Daily Sculptors Group Page
Procrastination is the most common manifestation of Resistance because it’s the easiest to rationalize. We don’t tell ourselves, “I’m never going to write my symphony.” Instead we say, “I am going to write my symphony; I’m just going to start tomorrow.
Steven Pressfield - The War of Art
This is the new official page for the unofficial “Daily Sculptors Group.” Join the challenge to sculpt something every single day — and stay focused on improving your craft among friends.
The challenge is to do the work every single day. It isn’t about creating something that is perfectly finished or gallery-ready. If you show us your daily work it may encourage others to submit theirs, and together we might be able to vanquish Resistance and Procrastination, at least for one more day.
If you want to join us, use the comment section of this page as a journal. Share some of the challenges and insights that you gain from your work, and show off what you made today.
Enjoy!
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Hi everybody,
I heard of the terrible hurricane. :-/ Is everyone okay of you??
I live in South Dakota, and we didn’t have a tornado here. The area around Oklahoma City is devastated, though. Horrible – it looks like an atomic bomb went off. If any of our readers live down there, I doubt you’re reading this right now, but we do all pray for you, and hope you’re well.
Yes, these are my thoughts, too! We’re thinking of you and praying for you!
Jonni,
Thank you for your prayers and well wishes. My kids live in Oklahoma City, and Praise God, they survived safely.
I am in the process of documenting my steps for using the cloth armature of the dog. Thank you for all your encouragement and sharing your incredible talent.
I’m so glad the family is safe. And I’m really looking forward to seeing how you made those cloth armatures, too!
I’m so glad your family is safe! And what cute little guys these are! Looking forward to the cloth armature steps.
Give me a hurricane over any other natural disaster–that is what I say. Of course, I prefer it when we don’t have them. They can be damaging…but unlike other natural disasters, you can predict when they are coming and make preparations. It always amazes me when people who come from states that have earthquakes or tornadoes fear hurricanes, because to me the other natural disasters are far worse.
Hurricanes can just as destructive (Ivan devastated my hometown of Pensacola, FL in 2004), but at least people have lots of warning time – sometimes several days – so they can evacuate. I lost all my big, beautiful oak trees, my roof, and my septic system. Of course, this sounds trivial compared to the devastation caused by an EF5 tornado, but the trauma is very real for all survivors of natural disasters. Prayers are with the dear folks in Oklahoma.
Hi Irini, thank you for your concern. I’m sure many of our readers and contributors lived in an area that got hit by hurricanes. Fortunately I wasn’t one of them, but I’m praying for those who may have been.
I meant tornadoes.
Hi Jonni, at college I am doing a whole proect on your style of work. I have already done the sitting cat but instead of using the paper mache clay I have used MOD-ROCK. I have painted me cat black but the only problem is that the coat looks so flat. I dont know how to paint it so that it looks ‘furry’. Is there any chance you could give me a few pointers??
Hayley
Hi Hayley. Great idea using the plaster cloth – it’s a lot faster than paper mache, isn’t it? I agree that large expanses of black tend to be rather lifeless, so I suggest that you add several layers of “fur” using brush strokes in the direction of real cat hair, and vary the color just slightly with each layer. You could warm up the black with some brown paint for one layer, cool it down with some blue paint for the next, lighten it to give it a grey cast with a dab of white, etc. It will be more realistic, and it will be a lot more interesting. Black animals are tough to paint, but you’ll get it.
While I’m reading your comment, Jonni, I wonder, how I could make my horse’s mane….!?
PS: I draw/painted him several times:
Once in acrylics, once in pastell chalks, one is a pencil drawing. Please have a look at my homepage!
another try
oops, the photo is missing…
Hi Jonni,
maybe you can help me? My next project is a life-size Arabian horse’s head. Today, I made the drawing. I want to put a snaffle in his mouth and an original Arabian bridle (got one from ebay and an old snaffle from a friend of mine (hope I use the correct vocabular)).
Now I don’t know when to open his mouth for when he is finished, his mouth shall be closed anyway. But I have to put this snaffle in his mouth. How can I do it? What do you say?
I add a picture of the drawing to give you an idea of the horse.
One way to do it would be to drill a hole through the finished mouth, since the mouth itself would be closed. But I don’t actually know what a snaffle looks like, so it might not be possible to put it through a drilled hole. Or put the snaffle right in the armature as you’re building your horse’s head, and create the head around it. That’s probably how I’d try it. Does anyone else have some good ideas for Irini?
I think Jonni’s idea of building the head around the snaffle sounds like the easiest way to do it. Nice horse drawing Irini.
Hi Irini- I am thinking Jonni is right- you will have to build the armature around the snaffle bit since it doesn’t come apart. Several questions though- Do you think you will ever need the snaffle again or will it be a permanent part of the sculpture? You may need to leave the horse mouth slightly open if you need to get it out. Also, since it is a metal piece, you may need a counterweight towards the back so it doesn’t topple over since paper mache is so light. One last thing- is the bridle adjustable or do you have to make the sculpture a specific size to fit the bridle? A difficult task you are undertaking. I am sure you can do it and make sure you post your progress. Good luck!
Well, the snaffle (German: Wassertrense) looks like on the following photograph. Actually, I had to open his mouth, put it in his mouth and then close his mouth again – like in real life
. It is fixed by the bridle, which I can fix at the snaffle at the end (oh my, do you understand what I mean?)
Hi Irini, I know that you want the Arab to be as authentic as possible (at least that is my impression from your description). hers is an idea for you …. because the snaffle bit will be in the horses mouth why don’t you add paper mache ends to the sides of the mouth that look like the bit than you could use a real metal ring threaded through to attach the bridle.
I grabbed a picture off of the internet so you can get a better idea.
Hi friends,
oh my, I am really impressed and grateful for all the comments you sent!!!
Well, yes, I know it’s a difficult project, especially since up to now I had the feeling that my clay (with the wrong measurements) was like processing icecream :-/. I am very excited trying to do my favorite horse portrait made by the German horse photographer Gabriele Boiselle http://www.editionboiselle.de
@ Terry: Thank you! But I think, I have to correct his mouth and nose. He is grinning ;-P. I actually saw it, when I loaded my painting up on this list
.
@ Eileen: Well, a friend of mine gave me a broken bit (Thanks Tammy!) and my husband fixed it. So it can stay in his mouth. Since I have no own horse
, I can leave the bridle on his head and it is adjustable as well.
@Tammy: Thank you very much for the photograph with the vocabulary which helps me a lot. Google wasn’t as good and in German we have one word for bridle and bit. Yes, indeed, I want to make him as authentic as possible. First, I thought, I wanted to make the bit of paper mache, but then a friend of mine gave me one….
So I think, I will bild he horse’s head around the bit… I’ll let you know about my progress.
Hi, here a photo of my work using paper mache clay.
I like dooing doll’s.
Ando I would like to do something in her faces, something to make it more smooth. What can I use?
Maybe de new recipe of your paper mache would result????
Thank for sharing your work with us.
Hi Paula. I like the doll – with that skirt, she definitely looks like she’s ready to dance.
And yes, the new air-dry clay is much smoother than the paper mache clay recipe, and I think you’ll like working with it.
… and the backside.
Irini, you did a fabulous job your bowl looks great. I have never made a bowl but this definitely inspires me.
Hi everybody,
Spring has come and everything’s blooming and intersting, that Eileen made a lotus blossom, too – although I couldn’t see it yet, I had to smile, because I made a wildrose blossom nearly the same way that Eileen did!
Well, Jonni, I tried the new clay with better measurements…. and what shall I say?! It’s perfect to work with!!!! THANK YOU again, Jonni, for sharing the new clay and measurements with us!
Well, I rolled out the new clay like dough and made it like a round disk. Then I formed the petals and made a bowl by using a cling film between a ceramic bowl. On the outer side I used an aluminium foil for making it look crinkly like a new blossom .
Then I let it dry for a day, but I think, I should have waited two days for it wasn’t drying very easily.
So, I hope you like my new wildroses bowl! Enjoy!
Beautiful!
Very nice
Hello all- I wanted to share with you a new sculpture because of the way I did the lotus flower. I have tried flowers and leaves before but they always came out a bit chunky looking. This time I used Jonni’s new air dry clay and rolled it out with a rolling pin onto waxed paper. Then I imbedded covered wire in varying lengths and smoothed it out. I let it dry for about 8 hours then pulled it off the paper. It was still damp but pliable, I could then cut the clay with scizzors and curve the petals the way I wanted them. Then using more air dry clay, I assembled the flower. The new clay enabled me to make the crisper edges I was looking for. One tip- it would have been easier to paint the petals before assembling because it was hard getting the brush in the tight spaces. It seems pretty sturdy and tight. So, if you are of the mind to make flowers or leaves, this could be helpful.
Christine- I also played with the white balance when taking the picture. It showed so much detail that I noticed a very tiny brush hair stuck on one of the petals that I had not seen in real time! I’ve got to get rid of that. Anyway, thanks for the tips on photography!
Eileen, I would love to see the photo, but it didn’t come through. That’s usually because the file size is too big. Please edit the photo to make it smaller, and try again – your description sounds fascinating!
Sorry about that gang- I think this pic will go through. Irini- Great bowl and too funny we both did our flowers in similar manners!
oops- it would help if I actually included the photo!
Lovely! Both lotus and frog. (I’m rather fond of frogs, myself.
)
The whole piece is great, but I really like how the flower turned out. The petals are amazing.
Ellen I LOVE your frog and flower!!
Wow, very nice Eileen! Well done!
It is very beautiful Irini. I love the pastel colors. Until you told us that it was a bowl, it looked like the real thing. I am now going to try to find a mixer that will give me the mixing capacity to make my own clay. right now I do not have that. But this kind of quality is inspiring and getting my own juices flowing. Thank you for the input. The colors came out really nice. I am putting some touches on an ebook about sculpture photography that I have been working on.
Be sure to let us know when your ebook is ready, Christine — I want one already! Are you going to put it on Kindle?
Thank you very much for telling me that I inspired you! That makes me happy! Well, I found my mixer for making clay on a flea market (do you say so) – a used one that works very well for about 5 €, but I chop the toilet paper in a food processor (“Thermomix”) before I add all the other intregients.
Thank you, Rex! Well, try acrylic paints! They are very similar to water colors. One difference is that they are covering, so you can paint one layer over the other and overpaint it for instance. So, just try it!!!
Hi everyone.
Earlier last week I posted about having a hard time with sculpting a leopard head. I just couldn’t get proportions right and really was becoming frustrated with it. I decided to start over with another style and less concentration on proportions. The following pictures are what I came up with. I also used Jonni’s new clay recipe. I really like it and will be using it more, It is working very well for the feathers on an eagle I am doing. I will post that one up too once it is finished.
Here is the head before paint….
And here it is after paint…..
Nice job, the leopard looks pretty good to me. I can’t wait to try the new clay.
Very nice! What did you use for the eyes? Are they painted?
Hi Jonni,
I actually made the eyes before hand with a clear resin that I pored into a basic paint tray (the ones with half a circle) I than painted the back to look like real eyes.
Great idea!
and a second one
and crazy chicken
I love your crazy chicken series, they are so cute. The colors are vibrant.
and two crazy chicken
and another
This sleeping guinea pig is adorable and I love the fact that you put him or her in a box with grass that looks like the real thing. the backgrounds add a touch of realism to the piece. Nice work.
and
sleeping guinea pig
Hi everybody,
most of the time during the last weeks I was painting, because tomorrow starts my first exhibition on a arts and crafts market. 10 minutes later, after we set up our tent, it started to rain and that not too less….
Anyway, I tried to make some paper mache projects and after Jonni told us the measurements in grams, I understood, what I made wrong with the papermache clay…. Cups are volumes, but I tried to weigh in fl oz, so the papermache clay was too smooth to work with…. and therefore my figures appear kind of misshapened.
I hope, that’s a good excuse – we will see well formed my next figures will be
So, first, I trieeeeeed…. YES, a guinea pig!!!
A sleeping guinea pig:
Hi Irini- The guinea pig is a cutie! Good luck with the arts and crafts fair. Let us know how you made out.
Hi Eileen and everybody,
. Especially children were excited about it. But alas I couldn’t sell anything. But I wasn’t too disappointed, for the reason for this fair was to bekome known. And many friends were visiting me, for it was my first fair.
well the weather was rainy, windy and cold on Saturday, so there were hardly people on the fair. The next day was sunny and nice and hundreds of people came to our tent. I have some pictures on my homepage (please click the button “Ausstellungen/Neues”). On the one side the people watched my paintings intensively and petted the guinea pig
I like the guinea pig and your crazy chickens. The guinea pig’s hair is nice, how you feathered it from one color to the next
Thank you, Marilyn! Well, for the feathered look of the pig’s fur I took a very fine brush and drew hair by hair.
I love your sculptures. I’m glad I’m not the only one who did crazy chickens! I do watercolor, so acrylic is new to me. I, too, like the feathering on the guinea pig. I’ll have to try that. Thanks.
Hi Jonni, my name is … Osnaldo
I really liked the new mass, but I wanted to know what it’s called “JOINT COMPOUND” in Brazil.
I am working with artisan and papietagem, these are some of my work:
Hi Osnaldo. According to David, one of our readers, the joint compound is called Massa Corrida in Brazil. And the sculptures are lovely – thanks for showing them to us.
Welcome Osnaldo! Very nice work!
Hi Jonni, I’m back …
Thanks for answering my question.
I can buy your book even though I am from Brazil?
This sculpture was my teacher who made:
I like the dragon – he looks very fierce. And yes, amazon.com will ship anywhere. I buy books from amazon.co.uk when a title isn’t available here in the states, and the shipping isn’t too bad. Just click on one of the book images in the sidebar, and it will take you right to amazon.com. And thanks for asking!
Hi Osnaldo,
yes, I think, you can buy Jonn’s book in Brazil, too. I’m living in Germany and it was possible to buy her book from Amazon! It’s a wonderful (working-)book, it’s a must have!!!
It’s one of my favorite books, because it’s clear structured and explained and it contains many pictures you can see what you should do next!
I like your ladies and is that a colorful cat?, that looks very interesting
Hi gang- Here is the finished box turtle. Poor guy needed to have his legs amputated. I just hope the new ones last- box turtles can live 75 years!
I also made a light box that Christine suggested to use for photographing, still needs some work with the proper lights and I have to get better with the camera settings. It is an improvement though. I learn so much from all of you.
He’s looking great. And the light box really made a difference with the photo, didn’t it? You can really see the intricate detailing on the legs and face now. My light box is almost done, and I hope to actually use it sometime next week, when I get one of my first dolls dressed up in her new outfit.
Eileen, this is beautiful. That turtle really looks like the real thing. one thing you can do is buy lights that have the full spectrum of the sun or buy some of the same color and use your camera settings to set the white balance. Also, if you have lights on both sides and on top you get even lighting, but for the most part the sides will be enough. If your camera has a manual setting, put the camera setting on manual, go to white balance and you will see settings for the different kinds of light. Play with those settings and you will get the right color balance. Some bulbs are cool and have a bluish hue, and the warmer bulbs will make your work orange. Full spectrum bulbs can be a bit pricey but they do the job. the white balance setting will halp fix those problems.
Thanks Christine. Really good tips. I actually used a sunlight spectrum light on one of the sides, but a regular light on the other. When playing with the white balance, what effect are you looking for? Will the white be less bright, less shadows? I tried to get less shadowing but still need to work on that. And the varnish seems too glossy in the pictures even though I use a Matte varnish. In real life it looks ok though.
Terry- you are so right. The people on this site are extremely helpful and supportive.
Jonni- will you be posting your fully dressed doll picture or will that be for the book? How is the book coming?
Thanks everyone for the kind words about Mr. Turtle.
Hi Eileen. Yes, I’ll post photos of the dolls when they’re dressed, but so far I haven’t actually sewn any clothes for them. I sculpted five puppy heads yesterday, which was a lot of fun. I’m worried that I seem to be running out of room in the book – I can only afford about 100 pages before the printing costs make the book way too expensive for the average buyer. But with the sculpting, and the sewing of bodies, and the painting, and the clothes, that’s a lot of instruction that has to be included. I wanted about ten different critters, and now it’s been reduced to three, because of space. I should be done by the end of June, if not before. – and thanks for asking!
Jonni- that’s a shame that you couldn’t put more dolls in your book. Look at it as a developmental opportunity- more books! You would already have the layout that could be continued in future books, you would just have to adapt for each new critter. I think they will be wildly popular. I will be first in line to buy it!(and the next ones!)
Christine- you are a wealth of knowledge about photography! Thank you. I have started a new file to save all of your tips. Now let’s see if I can exectute them! I am finishing up a new sculpture and will try again with the photographing.
I owe a debt of gratitude to this website, Jonni and all of her friends. I am having the time of my life sculpting, phographing, etc. When I’m not actually doing these things, I am thinking about them. One must always be growing!
The problem is one: You used two different lights, white balance will NOT work. It will only work with an even kelvin of color. What you have are two different color spectrum and the white balance will be confused. You either use full spectrum or two lights of the same color. The white balance then will correct the blue ,reddish or green hue cast by the color emitted. The sensor will not know what color balance it needs to correct for with two different light colors. To try to get even lighting and to get less reflection, try putting the light source a little further away from the screen. That is why you want light on top and on the sides. That is how you control shadows. For people who do not want to make a light box, use a white sheet and iron out the creases, put your lights at a 45 degree angle to the piece that way you have only one shadow and even lighting. One way is to check if you have even lighting, is to take a pencil in the middle of the sheet, board etc., and see if you have two shadows. If you do, move the lights until there is only one shadow coming out of the pencil. now you know you have even lighting. This is a trick I l earned many years ago.
I forgot to add, drape the sheet on a table and drape it over something high. That way you do not see lines and you have one continuous seam. for an effect so it is not floating in space, ground your piece with lace, colored paper, a prop etc. That will add more information what your piece is abut.
Great Turtle Eileen! And Christine is SO knowledgable about photography – isn’t it wonderful how she shares her talent? All the people on this site are so kind and helpful!
Hi Eileen,
your turtle is really perfect, I love it! It looks like a genuine turtle! Well done! How did you make the eyes? Are they painted or did you use glass eyes?
Hi Irini- For the eyes I used some of Jonni’s new clay, made 2 little balls and let them dry. Then I added them to the sculpture by making his eyelids and that holds them in. The new clay dries really smooth, and I painted them like Jonni did her cat’s eyes, using gel medium to make them glossy. Thanks for your compliments. Tell me again where you are from- my husband and I were trying to figure out where your name comes from.
Hi Eileen,
yes, well, I come from Germany and live near Stuttgart. BUT this variety of my name is not German. In English or German my name is Irene or Ireen, however Irini (or Eipnvn) is Greek. My father was a Greek and my mom a German. And since Greek kids get their names of their grandfather and -mother from their father first, I got the name of my Greek grandmother, Eipnvn – or Irini.
Do you know the movie: “My big fat Greek wedding?” I love it!!! And do you remember the szene where they wanted to be engaged and invited his parents to her family and her father introduced his family to his parents: “This is Nick, and Nick and this is Nick, Nicky, Nick….”
Yeah, that’s true….. 
But I think, nowadays, the tradition isn’t as strong anymore as it was.
Well, I have to try Jonni’s new clay asap – after next weekend…. if I am alive then….
Eileen, your turtle looks great, the legs are perfect, and the color is very nice. What size is he and do box turtles have that color in the wild?
Thanks Marilyn, head to tail he is about 9″ long and 5″ high. They actually do look like that in the wild only they are usually pretty dusty looking and that mutes the coloring. I have been trying to do some research on each animal I do to get them realistic looking. Some animals have to be scaled down in size but the turtle is small enough that I did not have to scale him down. Thanks for the comment about the legs- they caused me a lot of anguish. Because I had to amputate and make new ones, I am curious to see if they hold up or crack. Each sculpture you do helps in the learning process!
This box turtle is really, really beautiful. I like the way his legs are stretched up and the painting is awesome. Thanks for sharing. (Yes, I’m jealous!)
Thanks Rex, nice comments. A young man was in my house while I was photographing the turtle in the light box and he thought it was a real turtle! Can’t get any better validation than that, huh?
I saw your koi and chickens on the other post. They are really cute and fanciful. It’s funny, I just am finishing up a sculpture of a frog on a lily pad with a lotus flower- though my frog did behave or wasnt hungry. We are of like minds! I will post when it is completed. Thanks again.
Awww Thanks!!! You can’t learn unless you try and you can’t get better until you do it over and over again. Good luck with the human form.
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