Elephant

As a second year sculptor, I created an elephant out of clay. Elephants
represent strength, power, and wisdom. Through struggles in our life,
we find our true characteristics and we find these traits in ourselves. I also have
found elephants very interesting in how they protect each other and
always help each other when they can. This is why I chose to do a
elephant. When I started with my elephant, I started by shaping the
body of the elephant. Next, I added all four legs by scoring and using
water. After the legs were attached, it was pretty heavy so I decided to
go ahead and hollow it out since it would be easier then than later on in
my project. I then added the head and had to do a little extra shaping to
the head. Next, I added the ears by scoring and using some slip.
Lastly, I added a tail and tusks and put very subtle details into the
clay such as toes and creases in its skin. It took it about 4 days to
completely dry out. It then got fired in the kiln and had to sit and cool.
Next was painting. I started with a solid grey base coat. I then used dry
brush to apply a brown and tan-grey color on top to give it a unique texture.
I finished it by painting the tusks a light tan color as well as painting the
toes the same color. Painting the toes and tusks the same color unified the
piece nicely. If I had to do anything differently, I would have attached the tail
more from the underneath while it was hanging straight down the make it
more sturdy.