Pig in a Waller

In this Art Block for Ghana contribution, I wanted to completely sculpt something as if it were coming out of the block itself, sort of carved into the front of it...

Using an iPad for the initial sketch to get it out of my head...this was a crude way to get me thinking of dimensions, amount of Sculpey needed, and/or how much wire-frame might be needed to get made (not very much I found).

In flipping a 12" X 12" art block over, this one gave me a lot of room to create a flat surface (to be the grassy sides) that then have a dip into a pool of mud. I started creating the pig, not sure how fat he needed to be at first.

But eventually, after placement of the legs, I knew I had to widen his girth to justify where the hip hinges lie and from where his knees emerge. A tiny wire was used to emulate a drip from his left hoof, but was covered by Sculpey to give the impression of thick mud dripping down to the surface. It also served as a small support of the leg.

Found some molding paste and mixed it in with various shades of green to create the texture and feel of grass around the sides. Some angles and close-ups.