The making of puppy figurines was a journey that took more than 2 years! Back then I was still trying to figure things out in terms of taking sculpture up as a way of life. I guess fear was something that was holding me back!
Puppies are cute. Their antics are clumsy, childish and heart warming! When I was designing the cute puppy figurines I was recalling how my dogs used to behave when they were just pups. They would beg for attention. They would always be ridiculously happy. They would try to chew stuff up and end up sleeping, completely exhausted wherever they could, be it in their food bowl or in our shoes!
This was the motivating factor for me in choosing the designs for the cute puppy figurines! Their curiosity, the playfulness and the way they take a place in our hearts!
When I started out to learn sculpting I naturally gravitated to puppies. I made as many variations as possible. The initial models were made with the simple sculpt and bake polymer clays that children had at their schools. The colours were great, but finding the right colour at the store was the problem. To get over that limitation I started painting these polymer clay models.
Over time I discovered a wonderful sculpting medium called oil-based-clay. There are many brands in the market. I use Chavant NSP Hard clay. This is not a final medium though. I took a while to learn how to mold and cast into polyresin!
The Curious Puppy Figurine captures the cute and curious visage of the puppy while half smiling. It always confuses us as to what their mood is at that moment. It’s like they are happy to see us but are expecting food or attention! I sculpted in a cute little belt and paws into the figurine too!
The Playful Puppy Figurine is a scenario that happens even with grown up dogs! They act as if someone is out to take their chew toys during play time and they would stuff their mouths and be completely happy too! They would also try to accomodate one more toy in their mouths! That’s why there are 3 balls in the playful puppy’s mouth!
The Comfortable Puppy Figurine is mostly a scenario when they are completely tired. The usual scenario at home would be that their heads would be inside while the rest of their bodies hang out of the shoe! I sculpted them the other way around as I have put my tired puppies into a boot and watched them sleep peacefully!
I’ve put in some pictures of the process of replicating them. It was a big learning moment for me while making the molds – avoiding locking points and considering probable air traps. I still ended up getting some parts cut out because of air bubbles. Many sculptors saw the pictures that I put up online and gave me some good tips about how to handle them. I am grateful to Mr. Tim Bruckner for taking time and checking my process and giving me a lot of suggestions. His book, Pop Sculpture, is a treasure trove of information! It’s worth the price!
When I started the casting process, a lot of pieces didn’t turn out well, but they were so cute that I couldn’t bear to throw them away. I still have those pieces!
Getting them mass produced was a challenge. Getting the right material and doing many pieces was challenging and I tried out different places in India. Finally two manufacturers took up the challenge and mass produced them for me!
If you would like to learn to sculpt or have a custom sculpture made for you, then please do reach out to me! Please do share this with others or on social media. It might help someone!
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