This week I have been working on covering my tiger figure in cotton clay. How is it going? Well, it is a work in progress. I am not really enamored with this type of clay. It is working but not as I hoped it would. I guess I should start at the beginning of this saga.
First, you have to pull apart a bunch of cotton balls. I would recommend that you wear a dust mask if you do this. The tiny fibers were everywhere, on my clothes and face. It is probably not a good idea to be inhaling these particles.
Next, the original recipe I found said to boil the fibers. I did not think it necessary, so I just soaked them overnight. The next day, the fibers that I had spent so much time tearing into little pieces had matted themselves into a piece of fiber. After draining the water, I had to pull the tear the pieces apart again. Then I added the new water and flour to make a loose paper mâché mix. I also added some glue. By the tie it was thoroughly mixed, the fibers had matted up again. I suppose that this might be okay if you wanted to add a large swath of clay as one piece over something, but it did not do all that well for my purposes. However, I continued on with the project, pulling little pieces of fiber off and sticking it onto the tiger form. I should mention that I would put some PVA glue directly onto the tiger to stick the piece of fiber on. The fiber tended to slide around and needed some sturdier glue to make it stick.
I had to work one section at a time and sit in front of a fan for several hours to let it dry. I was concerned that it would develop mold if it was allowed to dry on its own. When I had the entire figure covered the fur looked more like a sheep than a tiger. And I still have not figured out the tail.
Anyway, I decided that another layer of the cotton clay was in order. I used the same method for the second layer, laying down glue and then adding some of the cotton fiber. This time, once the fiber was on the form I used the tip of a wooden skewer to press indentations into the fur. This flattened the cotton a little more and gave it some directional lines to indicate fur. I am still working on that part and expect it will take me a few more days to finish.
This photo shows the fur along its back where I have added the second layer. I wanted the fur to look a little rough.
Many people see pictures of tigers, and they have beautiful soft looking coats. Most people do not know that tigers do not look like that in the wild or even in zoos. Tigers tend to look a little dusty and scruffy. The pictures that many people are looking at are shot at special animal sanctuaries that cater to photographers. The tigers have been washed and groomed for the photos. (I read this in a photography magazine.)
I watched the tiger at our local zoo for quite some time. Our zoo has an albino tiger. He or she, I am not sure which had white fur with black stripes and blue eyes. I actually plan to paint my tiger figure in the well-known orange and black. but it was nice to see such a rare and magnificent animal.
This tiger was very smart too. There was a place you could stand and observe the animal in its outside enclosure through a plexiglass window. The tiger kept running up to the window and launching itself at the plexiglass, striking it with its paw. It was smart enough to understand that this plexiglass was such a large piece that it would flex and bend just a little bit when it was hit. It kept jumping at the glass and hitting it dead center over and over. It was actually beginning to develop a small spider web shaped crack in it about the size of a dime. I have never heard that the tiger escaped, but I am sure that they had to replace that piece of plexiglass before there was trouble.
Anyway, as I said earlier, the tiger is still a work in progress. I still need to add more clay to the sides and legs. It may take most of the week. All in all, if I had to do it over again, I would use a different clay.
The only other thing I might add is that when laying on the clay, you have to consider the direction of the fur. For the back of the animal, I started at the rear and worked my way up towards the head. For the sides, you should work from the stomach to the shoulders to make the fur look like it is laying in the right direction.
Check back next week for new photos of the (hopefully) competed animal.
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