365 Day 365 -- part 4

tail it is!

Wow. NOW I'm done for the night...and the year!



I built the tail out of swimming pool floaty bopper things and tape and aluminum foil and more tape and little wedges of bopper material in the spaces where the tail makes curves.

















The very end of the tail is one of Twink's play balls that he doesn't really care for...a cat version of a tennis ball. I cut it at about a third/two thirds.






I couldn't take photos while I was making the tail and attaching it because I had to work super fast. Everything was drying out quickly tonight...and I was not using gloves. Actually I didn't use gloves at all today because the new size medium gloves have fingertips that are still just a little too long for detail work, or for when I have to move quickly.

Okay. So I assembled the parts of the tail, bent it where it was supposed to go around the body of the cat-creature and covered it with 2 1/2 layers of plaster cloth then I (one-handedly) held the tail and applied plaster cloth triangles around the edge to get it to hold on. Man. I must say, that wasn't easy...not bitching, not bragging...just sayin'.

I thought it was going to still be wobbly enough to conform to the shape of the cat-creature's body -- that would have made my job quite a bit better...but nooooooo. As you can see in the photos below, the tail is mostly not attached to the body. I crammed wads of plaster cloth triangles into the thinnest gaps between the tail and the body and then carefully added triangles over and under the tail to attach it to the body. I think it will be okay. It will be quite a challenge moving it again. LOL -- that is why the photos were taken with the cat-creature up on the drying rack.






Not exactly what I had in mind but I am very pleased with the results...especially working alone. I intended to have the tail be rounded on top but laying flat against the body of the cat-creature for the entire length of the tail.





facing left















back view














far back and side angle
















kind of close up view








I have a few ideas for the tail. I have a few for the decorating of the lower body. I am still not positive of the color of the cat-creature. This is stuff I should work on in my sketchbook I guess.

Wow -- this week really flew by blog-wise. I can't believe the year is over.

I will start fresh again tomorrow -- HAPPY NEW YEAR!

365 Day 365 -- part 3

I don't think this will EVER be done

1. I realize that I am the only person I need to please with this piece.
2. I realize this is a cat-creature, not an realistic cat sculpture.
3. I totally realize/admit/understand that I am not a sculptor...I am just beginning.
   
4. I want to remind myself that this is the most I have ever sculpted before on any piece.
5. This piece will never ever be totally smooth...it is plaster cloth.
6. Yes, Took, you will finish this piece. You will finish it in time for the Member's Show.
7. Yes, he most likely does need a tail.
   

Okay...now with all of that out of the way...


the back of the head before (and blurry)














the back of the head now












torso getting strengthened and smoothed















Yow...he looks SO different from when we started out.




I need a break...

365 Day 365 -- part 2

tail or no tail?

Geez -- why do I always forget about the question of "tail or no tail" until I think I am done with something? I could've been planning for this...sheesh! Now I just don't know.



This is about how it would be placed. I would angle it better at the attachment point, but I can fill in more curves in it when I need to.










facing right

















facing front

















facing left

















facing back

365 Day 365

this just might be it!

Back to the plaster surgery on the cat-creature's face late this morning/early afternoon. I think it just might be the final face.




preparing the area -- trying to get the feel for the additions














first few pieces of plaster cloth to hold the rags on












ta-daaaaaaa
















ta-daaaaaa










I think I like this face.

I still need to touch up the ears and the back of the cat-creature's head (they are a mess on the back). That will probably happen later today and into this evening.

I need to put a smoothing layer on the middle of the cat's body down to where the first tier of the tomato cage starts -- for structure and strength.
That part will probably wait until tomorrow.


Squeeeee -- we're getting there!

365 Day 364 -- part two

it's coming along

I did a little more plaster surgery on the cat-creature's face. It is beginning to look more like a cat.




before

I can see now why my sister thought it also looked like a bear.
















quick plaster surgery reference shot












after

It is improving...not done yet, but looking better to me.

The plaster cloth eyes can stay.

just sayin'

I finally updated the blog entry for Day 347 -- but with photos only. There are no captions for what is taking place in the pictures...this is what I get for not doing this sooner. Oh well, the photos are there!

LINK to Day 347.

365 Day 364

trying to make plaster cloth eyes

I am not sure how well this will turn out, but I am going to give it a shot. I might be able to change it if I need to...pull this construction off totally if I can't work with it. We'll see.



I started out with aluminum foil over felt balls.















Then I put the paper rags over that and taped them.











I did a couple of layers of plaster cloth on them and put them up to the cat-creature's face but they were way too round...they bulged over its cheeks. I had to cut them in half.









Back at the plaster cloth area. I removed the felt balls and just had the aluminum foil and the sill-damp plaster cloth left.












I put on two layers of plaster cloth triangles that were larger than the eye and smoothed them out.











How the underside looked...I was going to leave myself some flat plaster cloth edges to make it easier to put the eyes on the face.













...like this













But darn it...they were still too round when I put them up to the face. I had to cut them down with scissors.


Then I really needed to get working quickly before they hardened too much.






Attaching the first eyeball to the face...stopping long enough to take a photo for myself. I smoothed out the edges after I put the camera down.

And I placed the other eye in position and attached it.







Not too bad.














They are both pretty even and smooth and the lid-ish parts are decent.

























BUT, right now the cat-creature is looking a bit Gollum-y to me. I think I can fix it somewhat -- maybe not. I also think I should still be able to peel the eyes off if I decide I can't stand how they look.

I have some pre-painted taxidermy eyes I can use if I am not happy with the final look of these. I kind of want these to work out but I also want to really like the cat-creature's face and at this very moment I am kinda creeped out by it...this is the most "sculpting" I have attempted so far and I am still feeling my way with it.

LOL -- I can hear Gollum squealing.

365 Day 363 (cheaty pants re-do)

working on the cat-creature's face

Note: This is actually a cheaty pants re-do for yesterday's (Thursday) blog entry. I don't know exactly what was wrong, but there were a million things that were giving me low grade agitation and irritation and aggravation. They all piled up and I was really annoyed and angry from pretty much the time I woke up until I went to bed. That day is over and today is much better.

My guides/the Universe/muses/helpers/whoever they are dropped by late this morning and got me working on the cat-creature's face. Here is what we've got so far:






before
















after



















before
















after
















before















after















I am sure it is not done yet...I/we will work on it again later today (Friday) and it will be posted as part of Day 364.

365 Day 362

starting a collage





I like this linocut print and the cigar box lid but the colors and images are too vivid.













I sprayed the print with matte spray and let it dry -- I was hoping that would seal in most of the block print ink.

Then I covered it with matte medium and laid down a piece of very thin white mulberry paper.

The ink bled a little bit on the edge on the right side, but I think it will be fine.

This needs to dry and I need to think about it some more.

365 Day 361

I guess I had one more session/project in me tonight!

I know it turned into Tuesday already, but as far as I'm concerned it is still Monday night because I haven't gone to bed yet. I thought I was done for the night when I made the arms for this experimental dog, but I guess I needed to work on the head and face.

I don't think there is any need to caption the photos...just show them. It was pretty much straight forward wadding up Scott's Xtreme Rags, little pieces of swimming pool floaty bopper material and eight layers of paper bags (for the upper lips). I worked on this from just before midnight until now -- 2:16. It still needs some tweaking and fine tuning but I am quite pleased (and surprised) with the results. I like him.

The eyes are flints/blanks from a taxidermy catalog and are clear glass with the black pupils pre-painted. I believe they are actually fish eyes but these are the largest unpainted eyes I have found so far.



































































































































































































And yes -- I know I need to get working on the smoothing layers and tweaking of the cat-creature so that I meet the delivery deadline, but as I work on the experimental dog I learn more things that I am using on the cat-creature. I just need to keep up with both of them.