I’ve been sculpting for a couple hours a day now. I predict a productive winter at this rate! Now that dismal damp winter appears to be here for good, there’s not much incentive to go out and do anything except walk the Boyz around the immediate neighborhood studying sodden leaves and drippy trees. The nice thing is that it isn’t too cold, and the grass is amazingly green. It has only got to freezing a couple nights so far. And there is something interesting about the soft, misty look to everything. Such a difference from Colorado, where the air is always so dry that you see everything in incredible sharp focus.

I’ve put that right hind leg flat on the ground and just started the process of “sketching” in the anatomy details on this side. This guy will be pretty fat and rounded so a lot of the hyper-detail will get smoothed away but I need to sculpt this sort of thing in as a guide to my anatomy. Which I’m trying harder to get right on this piece. I had to remove the whole head and neck today because the wire I had in there was shaped at the wrong angle and kept showing up right down the head. I think maybe now the neck is too short and/or head too big, so ignore that..! And bleah, that extended front leg is bugging me for some reason.

I was in denial about it for several days, but I must also pull the clay from the wire in the left-side hoof and bend it straighter out; the wire isn’t at the right angle in there, either. Aaargh! This always seems to happen with me, always clay vs. armature right when I’m closing in on the details and proportions I want! It’s a pain to rework but I’m NOT complaining. The beauty of clay is that you can push it around forever until you get what you want.

A couple hours a day when the light is best in the art room, is enough. I find if I spend too long in a session then I might lose track of the big picture. I like to walk away and come back the next day with a fresh eye for it. Amazing what jumps out at you!