Folk Art Pig-Part 16-Photos

Today I wanted to show the basic construction of the hoof.  Unfortunately, I must have been working in the zone and did not think to stop and take pictures as I was going along.  The pictures that are on the blog today are a little blurry because I had to zero in on them from a larger picture. 

I started by drawing a basic hoof "footprint".  The footprint consisted of a circle the diameter of the round dowel plus the the pointy parts of the hoof.  (Photo 1)

After I had made four hoof prints I added folded/angled pieces of cardboard to give some height to the hooves.  The pieces of cardboard were taped to the hoof print with masking tape.  Because of the size, I had to use very small bits of tape for this part.  It was difficult to work with such tiny pieces of tape. (Photo 2)


Once I had made all four of the hooves, I taped them to the bottom of the dowels.  I used small shaped bits of cardboard and masking tape to create a sloping shape from the dowel down to the hoof.  The hooves were all covered with three layers of paper maché.  Shame on me, I did not get a single picture of this part of the process.  I just kept on working because I was running out of time (and patience).  Getting these hooves to stay where I wanted them to stay was a bit trying.

Once I had all the hooves in place, I did a test of the paint colors for the hooves.  I did get a picture of that, so at least I have a decent picture of what the finished hoof looks like.  (Photo 3)

Next blog:  Creating the ears.