In and out of weeks, and almost over a year I've worked on this, my very first Super Sculpey figurine. That, of course, is an exaggeration, but if I'm going to steal Maurice's character, I may as well steal his words, too. ;) I've toyed with the idea of using Super Sculpey for some time, but couldn't settle on an appropriate beginning project. Carol (so called by screenwriters Spike Jonze and Dave Eggers) of Maurice Sendak's Caldecott Award winning Where the Wild Things Are seemed a perfect candidate. Super Sculpey maintained an even consistency throughout the sculpting process, allowing for multiple sessions without losing any detail, or worrying about unpredictable softening and/or hardening. This clay helped me achieve the maquette-like feel I have always admired when studying the art of some of my favorite animated films. Super Sculpey's standard beige color also necessitated my first fully painted piece in more than a decade. When I first began using polymer clay in grade school, I sculpted using white Fimo, and finished my pieces with crude acrylic paint jobs. Because of my ineffectual use of blending and shading, I soon gave up the paintbrush for colored polymer. Carol called for a renaissance of my painterly abilities and, as it turns out, this experiment kindled a desire to apply this treatment to future creations.
Emulating one of my favorite illustrators, using my favorite medium, was an honor. Thanks for having a look! May your rumpuses always be wild and your suppers always hot!
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Building the armature
with wire and aluminum foil. |
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| Laying on the first layer of clay. |
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Testing eye, nose,
and horn placement. |
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| "Clay-sketching" the hair. |
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| Smoothing and detailing. |
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Finished piece after
baking, before painting. |
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"Terrible roars, terrible teeth,
terrible eyes, terrible claws." |
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| "I'LL EAT YOU UP!" |
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| Hair detail. |
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| Carol and the King of All Wild Things |
