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.

Mouse House

Thanks to the iPad, ideas can now flow at late nights right nest to the bedstand! This was a quick sketch for another Art Blocks for Ghana.

Started by flipping over the Art Block, the depth was perfect for what I had in mind here...

Layers of cardboard and glue, and the right, lined up tears later...

Have to love Scupley...and something this small didn't require an extensive wireframe. Found another use for my son's airsoft pellets too.

Placement, after painted...almost glued the sucker in there before I realized I'd never reach in there to paint his backside...

Then the finals (I added "stuffings" of house insulation around the inside parts of the wall)...Mine can be seen here too.

Game Rooooom

Rachel Tiep Daniels' new venture (apart from a stellar job at Blue Sky Studios, and her Picture Book Project Foundation) in helping out others in need is Art Blocks for Ghana. Here is a Start to Finish on my submission...Her concept for these pieces was simply enough, "home." Since my family life has so much of the gaming world in it these days, I wondered what adolescent critter would really cause a pain in the butt by bringing in a contemporary, whole new game room to its own, "home?"

The pencils are always layers of tracing paper, rough, and very ugly!

But thanks to my iPad, I'm not pinned down to a lightbox anymore. I take an initial scan/pic of an approximate pencil I like, and then layer and layer these things until I'm somewhat happy.

A bit more from the iPad, then I printed out a piece.

But the print, in a much lighter version, gave me a chance to put a template over which to trace over the piece with a sheet of graphite transfer paper below...giving me a nice beginning linework directly on the 10" X 10" block.

...Seen below.

One pass with acrylics.

and the help of some pens, pencils and additional smudges. Finished piece also here and up for auction, see Rachel's blog for details.