Rebecca Ruggles Artist Signature

Sculpting

  • Gluing Eyes

  • 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 pupil looks better if…

  • 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 adhesive is applied.

  • 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 filling process allowed me…

  • 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 your dust mask.

  • 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 continue filling in with…

  • 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 the armature I trowell…

  • 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 how to make them.…

  • 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. Time to repeat on…

  • 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 and the legs broke.…

  • 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. Added a two part…

  • 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 that will perch on…

  • 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 like how the eyes…

  • 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 I’ve been using, so…

  • 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. I needed to rethink…

  • 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 my alien heads. Pressing…