I drew a circle for the eyes on paper, then transferred the shape to the armature and cut the eye holes with a knife. This made it easy to position the eyes where I wanted them. Then, I made a paper template for the wings and checked how it looked, holding it on the armature with tape. Hanging the sculpture on the wall was very helpful because I could see how it looked from all sides.
![Paper patterns for the wings and ideas on how to hold the cup.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-Cardboard-Armature-wings-and-cup-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)
I found an old medicine cup the perfect size and added a wire handle for one wing sipping action. I transferred the paper wing template to 2mm EVA foam. Each wing is made from two pieces of EVA foam with a wire inside for shaping and support. Hot glue holds the wing sandwich together.
![Building the wing and cup armature from EVA foam and recycled cup.](https://rebeccaruggles.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Early-Bird-Sculpture-eva-foam-wing-by-Rebecca-Ruggles.jpg)