Bronze Dog Staute foam armature ready for clayup

This post will show how I use images to help me line up the foam to the dog confirmation. This is extremely important when the client is looking for correct body proportions...etc. The clay-up/skin that is applied with a brush will only be about 1/4" to 1/2" thick; therefore, I try to get as close as possible with the foam armature.

The goal is to try to keep the sculpture as light as possible. The legs need to be able to support the weight of the clay.

I will not be supporting the legs with aluminum rod for this soft coated wheaten terrier, since his legs are short and stocky. Aluminum rods are some time used when the foam legs are not strong enough to support the sculpture. For instance, rods were used on the life sized bronze poodle.

Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier study head-shots

The client has supplied me with these excellent head-shots of his Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. The images will assist me greatly in capturing the likeness of Oxford.

Dog armature work-in-progress

More work on the Styrofoam dog armature. Due to the annoying noise of the rasp against the foam, this will be the last video on this phase. 

Dog Sculpture armature made of Styrofoam

Here I am trying out my new sanding gloves. I discovered that they are not as course as I would have like them to be; however, they do appear to work well for smoothing the surface.

Glass eyes for Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier

Here are the glass eyes I will be using for the clay sculpture. Normally I will use clay for the eyes, but the clients requested the original clay sculpture of their Oxford, the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier. The taxidermy eyes will give Oxford more of a life-like appearance.

Sanding Gloves for shaping Styrofoam

I came across these sanding gloves and I am hoping they will assist me in the shaping of the foam that will serve as the armature. 

They are suitable for both left and right handed users, for faster and comfortable, hand sanding. I ordered two so that I can use them on each hand. 

When sculpting, symmetry is important. In other words, what I feel on one hand I ensure the other hand will shape accordingly.  

The sanding glove comes with one coarse 60 grit pad. The 60 grit should be able to remove the desired amount of foam.  In the past I used rasp, but they have their limitation. 

Conforms to all types of shapes and surfaces, the firm yet flexible structure of the sanding glove helps eliminate fatigue encountered when holding a sanding block and the open mesh fabric provides ventilation.  

Roughing out the styrofoam dog with hotwire tools

The audio to this video has been disabled by Youtube.com since the background music contained copyrighted material. However if you wish to view the video with the audio, you can visit this URL: http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/11837966

These videos demonstrate the tools and steps I use to rough-out my Styrofoam dog. The foam dog is used for the armature.