A Hare in Progress

Next, I'm working on a hare.  To begin her, I started with a lump of clay that I shaped to be her head (not including the ears) and body (not including the tail.  After I was generally satisfied with that shape, I added ears and eyes and modeled her muzzle in more detail.

At that point, she was a solid lump of clay.  To hollow her out, I used a piece of thin fishing line to cut her body in half crosswise.  I hollowed out each half, then scored and slipped the cut edges and stuck her back together.  I pierced a hole in her chest so that the air inside to could escape when it expands in the heat of the kiln.  I let it sit for a while at this stage to let that seam rest.  The slip in the seam is more moist than the surrounding clay so that it tends to move.  As it sits, the moisture evens out and the cut is sealed more firmly.

Then I added the legs, then began adding the legs, one at a time.  As you can see, at the point I took this photo, I wasn't quite finished.  But I proceeded to add the back legs, then I textured her and pressed a spiral design into her left hip.