Tree sculpt - part two

Twenty years ago we visited the then brand-new Disney ToonTown and saw some exquisite sculpted concrete work for the first time. Peter and I spent hours studying it and puzzling over how it was accomplished. When we went home we managed to duplicate some of what we saw in our own work. In the last twenty years we have worked hard to build up our skills and add to our bag of tricks in order to create this same kind of magic ourselves but in our own style. Now there's not much we can't imagine and then create. Even so we are always looking to add more and right from the concept drawing, the tree we started this week was planned to expand on our previous skills. The bare branches used a different kind of texture than we've used before. The bark, which was done would use a very thick, horizontal, and curled lines. They would be subtley textured in places and also carry deep cuts to create wonderful shadow lines.

It was with great anticipation and excitement we worked on the tree today...

Today we polished off the sculpt of the treehouse. Next week the painters will make it look like it's been growing there for a hundred years. The house that sits on top and it's roof are already done. I can hardly wait to see the whole thing assembled in Trinidad!

Tree sculpt - part one

We were all looking forward to starting the sculpture of the treehouse tree. We would use a whole new style. This tree would use nice and curvy vertical woodgrain and horizontal grained bark. Today we did the vertical woodgrain on the bare parts of the tree.

It was great fun for the team to create something completely new. By the end of the day it was smiles all around. We can hardly wait to put the icing on the cake tomorrow as we do the bark. Stay tuned...

Giant bamboo

Today we pushed the giant tree frame for the treehouse into the shop.It was the day we would start on the sculpted concrete skin. Too large to be completed in a day or even two we began with the hard parts. Today's job was everything upside down and the bamboo. It was an ambitious goal but the crew was up to the challenge. They only had to work ten minutes of overtime to complete the tricky structure. Netting will be tied between the bamboo posts to allow kids to climb up to or down from the treehouse. A swinging bridge will attach to the other side of the treehouse which will be perched on top.

Here's the view the kids will see from the top - with a net in place of course.

Tomorrow we begin sculpting the giant tree. We'll be carving it in a style that is brand new to us. It's going to be fun!