Paper Clay Bird with Detachable Mask

"Birdie in Boots" is NOT from the Come Clay with Me classes, except for her mask in the last photo. 

I've been working on Birdie, off and on, for a while, as I worked on the other little clay character faces. She was inspired by some birds I saw online and mostly from my imagination, as I had no idea what I was doing when I started sculpting her, which is obvious by her wonkiness, but I happen to love her wonkiness. I made many mistakes on her, but kept going. For instance, I should have used much stronger wires for her legs. It's hard to get her to stand alone, but it is what it is until I can figure something else out. 

I lost track of how many layers of marks, paint, and gold gel pen she has on her, but I'm calling her done and moving on. She taught me much that I can use on on the next bird!

I didn't get her head tilted back far enough for her mask to stay on by itself, so, for now, it's resting atop her head.

Birdie has been so much fun to create, even if she took a ton of patience and perseverence. Because she was such a challenge that I stayed with until she was finished, she has a piece of my heart and soul, and I see her as a treasure! 

This will probably be my last paper clay post for a while. I still have two classes with three three-dimensional figure busts, one with wings, one with feathers, and one with a container, to sculpt. I'm really looking forward to creating them, but it's going to take a while to sculpt them, and days for them to dry, then days to paint them, and the holidays are here. I don't know if I'll even get started on them before Christmas, or not. We'll see!

Meanwhile, I'll do some painting, sketching, and other things that are not as time consuming among Christmas cards, gift shopping, etc. Busy time for all of us!

Thank you for visiting! I hope you enjoyed Birdie in Boots. We had quite a journey together! Stay well and try to get in some time to do something for you during this busy time of year. 

Weekend and Today's Sketches (Cats, Dogs, and people)

 I didn't feel good yesterday and slept most of the day, so I didn't do a sketch yesterday, but I made up for it today. I did three! I switched it up a bit and sketched animals too. None of them are perfect, but I had a blast trying!

I paused the TV and sketched this labrador with a mechanical pencil. I surprised myself! Paused TV is the next best thing to sketching from life, if you have a large TV, I think.

I used a Frixion erasable pen to attempt a sketch of this cat on Facebook. I got his face and ears too long and thin and he's kind of wonky looking, but he taught me some things.

This one is from memory after I sketched the one above it, using a mechanical pencil and a Stablio pencil.

Some faces from imagination using mechanical and Stablio pencils.

This girl on the left is imagined and the one on the right is from a photo of my cousin T. Not much of a likeness, but I'm proud of the expression I got. Mechanical and Stablio pencils.

Close up of the sketch above.

A sketch using an old photo of my great-great grandma at an old time dinner on the ground and singing in the fifties. Not an exact likeness, but I'm proud of how close I got to her essence. She lived in Oklahoma and only came in once a year for decoration, so I only got to see her a few times when I was little. The photo had part of her children children surrounding her, including my grandpa.

I've never liked drawing, but the more I sketch, the more I'm starting to enjoy it. I tend to make things more complicated than they have to be, so maybe if I can just get myself to relax and draw without thinking about it, I just may learn to love it!

Creativity is fun, whether you are a pro or not! 

The Last Few Days Sketches in Various Media

 I've been trying to do at least one sketch a day for the last several days using different media, such as mechanical and Stablio pencils, charcoal, gel pens, Frixion erasable pens, brush and water, and watercolor, and also trying different styles. All are in my 5 1/2 x 8 1/2 inch mixed media sketchbook. These are from my imagination, except for the horses, which I did use a reference for, just to try sketching something different.

I've also been working on another portrait from a Jeanne Marie Webb class in acrylic and watching other class videos, and I'm adding ears to my armature for clay sculpture before adding the clay. 

Needless to say our house is a disaster as far as being clean and tidy, but creating is sooooo good for my nerves, as well as, my soul. Thankful that hubby doesn't mind and he likes to cook!