Albertosaurus.....Check out his teeth..They're scary !!!!

And kinda sharp ! But his little arms are very silly looking, I mean, they're just for show apparently. They don't even reach his mouth ! Evolution is just wacky sometimes. But to make species specific Dinosaurs or "paleoart"  I need to include even ridiculous parts that make no sense. Like these itsy-bitsy arms. I guess he made up for them with his ginormous mouth. 

Allosaurus : Feet of Fury !

     When you're thinking about a dinosaur sculpture you probably don't think "Fragile" but parts of my sculptures definitely are.  This post concentrates on the clawed feet of Allosaurus, which are not necessarily the most difficult to get right but are much , much more easily broken as you're working on them or any other part. That's when the swearing starts.

                  

   Because of the delicacy of touch that's needed , more than any other part of Allosaurus , I have to do as much as I can before it dries and as it dries because if you put the slightest bit of pressure.. well again... there's the swearing and maybe even throwing things. 

        In order not to have disaster strike I try to work on the small details for a few minutes at a time so I don't get too gungho and break parts off. Also a really sharp Exact knife helps because then I can use less force and get more of a result.

     At this point , it's more about dry carving and being very , very careful and since now there's accesss to the backside of the dinosaur that can be worked on. Carefully. Did I mention you need to be careful about this?  It's a huge relief when it gets past this point and is fired. And thats what happens next !

Allosaurus: Jaws of Death !

        I've decided to show the details of the Allosaurus head , I find that to be the most difficult to get right. I'm hoping that will help me get it right. And in paleoart there is a special need to get the details as right as possible. So , Allosaurus had a large skull equipped with razor-like teeth for slashing huge chunkfuls of flesh.  Not something you'd want coming at you in a dark alley. If there had been alleys in the late Jurassic. I think the next Allosaurus will have his jaws open for maximum scare factor. 

     He starts out looking sort of sweet. like a baby, almost.

    Then less babyish and more tiny terror.

   He begins even more to look like the major predator that he was, there's speculation that he fed on Stegasaurus , which must have been a challenge. 

   At this point the wet work is over and it's all about taking away clay to add detail, and adding cross-hatching to simulate skin.

Tomorrow, CLAWS OF CALAMITY ! No.. Toes of TERROR ! No... FEET OF FURY !! YES !

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...