So what do you do when you’re too tired to clay and everything’s turning to mush on you? 
I’m going to be teaching a 4 hour workshop on sculpting tree frogs for my guild in March. So.. I’m working on a couple frog sculptures as class examples. I have some cute ones and wanted something a little more realistic to show some variation.
The first step was to make a base. I chose a nice chunk of shale (layered black rock) that I picked up on the beach as the main support. Then I used some marbled green scrap and alot of texturing to make “moss” growing on the rock. A skewer and some floral wire provided a nice armature for two tropical leaves and I now had a plant growing on my rock.
I baked the clay directly on the rock so it would conform in shape, than added a bit of detail with some acrylic washes and drybrushing on the moss. A little alcohol based ink added a sheen and some depth to the leaves. It all looked great. (I’ll try to post pics at some point)
Then I started on the frog… And it just wasn’t working. The little guy looked cute but he didn’t have the right expression, and he didn’t fit the leaf base – he was both too big and not quite the right style. About that point I realized I was tired, frustrated and I’d gone too long without eating. SO I went off to get a snack and then I watched tv for a couple hours.
I ended up making a new vertical leaf stalk the next day that matched the existing frog and it looks pretty good. Not quite what I was going for but I like it. And I still have the original base to make a smaller frog for…
I’m not sure if there’s a moral to this story, but I’m going to make sure I take a break next time BEFORE I’ve gone past the crash point. And if I’m too tired for intense concentration, I’ll work on something less demanding – like sanding. I hate sanding, but that’s another story!