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.

What's on my Bench

Timelapse of making the Quirky Bird paper sculpture

Quirky Bird Timelapse

Timelapse video of Rebecca Ruggles working on the Quirky Bird paper sculpture. Shows how handpainted papers were cut into individual

17
Jan

Chocolate Doughnut Dingo

Quick little critter drawing of a rare dingo. In Procreate on the iPad, I like to start with some shapes

15
Jan

Eyes Have It

Added more feathers and details to the eyes. All paper is painted before being placed onto the sculpture.

13
Jan

Venti Vulpe Critter Drawing

You see these critters everywhere, intensely studying their phones and throwing back three shots of espresso. It takes a lot

11
Jan

Feathers and Beak

I brushed mixed media paper with streaky blues on one side and yellow on the back. Then this painted paper

09
Jan

Teacup Pop-Up

Completed the Teacup Pop-Up design, and the printable template is available for download on Popupity.

05
Jan

Little Bug Painting

I bought a pack of these little 6×6 canvas boards on my art supply birthday shopping spree and decided to

03
Jan

Quirky Bird Paper Sculpture

Mimicking James Lake’s cardboard sculptures and wanting to explore using paper as a sculpting medium, I cut strips of cardstock

31
Dec

Hummingbird Sculpt

At art group this Wednesday, I worked on sculpting a hummingbird. Adding each teardrop in a shingle pattern to the

28
Dec

Pop-Up Scene Doodle

Been enjoying doodling with layers. Imagining a scene with a background, midground, and foreground. This one was inspired by the

26
Dec

Sculpting Buttons – Part 3

CosClay can be painted directly with acrylic paint, and the coverage is very satisfying. For the first coat of paint,

24
Dec

Sculpting Buttons – Part 2

The round plaque was made with a piece of cardboard cut in a circle and covered with rolled sheets of

23
Dec

Sculpting Buttons the Dog – Part 1

I’m sculpting my new 4-month-old Jack Russel Terrier puppy Buttons as a Christmas gift for my beloved Mr. H. I

22
Dec

Printable Teacup Pop-Up Card

I’ve turned by teacup pop-up card into a printable DIY project anyone can make with basic paper, scissors, and glue.

20
Dec

Tea Cup Bouquet pop-up card in progress- first attempt full color build

Tea Cup Pop-Up: Full-Color Draft

After drawing and coloring all the parts in procreate, today was the first time printing and assembling the parts to

16
Dec

Tea Cup Details

With the paper mechanics worked out today I refined the tea cup design in Procreate. Dainty tea cup with a

15
Dec

Mock-Up for Teat Cup Pop-Up Card by Rebecca Ruggles

Tea Cup Pop-Up : Paper Engineering

Started designing a tea-cup pop-up card for Popupity. In the early stages, it’s helpful to work out the folds and

14
Dec

Blairsville Courthouse

Final version of the courthouse illustration.

06
Dec

Tucker the Duck

Progress on painting Tucker. Painted dark base color then dry brushed lighter shade next. Colors mimic a mallard duck but

05
Dec

Cosclay sculpture of a bird with tulips by Rebecca Ruggles

Tulip the Duck

Sculpted with oven baked CosClay over a wooden peg. Tulip loves waddling thru the tulip fields. Now that it’s backed,

04
Dec

Drawing of Blairsville, GA courthouse by Rebecca Ruggles

Blairsville Courthouse Drawing

Using a photo from my phone imported into Procreate and traced with black pen I was able to quickly capture

03
Dec

Bird with Flying Friend drawing by Rebecca Ruggles

Flying Friends

Procreate sketch of bird walking with his flying friend the butterfly. Working on bent legs in motion and adding shadow.

02
Dec

Stubby hands opossum doodle by Rebecca Ruggles

Stubby Opossum

Drawing in Procreate of a opossum with stubby arms and a round belly. Tried different fur texture and eye colors.

01
Dec

Satchel and the Sea Monster

Satchel is a tea cup bobber of legend. Holding his spoon tight as he crosses the deep sea with giant

25
Nov

Peaches the Fruit Bat

I sculpted Peaches out of polymer clay over a wooden doll peg and then baked in the oven. I then

24
Nov

Giant Giraffe Paper Sculpture

Giant giraffe paper sculpture in progress. Using Joni’s Ultimate Paper Mache Pattern blown up to 36″ and printed by PDF

23
Nov

Procreate with Illustrator

Just took a quick online course with Lisa Glanz ‘Using Procreate with Illustrator to Enhance Your Vector Drawings‘. In the

22
Nov

Making Comics Exercise: … and then what?

Draw one scene and then draw the next as your answer to what happens next. It’s like drawing improv. Reflecting

21
Nov

Sketch: Far Out Roll

Working on characters holding things. Adding the thumb helped in this case.

20
Nov

Sketch: Seasons Changed

Fall came on in a snap, time to wear my favorite knitted hat with the ear flaps and pom-pom. Bunny

19
Nov

Rebecca Ruggles Drawing 'Early Birds Totem'

Sketch: Early Birds Totem

This is an idea for a totem pole of pigeons drinking their first cup of coffee. I see this developing

18
Nov

Sketch: Queen Flamingo

Working on sketches of birds and character side profiles. This flamingo is inspired by a Ukrainian artist Marli Toys (Etsy

17
Nov

Sketch: Slouchy Bird

Working on side profiles in this sketch.

16
Nov

Painted art chair project by artist Rebecca Ruggles

Childhood Art Chair Restored

Restored and hand painted my childhood art chair with acrylic paint and POSCA pens.

15
Nov

Rebecca Ruggles Drawing Noodle Pot Kitty

Sketch: Noodle Pot Kitty

Always comforted by a hot steamy bowl of ramen. Working on drawing my critters holding things to help express their

04
Nov

Transfer Paper

Discovered that graphic paper comes in different colors! Using white transfer paper, I could apply my paper drawing to the

28
Jul

Bliss Station

Hung my daily doodles up on the wall so I could catch any patterns or ideas, plus I feel like

27
Jul

Chair Template

Made a paper template to work out the design for the art chair. Was much easier to think things out

26
Jul

Fresh Air

The magic of a road trip adventure; the wind in your fur and all the new aromas.

25
Jul

Sausage & Banana Slug

Weekend getaway to Trinidad, CA to take in the forest and cool ocean air. Saw my first bright yellow slug

24
Jul

Purple Cow

Making woodblock texture using paint pens and watercolor paper. So bright and opaque. U can layer over colors and block

23
Jul

Stargazer

Doodle with watercolor and POSCA Paint Pens. Experimenting with layers and textures.

22
Jul

Dapper Badger

Exploring drawing with my POSCA Paint Pens on watercolor paper. I liked the effect of leaving streaks of the paper

21
Jul

Won 2nd Place!

… at the 2022 California Mid-State Fair for my Steampunk hat entry. First time exhibiting my artwork for so many

20
Jul

Art Chair Project

The art group is doing a painted chair session in August, so I’m reviving my little kid’s chair I used

19
Jul

Polymer Clay Flowers

Sculpted flowers with polymer clay as a test idea for my large skull sculpture. Each petal is formed separately, then

18
Jul

Giant Skull Paper Mache

Adding a layer of paper mache to my giant skull. I enlarged a skull pattern from a template available at

17
Jul

Colorful Kookaburra

First drawing attempt pairing watercolor and POSCA Paint Pens. Brushed the watercolor first, then added outlines and texture with the

16
Jul

POSCA Paint Pens

Making a color chart for my new POSCA Paint Pens (PC-3M) Fine Point. I want to see how the colors

15
Jul

Marshell

Marshell the French Snail loves dew-dropped ferns and damp musky earth. Bonjour.

14
Jul

Deep Space

Humanity has achieved the most remarkable achievement, looking deep into space with the most sophisticated telescope in existence to capture

13
Jul

Romi the Midnight Cricket Eater Doodle by Rebecca Ruggles

Midnight Crickets

Creatures emerge from the page, and I never know what they will be. Like film development, the life form is

12
Jul

watercolor doodle drawing by Rebecca Ruggles

Fox, Pig, Rabbit

Watercolor doodles of three critters inside a round frame. Mason jar lid gang down on the farm. I began by

11
Jul

Big Bird

Today I experimented with making large-scale art using my iPad, the ShopBot, and acrylic paints: I created a digital doodle

04
Apr

Monster Holding Wand

Today I picked up on an UFO (un-finished object) that was starting to speak to me again after sitting on

30
Mar

Earl Gray

A doodle to capture the wisdom of “a brew will see you through.”

01
Feb

Boy with Toothache

Doodle of my Mother’s painting. It is one of my most treasured things, she speaks to me through it. I

31
Jan

Raven

Some people call them crows, but Raven is what they prefer. Doodle with Copic markers and flair pens on mixed

30
Jan

Puffin

A doodle of this adorable bird with personality to match.

29
Jan

Midnight Biscuit

What creatures of the night eat … biscuits. Something sweet and savory for the witching hour.

28
Jan

Space Rocks

A doodle inspired by the movie Don’t Look Up!

27
Jan

The Rugglet

I made my first comic about a post I read on Austin Kleons blog about “The Pit”. This comic results

26
Jan

ShopBot

The ShopBot has arrived, and it’s been exhilarating getting up to speed on how to use it. I plan to

25
Jan

Indifferent

A doodle about people who have it all and still can’t experience joy.

21
Jan

Dem Bones

Jonni at Ultimate Paper Mache has been an incredible teacher to me thru her website and youtube videos. Her work

20
Jan

Paperman

A video I discovered on Wired Magazine with James Lake, a cardboard sculpture artist from England, ignited some new creative

16
Jan

The Other Side of the Page

Cute drawings are my comfort zone, so it’s an excellent place to warm up the creative brain. Today I drew

06
Jan

Get Out of the Way

Unprocessed experiences will rear their ugly heads and work their way into the front of your mind. Old memories were

05
Jan

Morning Pages

Daily journaling is when I process the open loops. I absorb images, videos, books, ideas and distill them down from

04
Jan

R. Ruggles sculpture in progress, Scuba-saurus tube and hand pose

Floaty Ring

Using aluminum foil, I made the armature for Bubbles intertube. In working with polymer clay, one wants to avoid making

03
Jan

Procreate drawing of enchanted wood house

Enchanted Woods

When unsure what to do next, I think of the advice in Austin Kleon’s book ‘Keep Going’ … make gifts.

28
Dec

Dino Doodle

I find it easier to draw or sculpt things when I’m not forcing the agenda too much. Keeping things loose,

27
Dec

Robot 3-Up

I’ve been enjoying the challenge of these painting exercises. Painting the same image on three canvases simultaneously forces me to

26
Dec

Lighting Tracks

I’m making progress with my studio setup. I found 48″ long steel flat bar with punched holes at Home Depot.

25
Dec

Create to Connect

Artists are not like athletes. We can’t win gold, beat other creatives, or come first. Sport is objective; our craft

24
Dec

Scales for Days

This scale texture is very satisfying and tedious. I begin by making various size balls of clay, pressing them onto

23
Dec

Magnets

Over the years, I’ve had numerous lighting and camera set-ups, and in all of them, I’m constantly tripping over tripods,

22
Dec

Hands & Scales

Continuing with the Scuba-Saurus I began working on the hands and reptile scales. I experimented with stamping a texture for

21
Dec

Baking Painted Polymer Clay?

My latest sculpture is slowly coming to life as a Scuba-Saurus, a dino with adorable swim gear. Unfortunately, adding the

20
Dec

Color the Bird Yellow

Dry brushing is so satisfying and addictive; the key is to know when to stop. I fear I’ve gone too

19
Dec

Robot 318

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

18
Dec

2021 Christmas Card

I decided to design my own Christmas design to showcase the year. Looking back over the months, I still feel

17
Dec

Color the Bird Grey

Continuing my painting of Maverick, I needed him to be able to look at me, so I added pupils to

16
Dec

4up Painting Practice

Connecting with the image world thru 4up painting.

15
Dec

COVID-19 Virus Ornaments

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

14
Dec

Snail’s Tea Party

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

13
Dec

Artemis the Adventure Owl

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

12
Dec

Navigation Troll

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

11
Dec

Video Production Upgrade

In documenting and sharing my artistic journey with sculpting, I’ve realized I need a better set-up for making daily videos.

10
Dec

Painting Maverick

Maverick was baked in the oven for 15-minutes at 275 degrees. Now it’s time to start painting him. I begin

09
Dec

Time-Traveling Bunny

I have a love-hate relationship with ceramics. I elected to take zero period ceramics an hour before school started in

08
Dec

Clover the Fox

Clover the book-loving fox, sculpted in September 2021.

07
Dec

Heading South

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

06
Dec

Pearl the Mouse

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

05
Dec

Na-Moose-Tay

I wanted to go back in time a little and capture some sculptures I made before starting my daily creative

04
Dec

More to the Story

Covering the neck of the wood finial, I kept wondering if there was more to Amelia’s story than a simple

03
Dec

Ready to Bake

Time-lapse video of the last touches on Maverick.

02
Dec

Classy Bird

Clothes make the bird.

01
Dec

Epaulets & Ruffles

Allowing Maverick's personality to rise to the surface.

30
Nov

Signature Stamp

A signature stamp with a link back to the artist who created it.

29
Nov