Straight From The Horses Mouth, To The Tip Of Their Tails.

June 7, 2023

Ever Wandered How We Create Our Equine Sculpture’s?
Wander No More….

No matter what size, or style of Equine Charles decides to create or is asked to be commissioned, the background research, study & observations remain whole heart & thorough.
With equines being a lifelong passion of Charles the attention to detail is second to none.

Each equine sculpture starts as an idea & vision for Charles, prior to it making the first sketch. This is where Charles’s research starts & he will watch, view & observe the correct movement, muscle form & the outlines of the horse.
He then carefully sketches out the horse & movement of choice, just a simple art pencil sketch to check he is happy with his vision before heading to the studio floor.

Once Charles is content with the paper sketch, he then scales up the horse he has sketched & draws it on to the large metal floor foot plates within the Elliott of London studio, this enables Charles & the team to see the sketch in a “to scale” size to ensure all proportions are correct.
From this floor sketch the lines & curves of the 2D frame are created again all by hand bending 16mm mild steel round bar piece by piece to create the centre line of the horse.

Once the main body frame is created, each leg is carefully made using the same method to enable the 2D lifeless metal to stand & become somewhat the bare bones of the sculpture.
Once stood up, a base frame is created which is the main “underground” support & structure of each of the Elliott of London pieces – this is the part which is crucial for moving, transporting, installing & it’s the main safety structure for art; especially when the sculptures final destination could potentially be a long flight or cargo boat trip away! This again is created using mild steel sheets to enhance & spread the weights of the artwork.

Now that the outline of the sculpture is made & the base frame has enabled the artwork to be stood up, stable, safe & secure – the detail & form can start to be added.
Each piece of our organic bar style is made using 8mm round mild steel bar, which is individually hand bent by the team. Charles then adds in each bar to the outline of the horse to bring it to life.
Flowing curves, muscle definition & character progress visually as each bar is carefully welded to the frame. Once the main bulk of the body of the horse is infilled, the legs including their joints are then infilled enabling the finer details such as shoulder muscle creases & fore limb details to really take shape.
The last but by far the least important details are the horses’ mane & tails – these can be plaited or left flowing wildly to suit each horse character or movement. The plaits are also entirely handmade by heating long bars 6mm each plait is hand created by 2 members or the team – one heats & one bends to create these stunning show ring quality braids!
Finally, the horses’ heads are infilled with again the same mild steel round bar pieces which have been hand bent by the team, slowly adding in the cheek bone definition, the eye socket & eyes – then the nostrils, flared or calm this final piece on the sculpture is carefully thought about throughout.

All of our organic flow bar sculptures are then transported to our trusty Hot Zinc Galvanising company, where they undergo many chemical treatments to give them the end result of a stunning silvery, weather prepared sculpture.

The process from start to finish is a long-detailed process, taking normally 6-18 weeks depending on the scale of each sculpture.