Springer Spaniel

Alpha Ceramics, a ceramics supply store in Sacramento, is having a juried exhibit entitled "Dogs Days of Summer" to benefit the Front Street Animal Shelter.  So I'm making this dog piece for the show.  It's supposed to be a springer spaniel.

I started by sculpting the head, beginning with a cone which I formed from a portion of a circle cut from a slab I rolled.  Then I added other shapes, like for the upper lips and eyebrows, and continued sculpting.  I added a second piece cut from the slab for the back of the neck.  That was day 1.

The next day I formed a large cone for the body and legs and attached the head.  I began to form the legs by cutting into the cone and rolling the leg pieces back.

After a lot more fussing and adding clay for the shoulders, hips, and to close the belly, I finally got to add the ears.  (You can see the piece I'm adding for the shoulder in the first photo.  Of course I have to remember to cut a hole in the piece I'm applying it to because the shoulder piece is domed and hollow.)  The hardest part was waiting until last to add the ears, but I knew that if I put them on sooner I'd be likely to mess them up as I sculpted.  As always, the most fun was the texture.

I wish I had a nice warm dark brown so that I could glaze the dog a liver and white like my sister's springerSunny.  But I don't.  So most likely this little dog will be black and white.