the coins that you need to pay him with. Interestingly I always thought that the money people put in the eyes of dead people was to pay the fare but during my research it doesn't seem to be so.
I must see if I have a sculpture with a lady in red.;)
As far as I know it's a coin in the mouth to pay for the ferryman, the coins on the eyes is to keep the eyes closed or to cover them so you don't have to look at the dead persons eyes. I'd be impressed if you had a sand sculpture in ANY colour, never mind red! :)
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I'm thinking about the amount of patience required to make these, my worrrrd