Allosaurus !! Raaarrgh !!

     Finally , I'm making dinosaur sculptures again ! , an Allosaurus to be exact , it'll be awhile before he's fired and glazed but here's how it went.

    Actually, I begin with a chunk of clay that looks decidedly less dinosaur-like and more log-like but I forgot to take a picture until after I'd started. Anyway, I move things around into a beginning action sort of shape and start to prop up the top legs and arms so that they don't crack while I'm working on other parts.

    More of that moving around parts, plus adding clay for muscles and taking away for clarity.

     I don't work on any one part straight through, I go from this to that according to the picture in my head and my sources. And in paleoart , sources have to be very up to date, information on dinosaurs changes fast.

      Gradually , it all starts to come together.  There is always a part that annoys me and takes longer than everything else put together,  a part that's wrong or is just off a fraction. Generally , I take a break and consult my sources until I'm happy.  At this point it's almost as important to take away the wrong as it is to add the right detail. And I always leave more so that I can take it away as it dries rather than be left with not enough clay to work with.

     This is the end of the wet work , now comes the carving , just a little each day as it dries. More on that part of the process tomorrow...