Touch the Clouds - Driving my Clay to Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Wyoming - Part 35

Traveled 344 round trip to Mountain Trails Gallery in Jackson Wyoming to deliver the clay of "Touching the Clouds" who was a was a chief of the Minneconjou Teton Lakota (also known as Sioux) known for his bravery and skill in battle, physical strength and for his diplomacy in counsel. The youngest son of Lone Horn, he was brother to Spotted Elk, Frog, and Roman Nose. There is evidence suggesting that he was a cousin to Crazy Horse. He was 6 feet 5 inches tall. He must have been an amazing figure of a man.

Touch the Clouds - October 18th to December 10th to Create - the Finish part 2 of 2 - Part 34

I started "Touch the Clouds" on October 18th of this year. Nearly two months later, I'm putting the finishing touches on this clay. This last day was a full 12 and a 1/2 hours.

Touch the Clouds - Right Hand - Finishing up the clay part 1 of 2 - Part 34

Just putting the last touches to the clay. Thought I was going to do the shield, but in the long run.. decided not to add it.

Touch the Clouds - Right Hand - Leggings and Shortening Arrow - Part 33

Mostly off camera today.. My brain is fried and thinking of camera angles was a bit to much for me today.. Besides I spent 4 hours doing his moccasins.. and filling in the leggings... How exciting is that? I did find an old shield I'd made for another clay years ago.. that I never used.. and it works just fine with this clay.. so trying to figure the positioning of it today. Started his back and left arm..

Touch the Clouds - Right Hand - Leggings and Shortening Arrow - Part 32

First shortened the Arrow, because the arrow was about 4 inches to long for the type of arrow it is. Started, and finished the right hand holding the arrow. I also removed the fluff on the feathers at the tips because that was a sign of a senior or old warrior. Since this warrior is in his 20s he didn't meet the reason for the fluff. I then placed the piece back on the larger sculpting stand and started working on his leggings.

Touch the Clouds - Working on Detailing the Headdress - Part 31

Just adding detailing to the headdress today

Touch the Clouds - Gluing Feathers to Each Other With Soft Clay then Painting the Feathers - Part 30

The feathers to his War Bonnet, needed to be sealed to each other, so I used soft clay in between the feathers, where they meet, and then squeezed them together, allowing the clay to kinda glue them together. After I did all that, using a mat finish house paint, that I had matched to the color of the clay, I painted the feathers to match the color of the rest of the piece. This has a two fold result.. It allows people to be un-confused, when then see the feathers. If they were in dark wax at the gallery, they spend all their time wondering why the two colors.. instead of looking at the total piece. Second reason for painting them, is for me, so my eye isn't confused by the two colors, allowing my imagination to work in the finishing of the clay.

Touch the Clouds - Adding the feathers to the Headdress - Part 29

After doing some work on the upper body, and smoothing the skin, I then started to add feathers to his War Bonnet.

Touch the Clouds - Working on his face today - Part 27

Before working on the bonnet I need to get the face tuned up. I also plotted out the placement of each feather on the headdress.

Touch the Clouds - Major work on the upper Torso of the Warrior today - Parts 25 and 26

Video Above...Before working on the bonnet I need to get the upper torso ruffed in.. and the right arm.. Discovered that the forearm of the armature is pretty simple.. so I sculpted the bones in the arm so I can get the connections for the muscles. I figure TruForm (www.truform.com) did that on purpose, because the structure of those forearm bones change, depending on the twist of the wrist, so to speak.


The above video... Before working on the bonnet I need to get the upper torso ruffed in.. and the right arm.. So went back in after I ate my dinner and worked till 10pm. Continued on the right arm, then moved to his shoulders. I raised his head just a bit. Touch the Clouds didn't have a short neck. I finally worked on the face and head, roughing in his hair and braids. I need to get the hair in place because that adds to the size of the hat part of the headdress.

Touch the Clouds - Short Update - Part 24

Working out the game plan for adding the feathers to the warrior's war bonnet. Also needed to get out orders for my DVDs to the Post Office.. They're being mailed to as far a Rio De Janeiro..