B is for Bunny! Finally finished a pull toy.....

This week got a little crazy and I was a bit scattered, but I super glued myself to the art table all day yesterday and managed to complete this piece. There are so many parts to these pull toys which means lots of color decisions. I do quite a bit of staring and thinking and pondering colors. The only thing I was sure of was that I wanted a turquoise blue spotted ellie! Still trying to come up with a name for this one...

I haven't decided when or where this will be available for purchase. I want to live with it for a little bit and finish the other two. I'll keep you posted!

I had a horrible time with photographing this piece. I spent an hour changing backgrounds and lighting and am still not happy with the outcome. The rabbit's head looked washed out against a brown background yet the white is not great either. I'll keep trying, but here is the best I could do for now....

Happy weekend, everyone!!

sanding and priming are done!

Today was all about sanding, sanding, sanding and priming, priming, priming. Not the most exciting part of the process but crucial to making the final product shine! I cannot wait to bring this little crew to life with lots of color!!

I won't be able to get started on painting until later this week. Tomorrow is going to be full of kitty rescue "stuff" so stay tuned for more cat chat shortly. I already have a new foster on my hands and he is one unbelievably handsome and loving lad!

farm animal stack sculpted...

...quick peek at my third pull toy sculpted. I have completed the sculpting step on all three pull toys so now I am just waiting for everything to dry. Hopefully, I will be able to sand and prime on Monday (tedious, but oh so important!) and then the BEST part can begin...painting!!!! I am ready for COLOR!

and the sculpting begins....

Now things are getting fun! First, I covered my armatures with a rough layer of paperclay and allowed them to dry. Then I began building up layers and adding details. Today I will be adding more details and refining everything.

Happy creative Friday!

...and the pull toy armatures are built!

I decided to document the steps of the process involved in creating my pull toys. So, here is step #2...armatures! I laid the illustrations down on my desk and cut pieces of computer packing foam to match the shapes and sizes of the animals. I then glued everything together with epoxy. I used dowels and wire for legs and tails. The wire then has to be wrapped with floral tape to help the clay stick to it.

I added a rough layer of clay to all of the armature yesterday afternoon (not shown in photo), so hopefully today I will make some headway on the detailed sculpting. This part takes awhile because I have to let certain parts dry before adding more clay.

More soon....

Silly Sketches...pull toys are on the way!

I realized that it has been almost a year since I have made an animal pull toy! I love creating them, but they require lots of uninterrupted and focused sculpting time. So, I decided to dedicate the next few weeks to making 3 fun little critter carts. I have my work cut out for me, and I am excited to get rolling on them!

Here are the sketches that I will be working from. I usually do very VERY rough sketches for my dolls, but for the pull toys, I really need to plan them out and illustrate the animals in a more detailed, accurate way. And I am also trying to work on my illustration skills for a future project that is brewing in my brain.

A grinning kitty with a major sweet tooth...



A blissful bunny acrobat on a dotted ellie...



...and a stack of farm friends in fun colors.

Headed to the John Campbell Folk School!

My mom and I are heading to the John Campbell Folk School tomorrow!!! This will be our fifth mother/daughter trip there, and I am super excited to get away and learn some new creative skills. We are both taking a class on how to make animal pull toys with the amazingly talented Kathryn Walmsley. I took one of her classes on sculpting hands at the Folk School a few years ago. I know this one will be equally informative and inspiring! Check out this stunning pull toy made by her...fantastic!



I just can't decide what animal I am going to make!!! If you have any suggestions, please let me know. A cat seems fitting for me, of course, but I am thinking that I should keep my week cat free for a change :). We'll see....

I will catch you guys later! Have a wonderful week!