365 Day 350 -- another round

more experiments on the experimental plaster cloth dog

I wanted to try to get the dog's head rounder.



Here is how he started out tonight. He basically has 1-2 layers of plaster cloth all over him so far.

There are areas where he just has masking tape "bridges" linking base elements that I am building on. Tonight he is getting a bit more reinforced as I go along, but he is also getting some more experiments with unlikely materials.







I just lightly folded and bunched and shaped a piece of butcher paper to round off the top of his head a bit.











Then I added a folded over piece of aluminum foil to protect the butcher paper and to be able to try and shape it a little. I was thinking that the aluminum foil would hold a shape over/on the paper.











Then I started to cover it with masking tape.











I pushed in and squished in places and the tape held it even more.















Next, the plaster cloth.














There were some major dips in the shape, so I filled in with wadded wet plaster cloth and pushed it into the dip and then smoothed it...









...and covered it with a triangle to further smooth it.








Then the back of the head was really looking flat so I glanced around and found a wad of "I just used this to mop up some water but it isn't totally wet, but it isn't totally dry" paper rags (Scott Xtreme Rags) and held the wad on with one hand and very lightly applied a piece of plaster cloth with the other hand. I only smoothed the very very edges of the plaster cloth so that it would keep its shape for a bit...then I moved to a different spot so it could harden a little.






I was very surprised that it seemed to be working.












I went back a few minutes later and put another few plaster cloth triangles over the area and smoothed a little farther in, but not totally.














He's starting to look a bit doggier to me. (He looks better in person.)







I think it will take a few days before I can put on another layer. I don't want it to collapse, but I don't want it to get absolutely totally dry before I put another layer on.









This post is mostly so that I can document what I've done in various stages of this experimental piece. I do not mean to suggest that this is a good way to work with plaster cloth...LOL.

Oh -- and I think I may have figured out the collar for his shirt, too.