Welcome to Quernus! 

Wee Zebras (b.5 December 2009)

After a hectic week filled with preparations for an exclusive Christmas Shopping Evening which I organised for Artsmix, it was a relief to get back to the crafting table to try my hand at some new designs. 

I had a monochrome day on Saturday - I only worked with black and white, as I was making up a couple of commissions (more to follow shortly on those).  And as I mashed up the left over black and white clay, I was struck by the possibility of making Wee Zebras.  Based on the Wee Horse shape, after doing some internet research, I made the nose black, the mane short and stripey (like a mohican), and the tail was thin and stripey with a black tuft at the end. 

The trick with these was not to mix the black and white too much so that the stripes could be preserved as intact as possible.  For the mane, I extruded black and white strands and then made up a double thicknes of alternating strands, trimming them very short before fixing them to the body with liquid polymer clay.  I teased out the strands a little bit to make it look more natural.  The tail was made by rolling out two thin logs of black and white and then twisting them together, like a candy cane.  I then stuck a few short strands of black extruded clay to make the tuft at the end.  A thin circle of black clay for the hooves completed the look, and a coat of satin varnish gives their coats a glossy finish. 

I'll be making more Wild Beasties soon - I have a commission for a Lion and a Tiger, and I want to try my hand at an Elephant and a Giraffe as well.  A Hippo could work too, and if you've got any more suggestions, do get in touch!