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Reptangle — Ceramic sphinx
Published: 2012-12-16 22:31:00 +0000 UTC; Views: 7688; Favourites: 254; Downloads: 45
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Hey! I found one of my rough old sphinx sculptures!I had forgotten about this one. I made her in 1982, which was a couple years before Windstone existed.
She is unglazed ceramic clay, and is posed here with some nice chunks of petrified wood.
We fired her in a reducing atmosphere so that the clay turned a tan color with toasted edges. I kinda like the way it makes her look filthy, like she just got in a cat-fight.This sphinx is about.. ( where is that dang ruler...) 5 inches long.
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Comments: 41
That is really really awesome! It would be a great PYO I would think.
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Really cool, I love Egyptian type art and this is different from most
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Oh dear. I have never bought any Windstones (thought not because I didn't want to), but if you made a sphinx line, I might just have to do something about it. This is bloody gorgeous.
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I am so glad you think so! I have not had much response to Sphynxes as a subject. I am waiting for them to become more popular before I try making a sculpture to produce.
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Let's hope they're revived by some popular TV-show then!
I love human-faced-animals and sphinxes are my favourite, I'm always on the lookout for more artwork with them in it. Your take on it is pretty much perfect, you made her look like a proper predator, sleek and elegant.
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I like the way she looks with the toasted edges too! Are you ever going to make more like this?
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Probably not, but who knows. Thank you!
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This is amazing! I've been in a ceramics class for a few months now and I can't make anything half-decent. Do you have any tips you could pass on to a newbie?
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Oh, sure! I just take a piece of clay and go at it. But this is not what you are supposed to do.
The big tip is -if you are doing a sculpture, use a type of clay body that is suited for that purpose. Use one that is "plastic" with a little grog in it for support, otherwise you'll be trying to sculpt with peanut butter.
Making ceramic figures is much harder than making things out of Sculpey. You need to plan out your sculpting method, so it goes as quickly as possible before the thing can dry out.For this reason, it is best to use textures rather than trying to sculpt individual details.
For big pieces (about the size of a squirrel or larger) I usually used "pinch pots" stuffed with newspapers wrapped in damp paper towels for the body, then I added legs and whatnot to that.
I would prepare the basic legs, head, slabs for wings, and little balls or worms of clay for making feathers or scales, in advance so I could assemble the whole thing quickly. Hopefully that leaves you time to pose and refine the creature before it drys out. With practice, you can really get fast at this.
Another method is to sculpt the thing solid, let it set up to leather hard stage, slice it through the thick parts, scoop it out like an avocado, then stick it back together. This is good for slim creatures that don't lend themselves to pinch-pot shapes.
There are a half dozen other ways to sculpt things at least, but these are the ones I have used the most.
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I really like how you treated the mane transitions. Lots of movement and grace in her....
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I love her! She's beautiful. Do you think you'll make more?
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Not in ceramic, the kiln is in storage, but I might make a pyo sphinx sometime.
Thank you!
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She looks like an antique Egyptian figurine (though of course with better anatomy! XD) Nice flow of movement!
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So beautiful. Must have been an unexpected find. Just like being in Luxor
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Awe... no breasts? I enjoy that particular powerful female attribute on these creatures. My favorite ones being from The Never Ending Story. :3
Still very nice and ancient looking.
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This is sort-of based on the Egyptian kind of sphinx. They didn't have breasts, or at least you couldn't tell if they did.
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The simple, wingless, Egyptian kind.
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Neat! 
Not sure about the thing on her head.
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I'm not sure about the thing on her head either, I guess it was supposed to be a headdress of some kind.
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Man she is stunning, I really like that she's unglazed. Gives a more authentic and antiquity appeal to her
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I really like the look, feel and flow of her, Melody.
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Awesome! You know what also doesn't appear much? Orcs. XD Ever sing I read this trilogy 'Queen of the Orcs', I found that I really like them in that light, different than what you usually think of
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I am not overly fond of orcs! Or giants, or trolls or any hulking, dumb, bad tempered, smelly characters like that
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I like to think of my own orcs a kind of mix between those.
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Beautiful. I'm digging the dirtiness - makes her look like a historic artifact.
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I love the color of it. :3 Looks antique.
The design is to my taste aswell, I especially like the mane
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