Rebecca Ruggles

Rebecca Ruggles is a sculptor who paints.

Follow along as I bring whimsical and charming creatures to life. This website documents the process, thoughts, and challenges along the way. Contact Me

View my Artwork

What's on my Bench

Purple Pandnana

Back in March, I had the idea to sculpt a banana peel to place on the head of my Panda;

What Big Eyes You Have

The giant alien, with whom I used an exercise ball for the armature, is looking ready for the next step

Panda 2.0

Panda is on the wall, and I’m adding a fresh batch of clay. Happy with the new approach on the

Cleats & Bolts

Bolts with a large washer sandwich were added to the panda wall sculpture. A layer of concrete paper clay to

Panda Surgery

I started this Panda back in February and got as far as adding a paper mache skin over a cardboard

Mr. Tibbons

Today at art group, I began the underpainting on a character I sculpted a while ago. He’s a tooth fairy

Thoughts on Forks

Perspective matters. What do they think of all our discarded items?

Art Resin #2

Two layers of art resin, poured 3 hours apart. Worked much better than sanding between coats.

Painting the Green Alien

Painting the alien green with purple eyes. These bright colors took about 7 coats to fully cover. Gluing in the

Stanley and His Doughnut

Stanley and His Doughnut by Rebecca Ruggles Sculpted in concrete paper clay and epoxy clay over gourd, foam, and metal

Sprinkles at Art Group

Painting sprinkles on Stanley’s doughnut at art group. Stanley enjoyed lunch and chatting with the girls at the art group.

Paint Cups

I love using the Solo 2oz plastic cups to mix and store my paint. I mixed this green and bagie

Painting Small

Using a magnification light is a humbling experience. You have to look closely to see all the flaws you created.

Tripple Thick Glossy

Sculpture of Stanley, the little blue bird, with his first coat of glossy varnish. This is my first time using

Pink Frosted with Sprinkles

Stanley told me he wanted to hold his favorite doughnut, pink frosted with rainbow sprinkles. It is coming right up,

Signature Plaque

I wanted a unique way to sign the Stanley bird sculpture and decided to try a name plaque on the

Sponge Doughnut

Sculpting Stanley’s doughnut using a round potter sponge as my armature. I cut a hole in the sponge and coated

Painting Lil Bird

I started painting the first layers of color at the art group today. I was unsure how to paint him,

What is Lil Bird holding?

Adding the layers of plaster to the Lil Bird, I used a Potter sponge to smooth the plaster. While waiting

Coming to Life

Covering the giraffe head with paper strips took about five hours, but now I have a firm, hollow shape to

Paper Mache on Giant Giraffe Head

I’m using torn strips of a paper bag with Tightbond lll wood glue for the paper mache on this giant

Back to the Giraffe

I have found the courage to return to the giant giraffe head I started months ago. I enlarged this pattern

Baby Bird Details

It was difficult to sculpt smaller details with the concrete paper clay on the baby bird, so I tried adding

Sanding & Filling Second Alien

Sanding and filling the surface of the second alien in preparation for paint. My first two coats are using a

Off the Ball

With the second coat dry, it was time to deflate the exercise ball and see if the sculpture would hold

Second Layer

Applying a second coat of concrete paper clay to the exercise-ball form. This layer needed to be done in one

X-Files

Working on my second and third alien. One with wet clay and the other dry enough to sand. I like

Third Alien

Adding clay to the third alien head sculpture. I hate calling it that, but I don’t name my creatures till

Big Bird Eyebrows

Adding eyebrow details and a second layer on the bird beak. I have to sculpt the head in stages so

Sculpting Baby Bird Feet

Adding concrete paper clay to the bottom of the feet. had to let it dry feet up to hold the

Giant Alien

Today I started making a giant version of my alien sculpture using an exercise ball as my form. If this

Alien Trio

I’ve decided to make two more alien heads so I have a trio to hang on the wall. Each one

Big Bird Head

I liked how the little bird sculpt is shaping up I decided to attempt a larger one using a larger

Little Bird Clay

First layer of clay on little bird. Next will be sculpting the legs and feet. I need to do this

Little Bird

Applying clay to my little bird sculpture.

Legs & Wings

Adding wings and legs to my gourd bird.

Gourd

Using a gourd and foam ball as an armature. I also found a cute tiny chair.

Flashy Feathers

Painted the first layers of acrylic base on my bird head today. I plan on dry brushing and paint pens

Resin Alien

This was my first time applying Art Resin to a sculpture. It look two coats sanding between each to get

Painted Alien

Final painted alien with pupils attached. It’s really come to life.

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