I am building an armature for a new wall-hanging sculpture called Early Bird. Starting with a cardboard profile hot glued to two circles that will support the wall-hanging hardware. Having learned from my former projects, I need the engineer to know how the piece will hang first. I used bolts, nuts, and fender washers to anchor the hanging wire.
![Cardboard profile of the early bird sculpture and areas that will rest against the wall.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)
Then I built out a basic wireframe using strips of poster board. The poster board was easy to curve and cut. I used hot glue to secure it to the cardboard profile.
![Front view of the early bird paper armature.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-with-wireframe-front-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)
![Side view of the paper armature for the early bird sculpture.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-with-wireframe-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)
With the wireframe in place, I added more poster board strips, forming a skin that fully covers the wireframe. The strips are attached with hot glue and overlap as needed. It’s amazing how quickly the creatures shape forms with this technique.
![Front view of the paper strips over the cardboard armature for the early bird sculpture by artist Rebecca Ruggles.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-fill-in-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)
![Side view of the early bird armature built out of cardboard by artist Rebecca Ruggles.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-fill-in-side-view-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)