Aluminum rods used to reinforce styrofoam armature

Here I embedded a 3/8” diameter aluminum rod in the legs in order to support the weight of the dog sculpture. Aluminum is used because of its lightweight and softness in case the mold maker needs to sever the legs to make a multi-part mold.

Tomorrow I will proceed with the clay-up on the remaining exposed foam.

The groove, which houses the rod, will be filled with molted clay.

Poodle head sculpt critique

Here are some images of the current stage of the head sculpt. I need you to give me your input. In other words, where do you want me to tweak the sculpt. Please note, once the head is reattached to the body, we will encounter additional corrections. For instance, the ears will be modified in order to better fit the pose of the slanted head. Below you will note I made additional notes for myself.

In this image, I rotated the head in order to best compare it to my sculpt.

Here are my notes...

1. The tip of the jaw needs to be reworked, it appears to broad
2. The ears will be detached and refitted once the head is back on the body and cocked to he left as in the image you provided.
3. The cheek areas appear to need more hair.
4. The bottom jaw area can also benefit from more hair as well.
5. The bridge between the eyes and nose may need to be defined a bit more. I other words remove some of the hair in order to show more bone structure.
6. Feel free to email me any additional areas you wish to have altered; however, if you do not agree with the items I noted above please indicate. The image I am using to capture Trackers likeness is the one you provided; hence, his coat appears to be much more fuller than in the images to shot.

Here you can see his bottom teeth as depicted in the image. Since the upper teeth are hidden; will not be seen, they will not be sculpted. The eyes were reworked to give him a happier look.

Another view of the teeth and snout area.

On this profile image, you can see that additional hair may be needed on the lower jaw.

Detail work has begun on the poodle's head sculpt

I have started on the detail texture for the head fur sections. After the ears and snout fur is detailed I will remove the jaw and commence on the teeth and tongue sections.

Poodle gets his new eyes and fur texture

Tracker gets his new eyes and the sculpting of his fur texture begins.

Canine Tracker gets his nose sculpted

Today turned out to be a dog nose day. I spent a couple of hours proportioning and detailing the canine’s nose.

The teeth will be introduced after the interior of the mouth is completed. I inserted eyes, but they still need work.

I will add more hair towards the upper section of the nose.

From this image I noticed, I need to build the snout area to give it a fluffier look. The ears need direction.

Poodle head armature clay-up begins

The first application of the hard NSP Chavant Clay. To get started I inserted two bricks of clay into the small crock-pot. The crock-pots are very inexpensive at your local Walmart or Target. The clay was brought to its melting point slowly in order not to destroy the clay's properties. It took about 3-4 hours to get the clay into a melted chocolate like texture. The temp dial on the crock-pot was left on “low” the entire time.

My beloved crock-pot... how my wife misses her kitchen tools... LOL

Here I used a paint brush to apply the clay. A small spatula was also utilized.

The goal was to first apply a complete coat of clay on the entire surface before I began to build up the features.

The face coat is just about complete. It is basically the same size and shape as the Styrofoam armature.

Profile of the poodle head.

Here I added plastic temporary eyes and a temporary nose. I also opened the mouth in order to match my reference image.

Here is Tracker (poodle) after the first clay application. Many more layers are to come within the next few days

I slanted the head to get an idea of what areas I need to focus on in the next few days. I will have family members critique the sculpt at this stage. My middle son is ruthless with his critiques. He takes no prisoners, he reminds me of a Simon Cow with his criticism. But that is what I need complete honesty, the goal is to capture the poodle’s likeness.

Preparing poodle head for tilt table and clay application

Today I removed the head from the foam sculpt. The head was removed in order to mount it on a sculptor's tilt table. The tilt table gives me greater leverage. Tomorrow I will begin the clay-up process.

Rear view of the poodle's head as it sits on the tilt table.

Front image of the dog's head.

Here is a bird's eye view. Notice I removed a section of the nose. I will sculpt the nose and attach later.

Note how nicely the table tilts.

Here is the headless poodle. The head was removed using a hot-wire tool.


Another view of the tilt table at work.