The Fur you see is the Fur you Get!

Working at his fur...

Yesterday I worked on and finished the tombstone for the sculpture “Foxy David #2”. It is now drying as we speak. Meanwhile, as you can see in the photo I have begun on the David figure which will ultimately sit on the tombstone.

Since the tombstone is not dry enough, I’ve fashioned at “stand in” stone made out of styrofoam.

His torso was a slab rolled out on the slab-roller. This was then cut into a rectangle and made into a tube. This has been pushed and carved into a hollow male torso. At this point details are not necessary as he will be clothed and so the accurate body shape will help shape the folds of his clothing.

The fox head is a solid piece of clay shaped separately and then attached to the neck. Because the fox head is unbalanced due to the long snout of the fax I’ve had to prepare a custom brace which will be placed under his chin until he is leather hard at least. At that time I will cut the head in half and carve out the inner clay. Then the two shells will be reconnected and his head will then not only be lighter but will also be hollow. This is also done to prevent the head exploding in the kiln. Anything over half an inch thick is at a high risk of exploding. This is due to the fact that moisture is still stuck in the clay and when the clay and the air pockets or water pockets are heated the moisture will expand. If it cannot find it’s way out it will continue to expand and then cause an explosion that will probably ruin the sculpture. Also, if other items are in the Kiln they will also be damaged by the force of flying clay when you have an explosion.

It can be very disappointing, when you have worked many hours on a piece and it is damaged by an explosion or explodes itself. Fortunately, so far I’ve had no explosions.

One thing is I was not confident in rendering fur on the fox head. So, I goggled to see what I could find, but did not find much. Most artists of any note showed how they did fur from a distance. No close-ups. Also, he had a special tool to do this but would not show it close up on the U Tube video. So, in the end I found nothing really new or noteworthy that would help me. So, I’m on my own.

The fur you see is the fur you get.

“And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Matthew 10: 30