• Building Cardboard Armature for Wish

    Layers of cardboard were added to build depth and shape for the body, limbs, and head. I’m going for rough shape and scale.

  • Wish Cardboard Armature

    I enlarged my sketch to make a cardboard armature. With the side profile as a guide, I can build depth and move from two to three dimensions.

  • Love at First Ish

    Wish is an Ish prancing with a dandelion. Full of love and dreams, his joy is as contagious. Be still my heart.

  • Signature & Feet

    Using my jig has been so very handy. I can flip the piece so quickly and see areas that need attention and detail. Like today, working on the feet…

  • Wing Nuts

    The t-nuts and bolts did a great job of holding the cup and wings to the main body of the bird. Now, I need a way to cover the…

  • T-Nuts

    T-nuts are slowly becoming my favorite type of fastener. I already used these on the rear of my sculpture. The t-nuts allow me to create a threaded hole in…

  • Handling Problem

    I built a jig to hold my sculpture in every direction to hold my work without having to touch it. I realize I need a way to see the…

  • Clay WIngs

    Adding the free-form air over the EVA foam wings worked; I had to do this in two steps to avoid handling wet clay. I also attempted to add magnets…

  • Adding Clay

    This was the first sculpture in which I used Smooth-on’s Free Form Air Epoxy Clay, and while I found the result to be strong and light, I did struggle…

  • Rhinoplasty

    The poster board left the beak area a little square, so I reshaped the point of the beak to a pleasing cone shape with epoxy clay. I also reinforced…

  • Eyes & Wings

    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…

  • Tightbond

    I brushed a layer of Tightbond III over the entire posterboard skin to give it strength and seal the paper from the clay’s moisture. I also built a leg…

  • Early Bird Armature

    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.…

  • Dip Pen Trial

    I splurged and purchased a dip pen, a few bottles of India, and acrylic ink to try out. I was inspired and curious after watching Chloe Gendron’s Dip Pen…

  • Revisiting Mr. Tibbons

    Mr. Tibbons and his tooth friend Bicuspid have been sitting around my studio unfinished for a while. I got stuck on this project, unsure of what to do next.…

  • Art Gifts

    I made my loved one art gifts this year: a hand-painted hoodie and caricatures of our beloved puppies. I would not have the courage to pursue making art without…

  • 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.

  • Sepia Pencil Sketches

    I came across my color pencils and decided to try drawing with just one color and see what would happen. This spril animal character arrived, and I like the…

  • Optimistic Eyes

    Panda eye patches are more optimistic now. Painted the ears and nose to match. Purple is taking 4-5 coats to get the proper rich hue.

  • Painting on Wood

    Quick painting on a wood panel I found in my craft stash. I’m haunted by the HiRoo’s and their stories. This one has a travel umbrella that allows it…

  • Art group

    We had a fantastic celebration at Sooz’s art group today. We did a gift exchange game with handmade art projects each lady crafted but perhaps was ready to part…

  • Sad Panda

    Something is off about eh shape of these eye patches on the panda, it looks like a sad clown at the moment. Lucky for me acrylic paint is forgiving…

  • Violet

    The decision has been made… the giant panda will be purple. I’m so fearful of painting it after all the prep on the layers before but one must cover…

  • HiROO Sketch

    These little HiROo creatures haunt my dreams. I can’t stop drawing them. This one has unique ear details.

  • Paper Squishie

    I made a stuffed animal out of paper, packing tape, and polyfill. It makes a satisfying crinkle squish. Could this be the next generation for TubbyWubby as a digital…

  • Painting Chip

    I found the perfect shade of yellow for Chip the Nuff bird. I learned that I must prime epoxy clay white before painting bright colors. The primer helped the…

  • Primed

    After 5-6 layers of joint compound, gesso, and primer with sanding in between, the panda is prepped for the painting layer. All I know at this point is the…

  • 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.

  • Don’t Skip Primer

    Lesson learned. Magic Sculpt and epoxy clay need to be primed before painting with acrylic paint. Also, heavy body paint leaves lots of brush strokes, so I’m going to…

  • 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.…

  • Nuff Napping

    Stanley was my first sculpted Nuff bird, and I’ve been dreaming up even more Nuffs to accompany him. Dreaming + Birds = the napping Nuff bird. He is dozing…

  • Color Testing with Procreate

    Unsure of the robot’s colors, I used my iPad and Procreate to mock up some colors in a quick digital format. Randomly dropping colors into the robot drawing, I…

  • Painting Robot

    I had some struggles figuring out what color to paint my HiROo robot. His name is Dewy, and he’s a librarian robot the HiROo built to retrieve and care…

  • Robot Cutting Robot

    The irony of a future with AI is that today, I’m cutting a robot artwork with my Shobot. Robots cutting robots! Humanity’s days are numbered. I chose to spend…

  • Sketch to Vector Art

    In this photo, you can compare my original sketch and the resulting vector version done on the computer. With this vectorized illustration, I can scale it to any size…

  • 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…

  • New Bird Legs

    The bird can stand again with more muscular metal legs made from screws. I also adjusted the tail feathers to form a point, reshaping this part of the armature…

  • 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…

  • Book to wall

    I’ve decided to cut out my sketches and post them on the wall so I can interact with them more. It must be better than life stuck in a…

  • Specimens

    The HiROo collect specimens from human dreams and store them in a library full of originals. Each jar a perfectly preserved hologram of an idea. They take their collection…

  • The Umbrella

    The HiROo use the umbrella to travel from the sleeping world to the waking world. This particular one wanted a yellow rain coat.

  • The HIROO

    The story of the HiROo came to me over a series of day dreams and while I am a sculptor and painter, I feel compelled to also share their…

  • 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…