I know you rider
Feb. 25th, 2016 05:53 pmIn the studio this morning, making short work of the elephant's lower lip. And then it's time to tackle little Marjorie.
As you can see here, there's just barely enough detail to tell relative sizes and get a little sense of what little girls were wearing to the zoo in 1967. Which is, really, all I need, since this isn't intended to be a portrait.
Like the elephant, I start the rider in pieces, bottom to top. Shorts first, then legs, torso, and shoulders. Everything is still hollow, vented together internally. Legs are slab-formed around a pencil and bent to shape; arms use a bamboo chopstick.




The head is sculpted separately, hollowed over a blunt modeling tool, features modeled from tools mainly made from more chopsticks. Bamboo has a hard, smooth surface that takes sanding well and holds up against the grog in stoneware clay.


Final details--sneakers, pony tail--are modeled solid, scored and slipped to attach. The whole piece will go under plastic later this evening, and I'll see what final detailing needs to be done tomorrow. Then it's a long, slow dry before it goes into the kiln.
As you can see here, there's just barely enough detail to tell relative sizes and get a little sense of what little girls were wearing to the zoo in 1967. Which is, really, all I need, since this isn't intended to be a portrait.
Like the elephant, I start the rider in pieces, bottom to top. Shorts first, then legs, torso, and shoulders. Everything is still hollow, vented together internally. Legs are slab-formed around a pencil and bent to shape; arms use a bamboo chopstick.




The head is sculpted separately, hollowed over a blunt modeling tool, features modeled from tools mainly made from more chopsticks. Bamboo has a hard, smooth surface that takes sanding well and holds up against the grog in stoneware clay.


Final details--sneakers, pony tail--are modeled solid, scored and slipped to attach. The whole piece will go under plastic later this evening, and I'll see what final detailing needs to be done tomorrow. Then it's a long, slow dry before it goes into the kiln.