Sculpture and Drawings of Richard Koontz
L ife drawing and woodcarving were distinctly separate tasks for Richard Koontz. Although thousands of his drawings from the nude model were markedly sculptural in effect, none were translated to wood.
Apart from the anatomy studies drawn from memory and reference, all of
these drawings were made in the context of a life study group. Koontz attended
the weekly sessions for nearly thirty years, beginning in the mid-1960s.
Poses ranged from two to twenty minutes, the longer interval allowing him
to make several versions of the same pose.
Koontz rarely chose to draw a likeness, but when he did it could be startlingly
true. Most often he produced a synthesis between the model before him and
a classical type of his own conception.
Moreover, Koontz not only rejected drawing as preparation for sculpture, but also eschewed the common practice of making clay studies to ease into the more risky business of carving. The fact is, Koontz sculpted directly, seeking design and form as he removed material that could not be replaced on second thought. He passed off his enormously challenging approach as “getting in and out of trouble.”
Koontz carved while seated before a low workbench of his own design. To his left was a polishing wheel, used frequently to hone his tools to razor-sharpness. Next to the wheel was a water-cooled grinding stone, used less frequently to correct a worn bevel. To his right were compartmented racks and drawers, holding hundreds of European gouges, veiners, chisels, and v-parting tools.
The block of wood he intended to sculpt (obechi, an African wood, being a favorite) was screwed to an adjustable ball vise at the center of his workbench. A few mallets completed his equipment. Koontz attacked the wood vigorously, decisively, and without hesitation. A master of anatomy, he could summarize any passage of the human form with authority. A master of design as well, he produced bold and original variations of that human form. He looked for fortunate accidents, exploited wrong turns, and knew when to stop.
Koontz was not inclined to exhibit his sculpture. (Exceptions include the Mechanicsburg Art Center, where he taught woodcarving, and the International Woodcarvers Congress, where he took 1st place awards in 1975, 1977, and 1978.) The vast majority of his drawings has never been seen by more than a handful of people. It is a pleasure, finally, to reveal a small sampling of Richard Koontz’s genius to a larger audience.