Even Flying Pigs Need Rest Sometimes

SLEEPING PIGLET w/WINGS

For this project you will need:

CREATIVE PAPERCLAY

3" styrofoam egg

2" styrofoam ball

1" styrofoam ball

sturdy wire

masking tape

white glue- like Elmer's

acrylic paint

Start by cutting the 1" ball in half. You will only need one piece for his snout.

Cut 1/2" from the side of the 2" ball, and 1/2" from the small end of the egg.

Connect the 2" ball and the egg at the cut sides by gluing, as well as taping them

together.

Tape the half of the 1" ball to the head to make a snout. You don't have to have your

pig sleeping. Place the snout wherever you'd like. He can be looking up, and wide awake,

if you want him to be.

You need to cut the piece that you removed from the egg in half for the ears. Place them on his head with the help of a bent wire, shaped in a hairpin fashion. Use masking tape to secure the ears to the wire.

The piece that you removed from the ball is cut in four pieces, like a pie, to build up his legs. Tape them on where they look right to you. They won't be the final shape, just something to pad out the armature and save clay. I placed one of my pig's hind legs out behind him. You can even make the pig laying on his side with all four legs in one direction. Do what you like the most

Once you have the armature built to the way you like, cover the entire thing with

masking tape if you'd like to help the clay stick better. I also cover the masking tape

with a thin layer of white glue before adding a flat sheet of PAPERCLAY that I have

rolled to about 1/4" thickness. You will have to shape the face by adding extra clay

on his cheeks, and jowls. smooth everything as much as you can with a wet finger.

His legs and feet will need to be shaped by adding extra clay.

Before he starts to dry much, make a tail by coiling about three inches of a piece of sturdy wire that is about 5" long. Leave one end straight to insert into the pig's body. Insert it but take it back out while the pig is completed. Make sure you leave a hole where it will go later.

Make two wings from paperclay that are about 1-2" long. Taper the end that will be in front, thinning it down to a narrow tip. Let these dry off separately, to be glued on after painting.

When he is dry, you can sand him to smooth him some, then paint him.

I painted mine all pink, then on the second coat, I blended a little brown into the paint to give him a dirty look. He is a pig after all.

Paint the wings, but leave the spot where the glue will be left unpainted so it will stick better. Attach with super glue, hot glue or white glue. Put some glue on the tail, and re-insert it. If you sand the tip of the wire, the glue will adhere better. I made my pig's tail around a pen, and can actually use the pig as a pen holder if I want.

You can visit the Creative Paperclay blog at http://creativepaperclay.blogspot.com/