Today was the day that we put color on the life-size newsboy sculpture that is headed to Kennewick ,Washington. As I mentioned craters and freighters, the shipping company is picking it up in the morning.

The color on a bronze is referred to as the Patina. This sculpture has a traditional patina.

The client asked to see all of the papers that we created representing the Tri City Herald. There are some under the newsboys arm, one in his right hand and a stack at his feet. All have the headline and masthead of the client’s newspaper.

Upon arriving the sculpture has been sand blasted. It looks less shiny than it did when we were here just last week. The sculpture, once sand blasted is ready to receive the patina.

To create the patina the foundry man first heats up the sculpture and then sprays and brushed on different chemicals. He will rub back areas that are supposed to be lighter. I like to alternate color, shoes dark, socks light, pants dark, shirt light etc. Though once placed outdoors the traditional patina will continue to darken. The foundry puts a protective coat of lacquer on the sculpture one the entire patina is complete.

I’m including some close ups of the detail in the shoe. Yes, it is a sculpted shoe. And my signature and copyright on the piece is in the inside of the newspaper that the young man is holding under his arm. Of course there are other things in the newspapers that carry a story, but that is for another post.

Tomorrow the sculpture is crated and shipped. I can’t wait to see the newsboy placed.

In the very last stage of the foundry process the foundry will call me in for a metal check. I go over the sculpture looking for any imperfections in the metal and marking them with a marker. Of course the Fine Arts Foundry of Texas does a wonderful job. Miguel is a great worker and I trust him with my work implicitly. But I still give a once over. The next step is to patina or color the metal. That is scheduled for Tuesday and then the sculpture is off to Kennewick Washington through my shipping company Craters and Freighters. In 6-8 working days it will be there. Here are some photographs from today’s visit. One of the best workers in the foundry industry Miguel and his boss and owner of Fine Arts Foundry of Texas, Scott Yoast.

Another life-size newsboy bronze has been sold! You may remember it started with “Dusty” in Austin, Texas, and Then “Billy” in Tabor City, North Carolina.Now another young boy will be hawking papers in the North West. The third in the edition of 10 has been sold to the historical town of Kennewick, Washington Delivery of this third newsboy is expected in August. We have been working on him diligently and thought I would show the progress.

The Foundry is working diligently to get this young man together for shipping to Washington. Legs have been chased and put together, as well as upper torso. A few more pieces to weld together then it is off to Patina. Looks like we are inline with our delivery date. So exciting. I can’t wait to see him installed.