What is so interesting about the creative process is you may think you know where you are going to end up when you start, but what you learn along the way (over and over again) is that you need to "Trust the Process," and walk the road and see where it takes you. Let me explain:
After returning from a two week break from a family wedding and Grandparents visiting, I get back into my studio to explore the answer to an email that simply read: "What about a standing dog?" So I thought...I procrastinated...had a few too many cups of coffee and THEN I finally came up with this sketch (see below).
After that I knew where I wanted to go so I moved to 3-d since I work so much better in dimension.
I cut out the sitting dog and put in a standing dog. He later got his legs lopped off since he was too tall (my actual dog is too large so he is going to be scaled back by about 10% so he fits the part - Lonsdale's dogs were smaller). As I spun the quick study around I suddenly really liked the idea of a standing dog because the piece as a whole is more dynamic from all angles. A sculpture is most interesting when there isn't a so called "Front" to the piece. After USA Shawnigan Foundation paid a visit to my studio (Stuart Milbrad along with Francois & Sharon Elmaleh) it was settled, so back to the armature I went.
Standing dog armature seen on right.
Above : This is what I worked on today. I'm really trying to get his weight balanced and his feet in the right place. The 1930s shoes fit my model (yeah!) so now I know what the proper height is as he is now wearing wing-tipped shoes with heels. I will start adding his coat, etc... soon after I know I have all his anatomy in the right place.
