I started today by adding one element to the drawing on the easel at home. It is not usual for me to use words in my drawing, and originally I had been planning a small human figure on the bottom left, but for reasons left known only to me, I decided to use a word instead.

I felt a bit lost when I entered the studio this morning, and felt a lot of (self imposed) pressure to DO something significant, so I had to remind myself to focus on the small stuff. To get myself moving into the work, I started by doing some repairs on Anger, Frustration, Restlessness. Which, as I write this, seems to have been an appropriate choice.

That bit of work provided me the doorway into the work, and I was able to identify for myself what is next. The Chorus is an important part of the piece, and while I’ve made two clay models which had been intended as part of the chorus, I decided, for a number of reasons, that they are actually not part of the chorus.

I needed to start learning how to work with the airdrying clay, which size of figure I wanted for the chorus, and I didn’t want the chorus members to be wearing red or blue boots, as these first two figures are. So I’ve put them aside to see where they might fit in (or not) later, and this morning started working on the first of five chorus members.

Today’s studio music brought to you by Niels Frahn. You can check out his music here.

I decided to start the chorus member by trying to replicate a skeleton over which I will add layers to create a rounded figure.

I’m doing it this way so that I’ll become more accustomed to the human skeleton and how the bits fit together, and on this small scale will be challenged to understand proportions of length to width in the bones.

For this first figure I’ve already learned that I need to make the small wires on the armature tighter to the larger wires. I’ve also learned that I love doing this.