CATS AND DOG
After being MIA for so long, I finally, FINALLY, got back to claying. This time, finishing up what I left.
One of my coursemate from polytechnic ordered three cats and one dog. I remember the first thing I thought was "whaaaaaaaaaat how are you taking care of them??!?" FOUR ANIMALS IN A HOUSE MAN.
I feel really bad because I left her orders hanging. I recently moved out at that time, and had to practically drown myself with part time jobs to survive. Also, it was the first time I'm making animals and it was really tough for me. I've failed at least four times. And I guess I was just so disappointed in myself every time I fail and then can't bear to touch clay for the next few days. (I know, so weak. I know.)
She ordered these on April and now it's Oct... I left it for FOUR MONTHS?!!! My god.
But now that I'm gonna work on it almost full time, this will not, and shall not happen ever again.
The final result!!! *happysobs*
My photography skills still sucks despite the good camera and crash course about shutter speed, aperture and ISO from my bf. Need to practice more and.....maybe some photo editing hahahahaha.
Anyway, I got permission from my friend to upload the photos she sent me for comparison!
The description for the animals. I tried my best to make the size relative to each of them, so the white cat is fattest etc.
White cat and white doggy! (I think it's super cool that her cat has two different colours for its eyes!!!!!)
The first animal I tried to do was the white cat, since it was probably the easiest among four of them...right?? NOPE. The white cat was the one which made me all I-can't-do-this-what-am-I-suppose-to-do-now-I'm-a-failure hahahaha. I think it's just the fact that it's my first time attempting an animal. But still.....
So from the top left, that was actually the first one I ever did. It was too..realistic??? I wanted to sculpt the fur but it's not the look I wanted, and the head itself was already too big for my liking.
The top right photo looks horrible... I couldn't shape the mouth properly I think. The problem with this is that it has to look okay in all angles, and from the photo, the front looks terrible hahaha. Looks more like an alien..
Bottom left, I was probably more satisfied with this. Sizing was okay, but when I did the eyes, I realised it looked too scary. HAHAHAA.
The bottom left cat in the bottom left pic was the first one that I thought looked acceptable, and I actually wanted to give it as that. But buibui bit the glaze off one of its ears while I hang it to dry (lol) so I redid it, and this time improving the ears too, so all was good.
Tabby cat and black cat!
Actually, once I got the first white cat going, the other cats were okay to do, except the tabby cat. I was like "OH MY G O D HOW AM I SUPPOSE TO DO ITS FUR AHHHHHHHHHHH" But I managed it in the end phew.
Okie let's see the animals I finally managed to whip out.....in actually a day LOL (once I got the ball rolling nothin' can stop meh)
White cat! I think the fluffy tail and fluffy ears was nubbad. (More on that later)
I think black cat was the easiest and quickest to make, but it was tough trying to make more things stand out. Like his nose...can't really paint it black can I, when the cat's already black. So I painted the nose and eyebrows grey muahaha.
Picture's a bit blur..but yes, tabby cat is white and everything else is painted on. I had fun painting it but took quite a bit of test and trial too... (Good thing is paint mostly can be overpainted ahahaha)
Yes I made the yarn ball for the photo don't judge me pls hahahaha. I tried using the yarns I have to make a mini yarn ball but the yarns I have are all either too thick or easily torn, so I just used clay hahahaa. It's not very well made though, I know it could be better as long as I figure out how to do it...
(yes I made a dog bone just for the picture too. I guess I won't blame you if you judge)
NOW THE MOST EXCITING PART!
Honestly, I was quite worried about the doggy, since it's very furry...and it's probably really skinny and all fur. Since I've already tried sculpting fur and failed miserably (white cat), I didn't even attempt it on doggy. I was thinking maybe I could just keep it simple like the cats, and add some clay bits to add as fur instead.
BUT IT'S REALLY TOO FURRY AND I WON'T BE ABLE TO SLEEP EVERY NIGHT IF THERE'S ONLY SOME PATHETIC CLUMPS OF CLAY ON SOME PART OF ITS BODY.
So I thought maybe to make the transition smoother I could use liquid clay. And since I'll need white colour...I shall just pour in some white paint.
Then for some reason, the consistency was....quite sticky and stretchy!! So I quickly put on doggy and I thought "hey this might be just the thing!!!" and then I proceed to put all over it's body.
It was good too because it was really easy to make the brown fur, just mix in some brown. (That's also when I realised the amount of the liquid clay and paint changes the consistency, since it became less 'sticky' after I added in more brown paint.)
I really feel so proud of myself at that point of time. I COULD EVEN MAKE EYEBROWS WITH THE LIQUID CLAY ISN'T IT GREAT HAHAA (if you can see it)
I also did the same thing for the furriness of the white cat hehehe. To be truthful, I forgot about the furry ears after I baked the white cat, so I was leaving it until the last. But I did doggy like that, so decided to do the same too! It's easier to manipulate anyway muahaha.
This was such a good experience, and I actually learnt a new skill! *level up*
Thank you Qing for being so patient and understanding. I don't know how many times I apologised to you regarding the delays but you always brush it off and give me encouragement. <3
I'm really so lucky.
That's all for this batch! My next order is about 90% done, so will update this space when I take more photos ^^