This dragon sculpture is my husband’s favorite piece of mine; even in its “before” state. I created the top portion (the dragon in the egg) in 2014 and with some revisions in 2017, I am loving it too.
About “Freedom” Dragon Sculpture
Mixed Media Sculpture: polymer clay, hollow chicken egg, inks (MarieYoungCreative.com)
Here are a few lessons that I learned in the creation of this piece.
- Cracked eggs can be salvaged.
I was covering a hollow chicken egg shell with polymer when in cracked, but it cracked in THE MOST spectacular way. My mind’s eye immediately pictured a dragon emerging from the split. I broke away more of the egg to accommodate the size of its body and gently sealed the edges with layers of liquid clay.
- Values matter when it comes to color.
One of the things that bothered me about the original piece was how the dark grays and greens in the face seemed muddy. It needed more contrast in the color values. I didn’t want to use paint to add details because it distracts from the buffed finish of the bare clay. The great thing about polymer is that you can cure it more than once, so I added highlights and lowlights with strategically placed bits of clay.
- Eyes capture the soul.
I thought using yellow would make the dragon’s eye pop, but clearly it didn’t. For round two, I choose a blue and yellow combination for the iris. I added an outer rim of white to really make the eye the focal point. It was also an opportunity to give the sweet beast a little bit of a flirty personality.
- Feng Shui is important.
The radiating pattern of the dragon scales on the egg pulsed with energy, yet the flow of rest of the piece was off. The curve of the dragon’s neck had nice movement, but the angle that it emerged from the egg felt odd. It looked clumsy from different views and the egg rolled around too much. The cure for these flaws was to reseat the dragon in the egg and to create a base that not only stabilized the piece, but also added to the over all flow of movement.
So with these changes, I’m on to the next one.
Very fun to see your changes and how good they made this guy look! I like the way you think. 🙂
Great job, Marie! I like both versions but after reading your post I almost feel like I followed you in the development. I love hearing about your process. Can’t wait to hear about the next one.
Thank you, line! I’m going to try to take the time to do more of these “debrief” looks at my pieces. It helps me to have a more disciplined practice that hopefully will make future pieces even better.