Mel and Dorothy Tanner worked with the same material, acrylic glass, in very different ways. Dorothy liked to have a lot of material around and then begin her construction. Mel Tanner always sketched first, often filling the sketches in with colored pencils so that they were very precise. The drawing(s) very closely resembled the completed sculpture.
Here are some examples of Mel Tanner’s sketches compared to the photos of the completed works:
Sketch of Visitor by Mel Tanner
Visitor by Mel Tanner
Sketch of One Two Three by Mel Tanner
One Two Three by Mel Tanner
Sketch of Post-Egyptian by Mel Tanner
Post-Eqyptian by Mel Tanner
Sketch of Island by Mel Tanner
Island by Mel Tanner