R. Ruggles

Sculpting

  • Gluing Eyes

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  • Panda Pupils

    I sculpted Violet’s pupils with epoxy clay over a foam ball, then painted with four coats of Payne’s Grey Golden fluid acrylic. I find the…

  • Put a Bird on It

    Chip the Nuff bird will be perched on Violet’s nose. I sculpted them separately, and now I’m playing with positioning before the final JB Weld…

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  • EyeLids

    Added eyelids to the panda with magic sculpt and filled the seams with paintable caulk. Preparation makes the paint job. Also, this slower sanding and…

  • Smoothing Giant Panda

    Sanding and troweling joint compound over the concrete paper clay to smooth the surface of the panda and correct any blemishes. Sand, fill, repeat. Wear…

  • Cardboard Bird Armature

    Fill in the bird with cardboard strips and develop a rough shape for the bird. Bulking out the form with cardboard is very satisfying. I…

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  • Cardboard Armature for Giant Nuff Bird Sculpture

    Following the lessons from Laurence Vallières’ Online Course for Cardboard Sculpting, I’m attempting to make a giant version of my Nuff bird. This will be…

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  • Laurence Vallières

    I recently discovered and am obsessed with Laurence Vallières and her giant cardboard animal sculptures. I immediately signed up for her online class that teaches…

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  • Heart Feet

    The Magic Sculpt has cured, and I’m amazed at how fantastic the heart feet look. It adds a beautiful symbolism and looks magical and cartoonish.…

  • Broken legs

    Often things don’t go as planed, this is when a lesson is learned. After working on my bird for an afternoon I pressed too hard…

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  • Bird for panda

    I began sculpting the little bird that will perch on the panda’s nose. I built the armature out of foam balls, dowels, and eva foam.…

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  • Dry Panda Sculpture

    It is so satisfying to see the Panda reach this stage. I love how the clay looks like stone—WOrking on the eyes and a bird…

  • Wet Panda Sculpture

    Here is a photo after a five-hour sculpting session adding concrete paper clay to my Pana armature. Now we wait for it to dry. I…

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  • Clay Mix Upgrade

    I had to use about 12 batches of concrete paper clay to cover the giant panda sculpture. That’s too much for the electric hand mixer…

  • Fixing Panda’s Ear

    Back in March, I started this giant Panda head, but after adding some epoxy clay, it fell off the wall, and the ears popped off.…

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  • Panda Eyes

    For the panda eyes, I taped a round acrylic ornament in half. This created a fantastic, concave eye socket. I used the same technique on…

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