The Great Blue Heron: Pt. 2

Here is the very nearly completed model of the great blue heron. The legs are sketched in and the feet have yet to be added, other than that, the rest is finished. The body will be cast separately from the feet.

The Great Blue Heron: Pt. 1

I’m long overdue on giving an update on the work I’ve been doing. One project in particular that I’ve invested a lot of time on I’ve had to wait to reveal online as it was commissioned by my grandmother for my grandfather’s birthday.
I have been asked to make a great blue heron garden sculpture. I decided to make a cast resin piece that stands 27” high. I chose to model in oil-based clay, which I would then make a mold of in silicone. From the mold I will cast the final resin piece.

The base structure didn’t look like much to begin with. I started out with just a soda bottle and some pipe insulation.

I then built up the form using one of my favorite understructure materials, spray insulation (Great Stuff).

I then began building out the form in clay. This was a very time consuming part of the process as I had to soften the clay in order to work with it, and it always seemed I needed to add more.

Once the major forms were where I wanted them I began adding minor forms such as the primary feathers, tail, and beak.

After that the real fun began: Details! Here I’ve started adding the strand of feathers around the neck and belly and penciling in the detail on the head.

I really got into the detail work. More to follow soon.