Monday 18 January 2016

New design - progress



Good morning!  I am currently struggling with an owl design.  Here he is in his latest (and sweetest, I think) incarnation.  I have been going back and forth on the shape of his head.  He is supposed to be a barn owl, and when you look at barn owls (lots of owls, in fact) from the front, they seem to have a flattish head - sometimes with a sort of centre parting or furrow.  However, when you look at them in profile, they have a nice curve to the top of the head.  Trying to get both effects at once is proving near impossible!

When we went to Bridge Farm Barns at Monks Eleigh recently, to offer some hedgehogs and bears at the Brett Gallery, I saw a beautiful handmade ceramic barn owl - a very friendly-looking thing, but with quite a strange-shaped head.  I remember looking at him thinking, 'he's lovely - really sweet - but there's something not quite right...'  Looking at my attempt now, I'm wondering if the artist had the same problem I'm having - if you put a curve in the profile view, his head starts to look domed from the front.

I am going to have one more go at it - although I'm thinking of saving this pattern.  I think I actually like him better with a domed head than with a flat one.  You can see the flat version halfway down my last post.

I really must get on with it though.  Having thrown off the shackles of commercial enterprise, I'm being far too relaxed about the timing!  And it's particularly important in this case because, whilst I'm practically done with the structural stuff, he doesn't look remotely barn-owl-like yet!  I think that's going be primarily down to the embellishment unfortunately (my least favourite bit)!

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