2 bowls and the next Skellie Sculpture

Threw 2 bowls last night. One is for a set for my Aunty. The other is with the leftover clay. I need to smooth the edges of the rim.

Here's the second Skellie sculpture. I need to add her arms and the bird next. And, it's kind of top/back heavy. I think I'll put her arms toward the front so that it will be more balanced. I'm still wondering about adding some hair to the top of her head. Will see.

Skellie girl sculpture

Here's the Skellie girl that I sketched out before. I had to make some changes in order for there to be stable, especially around the neck.

It's a fairly small sculpture.

 I think I will fire it to cone 10 and then I will use acrylic paint on it.

 Here's the bluebird and a close up on her hand.

A close up of her face.

I have another skellie girl sculpture in mind that I'll probably work on tonight.

Current work 10/18/11

Some new plates to paint. Most are already spoken for. Only the snake is not a commission. And that plate dried funky. It's oval and not flat. My bad when I put it out to dry. It wasn't exactly balanced properly on the other plate it was drying upon. So, I thought it might be nice to make something 'new'. This might go into my personal collection.

Skellie girl with Blue Bird of Happiness

Sometimes, I get an image in my head and it will not go away. This can be a good thing sometimes.  But, when I am tired from sculpting and have no energy to continue, well, then I just have to draw the image out. Since Gandalf is done, I think I'll spend tonight's work time to making the above image into a sculpture. I will have to make a few changes since having bone skinny pieces of clay would be fragile and likely to break. But the general gist will be there.

Gandalf statue part 2

Here he is, all put together. I think I could have added some detail under his beard to show the neckline of his robes. Still, I am pretty happy with how he turned out. And his hands make me really happy.

The only thing I am concerned about is the connection point of his staff to his hands. I think there is potential for breakage on his arms in general. We shall have to see. Right now, he's in the process of drying slowly. I think I'll keep him drying until right before Thanksgiving. That's when we are firing next. Survive, Gandalf, survive!

Gandalf statue

I worked on the Gandalf statue tonight. He now has a head and a hat. I'm actually quite pleased with how he's turning out. This is the first time I've sculpted a male. I think I've done a better job on him than I have on the ladies I've made. Maybe this is a sign for me to do more male sculptures.

Here's a close up of his face. You can't really see the age lines I've put in his face. The flash sort of washed it out.

Here's his profile from one side.

And his profile from the other side.

Now, I just have to figure out his arms. I do know that I want his left arm upraised and I think I'll have his right arm bent and curled in over his stomach. The left arm could cause issues with sagging or just plain falling off if I'm not careful in how I attach it. Hopefully, I will get this done this week.

Gandalf

A few years ago, I was very much into the Lord of the Rings movies. I made a candle holder that was carved with a pattern similar to Gandalf the White's staff. My aunt bought the candle holder.

A few months ago, Aunty came to my place, looked at my sculptures and said, "You have to make me a Gandalf to go with my candle holder."

So, a few weeks ago, I made the base for the sculpture. Last night, I added wrinkles to the base. Now, I have to add the head and arms and such. That will be this weekend.

Alternative Press Expo

This past weekend, I sold a few of my painted plates at the Alternative Press Expo in San Francisco. Well, more than a few. Enough to cover the table fee plus a little extra. If anything, it was a great way to meet people and hopefully get my name out there.

Hopefully, some of the people I met will start following this blog.

So, tonight, I plan to work on my Gandalf sculpture for my aunty. We'll be down one teacher, so I'm not sure how much work I can get done on it.

I'm also not sure if I'll be able to take photos of the sculpture in progress because my phone has been refusing to take photos of late. Sigh... I will have to get the photos off of the phone before it's too late.

More updates later!