Lips, and Scale pattern.

Put on the lips today and continued a keeled scale pattern I have started on the neck.  Cleaned the eyes so they are ready for eye lids. I also think I want to try a different scale pattern on the eye brows too........maybe a smaller, thinner scale.  Won’t be long till it’s time for paint.

Draggin my Feet....

  I started this piece last summer, and man is it taking a long time to finish.  My only concept when I started was I wanted it to be green, and I wanted it to be BIG.  Since I have never seen a real dragon, I am kinda feeling my way along trying to get something I like.  The hardest part for me by far is getting the eyes set evenly, as no one wants a Marty Feldman dragon.
  He's just about ready for scales, which I hope to do this week.
  How do you make one of these....you get a copy of Dan Readers book on how to make them, and dive in.....least that's what I did.

  This clip shows a brief step by step demonstration of my largest piece to date.  He was so big I had to finish him in the garage.  If I had a bigger house, I would make some bigger one yet!

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch.......

   Anybody out there using a smart TV and streaming all your favorite shows?  Do you get that error message....."Timed Out, please retry"?  Guess that's what happened to me.  Now that I've rebooted....let's get on with the show!



 My new doggie sculpture here is called "Dirty Dog"  He's a paper mache, cloth mache creation made using the "Dan Reader Method". If you've got masking tape, a couple wire coat hangers and a small stack of newspapers, you could make a Dirty Dog too.  Or a Clean Dog.  Or any kind of doggie or creature you want.
  Next creature I start, I will include some in process shots, so you can see what they look like inside.  But for now, I'm back.......and living in California and making lots of cool stuff.  Stay Tuned.

 

Visla upate

Here is our Visla with some detail added to it's head.  This is as far as I go with the paper mache process detail wise.  Note the small adjustments on the feet and legs. 
  On pieces like this, I work the hardest on the face and head.  I try to capture the gesture with the body, but don't fret about super realism.  I want this to look like it was made with my hands, and not out of some ceramic mold.  Its and original and should look that way.....like an Osterberg!
  I have already paper mached over these changes, and the next step is the glue/cloth mache layer which is where the real facial  expressiveness is achieved.

Today's progress

So here are the previous doggie parts assembled (on the right), with the Visla on the left.  Next is a head for the Short hair, and some eyes and ears for the Visla.

Sarge got a nice coat of black gesso yesterday too.  I prefer black because I usually give my piece a final wash of black after the paint job is done, and if any of the gesso is still showing through it blends into the wash.

OK.....So here we go right from scratch. Another doggie to go with the Visla.  This one is a German Short hair.  One body and four legs taped up from newspapers and coat hangers.  I put the paper mache on these pieces this morning so they will dry over night and I can fit them together tomorrow.  I've been making the heads after the body is assembled so I get them built to the proper scale.

Here is Sarge.  He's about 30 inches tall and ready for primer tomorrow.  Cool boots he has on, aye? 

And last but not least is Jethro the giraffe.  He's finally getting his spot pattern.....kind of a pinky/raspberry color.  I debated for about a week what color to paint his spots....I was always talking myself out of pink, even though that's what I first wanted to use.  So I went with the pink, and studio cat Boo-Boo approves.
  You know if I only had a bigger studio, I could get so much more "stuff" out!  More tomorrow.