Hey everyone here is a checklist created by Ariel Bowman to help you out with your animal sculptures. Hope this helps!
- Make sketches and maquettes in clay to determine best gestures and practice the forms.
- Slowly build up lumps of clay to create the basic form or work from a solid block of clay. For larger sculptures use an armature - I use galvanized steel pipe from the hardware store, along with dowel rods and or bamboo skewers.
- Use serrated ribs to compress the clay together and begin to refine the form.
- Use modeling tools to continue refining the form, but leave out texture until later.
- Let the piece get leather hard.
- Cut the piece into small 3-4'' sections and hollow out one at a time before cutting more sections. Remove any armatures at this time.
- Hollow each section with a loop tool and compress the walls making the wall thicknesses as even and uniform as possible.
- Reattach all sections, slipping and scoring and using coils to reinforce attachments.
- Add texture/detail/smooth.
- Leave vent holes for steam, and allow your piece to dry for at least one week before doing a slow bisque.
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