Friday 25 March 2011

Fuzzy yard pets!

I've always really admired the hairing work of hobbyists like Juliane Garstka and so on, so when Maren of Ivorytower Stables posted her long anticipated hairing tutorial it absolutely made my day!

http://ivorystablenews.blogspot.com/2011/03/fullbody-hairing-english-version-part.html

No sooner had it gone up than I'd read it, gathered all my materials, read it again and then ended up in bed (I wasn't feeling well) half watching a history documentary on BBC iPlayer while I set about giving it a go. I got an iPhone earlier this week (called Ivor ;)) so whenever I needed to check up on anything I didn't even need to leave my bed and could just check out the blog through that - bliss!

My first victim had been languishing in the props drawer for months as he just didn't look right at all. I made him from scratch out of pipecleaners with scraps of leather for ears and pinheads for eyes. Whereas my other bendy dogs turned out ok as the pile of the fluff looked good enough for fur, these ones were too compact and he just looked like...well...a dog made of pipecleaners! XD

Max (before)

Max (before)

Because the mohair is chopped up anyway I realised it was the perfect way to use up all the mangled straggly bits that are the end (and usually waste) result of any horse hairing job. I decided to make him black and tan as he looked like some kind of Rottweiler cross, plus I had tons of leftovers in those colours. I accidently made him incredibly thickset at the front with short legs so who knows what the other half is!

Max

Max

Max

Max

I painted on pawpads too.

Max

Because he's made of pipecleaners he's still poseable - exactly the sort of thing I like on my yard!

Max running

Max

'Stay!'

'Stay!'

'Sit!'

'Sit!'

Unfortunately all this poseability has its downsides...

MAX!


I named him Max after my friend Deb's Rottie/Collie cross. He isn't supposed to be a portrait or anything, just a tribute of sorts. XD Here he is! (and as far as I know he hasn't peed on anything important - he just licks the inside of car windows. :P)

Max on the wall

..and here's model-max with some of the other yard dogs including the two other bendies who I might hair now that I know it looks so good!

The Dogs


Max finished I found I still had loads of chopped up hair so I had a rummage around in the prop drawer in search of another model. I found this Schleich cat that I'd always intended to paint but decided that she'd probably look much nicer as a fluffy mogg instead.

Mogg

Mogg

Ivor came in very handy as I could google tortiseshell/calico coat patterns whilst I haired. I repainted the eyes and nose and painted her mouth and pawpads over the hair. Unfortunatly Nigel's macro lens picks up every little detail so she looks a lot rougher than she really is.

Mogg

Mogg

Mogg

Mogg

She's quite big for Julip scale but meh, I know some absolutely MASSIVE cats so she'll do. :P

Mogg and David

Mogg

Mogg and Luna

I really love her and after pondering a name for ages, I eventually settled on the rather innocuous 'Mogg'. I want to make her some friends out of pipecleaners so I can have some in more interesting positions.
Somewhat shockingly, for someone who isn't a dog person I've managed to aquire loads of them and next to no cats at all!

All that remains is to thank Maren for the brilliant tutorial and see if I can dig out the rest of my pipecleaners...

TTFN!

14 comments:

  1. Max looks like some kind of chihuahua / rott. cross! XD Kidding... He's really cute. And fat. Looks like my doggie. :3
    I think David didn't like it much when Mogg jumped to him... XD

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  2. lmao! Maybe I should do a chihuahua next then - it could sit in someone's saddlebags when they go out on a hack!

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  3. The peeing picture made my day--TOO funny!

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  4. What can I say, he isn't yard trained yet! :P

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  5. So cute! I can't wait to try myself... I'm still rounding up materials :)

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  6. I just almost choked on my tea when I saw how alive that cuuuute dog has become- lol! The peeing piccie is priceless.
    You did very well, I love how the animals look now. The pattern of the cat looks extremly natural, I think.

    I find the idea of "sculpting" with pipecleaners absolutely intriguing- I will certainly try that, too.

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  7. DizzyLizzy26/3/11 6:53 pm

    Wow, they're brilliant! I've never come across that techneque before, but the effect is soo adorable, very julipy too :) Mogg is my fave, beautiful pattern :)
    I used to make pipe cleaner ponies a long time ago... but I never thought of making other animals as posable yard companions! Inspired :)

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  8. Eeee, thank you! ^^
    I made a cat out of pipecleaners today but as I only had the metallic ones the hair just isn't sticking to it very well so it isn't looking good!
    Once I get some more fluffy ones I'll see if I can maybe make a tutorial...

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  9. DizzyLizzy26/3/11 8:45 pm

    yay for turorial! not sure what to suggest with the metal pipecleaners... but perhaps wrap some thread around them to make a better surface? I do that with wire docks, I just bind them in thread and then the hair sticks fine :)

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  10. Yeah, I did think about that when I started it but decided against it because...well...I'm lazy and couldn't be bothered. XD There are still a few random gold bits protruding through the fur but I haven't given him stripes yet so I might be able to hide them...

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  11. Oh yes, a tutorial please! :D
    Maybe a layer of glue or laquer on the metallic cleaners would help, too?

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  12. DizzyLizzy27/3/11 6:31 pm

    lol! Good luck :) can't wait to see him when he's done, be interesting to see how you've done the face...

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  13. I did do a good thick layer of glue before I haired it but it didn't work all that well. XD
    I'm going into town tomorrow anyway so I'll be able to get some more. :D

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