Please read the description before commenting. A lot of times I get people asking questions or commenting on something that I answered/already covered in the description. Thanks. ^^

WIP pics can be seen here: [link]
Newer, better photos of this piece can be seen here:
[link]

As usual my photos suck. I think I might hire the media center at school to get some good photos for my portfolio, but these will do for DA. This piece is just what it looks like - a life size white wolf. I haven’t measured the dimensions yet, but it is quite large. The form is made from carved styrofoam over a steel armature. It’s covered with faux fur that has been trimmed and painted, has iridescent white glass eyes, and has detailing done in both polymer clay and epoxy putty. Clay and putty parts were painted with acrylics. All the work on this was done by me and the only pre-made taxidermy parts were the eyes (which I painted myself).

Originally I was going to surround this with bones, but decided to scratch that idea for now. The bones would have had to be painted or molded in plastic for it to look right, and I didn’t have time to mess with it. The animal is not a totally realistic white or arctic wolf since I usually include some type of fantasy element in my sculptures. In this piece the fantasy element is much more subdued than in my other work. The strange iridescent eyes are the only clue that this is not quite an ordinary wolf. I was going for a feeling of eerie emptiness. Beyond that, the reading of the piece is pretty much up to the viewer and can vary a lot. The symbolism of the wolf can play a role in the reading too, since I like to reference dreamlike material and archetypes.

I’m relieved to be done with this piece and am proud of it, but I was so rushed in finishing it that there are a lot of flaws. If I had time, I would redo the fur on the legs and face. The airbrushing came out fine on the feet, tail, and body, but I’m pretty unhappy with the facial airbrushing. My small airbrush is broken (and now seems to have disappeared out of my work station) and the one at school is larger and way more powerful. I have a hard time doing smaller detail work with it. I’m not entirely happy with the epoxy work around the eyes and mouth either. But now I’m moving on to try some new pieces that are left as just raw styrofoam and don’t have any sort of covering.

Edit: Photos of the face can be seen here [link]
Edit 2: Dimensions! 30 x 12 x 48 inches