#ax2222steve

[jollyfoxanimations2]

The sketches here more focus on different expressions and the finalized pose i that i used to for the sculpture. i did have fun drawing these but i did feel that some of the images looked a bit too ‘bear like’ rather than pine marten but the expressions turned out great. in the end i didn't like that the character’s ears came through his hat so i scrapped the idea in the end.

[jollyfoxanimations2]

Here are some of the sketches i did to not only figure out the proportions of the character but also a stance that expresses motion, i also did a few sketches of the character in an environment and also a few possible ideas of what the beaver characters might look like. 

[jollyfoxanimations2]

Using Revell oil based enamel paints i started to paint the sculpture using the image i drew above as a colour reference the only issue i have had is that the brown i wanted to use for the body wasn’t matt paint so it has turned out looking glossy, so when I'm in Preston i will purchase some matt paints to complete the painting. For the suitcase i printed a label with the words Mustelid Estates on it and stuck it to the briefcase. 

[jollyfoxanimations2]

At this point i wasn’t intending on baking the sculpture anymore as i didn't want to compromise the clay so i mixed some Milliput together and made the adjustments where necessary, i noticed the back foot was to small so i extended it and added a bit of fur design to the arms, i used foam board to make the suitcase and sculpted the hand out of Milliput because i didn't want to make it out of clay and then bake it in the oven because i wasn’t sure what would happen to the foam board in the oven, i used a bit of red felt to see what the character would look like with a tie on. Once the Milliput had gone hard i took the sculpture to my dads workshop and used a Dremel to fettle, add texture to the sculpture, i drilled holes for where the metal ball bearings would go for the eyes and where the magnets would go in the hand and arm, the reason i decided to put a magnet in the hand with the suitcase was so that it would be easier to paint and also safer to transport.  After i sprayed the sculpture with a white primer to get it ready to paint.    

[jollyfoxanimations2]

Here are a few images of the sculpture when it was finished and baked for the final time. 

[jollyfoxanimations2]

Once i had created the head, neck, hat and did detailing to the tail i baked the sculpture again, i had to create the hat quite a few times becasue it was either too small or the wrong shape, i look at images of fedora hats to reference the  the end shape.  

[jollyfoxanimations2]

When bulking out the shape of the character i would use stirps of the clay then using a sculpting tool i would smooth them out and apply more if necessary, in the end i baked the sculpture for an extra time once i had got the layer of thickness i needed this, the reason i bake in layers is so that the clay is easier to sculpt with tools. when i was adding the clay to the sculpture i had to envision the muscle structure of the character and where the hips are plus how the shoulder blades are positioned with the character’s stance and the fact will be carrying a suitcase.  

[jollyfoxanimations2]

Initially i was going to create the sculpture out of either wax or clay and then cast the sculpture out of resin but becasue it would have taken too long to do i decided to use Sculptey clay and bake it to turn it hard. i started applying the clay to the armature and used tinfoil to bulk out he legs and the tail, at this stage i was only putting clay out the block the shape so i didn’t need to use any of my dads sculpting tools, once i had applied a base layer of clay i baked it in the oven.