(continuation from previous)... From the elbows up I've been painting and detailing the Sri Lanka Weevil sculpture. It probably would have been more professional to wait till I had daylight outside to paint the first coat of white primer but I was too excited to get'er started. After the white primer, I painted the eyes a gloss black with the smallest paintbrush I had. Then, with black paint, I painted the areas where the separate exoskeleton parts connect (like the elbows) with an individual paintbrush bristle. The gray spots and shading were dry brushed with black pastel powder. With all the different little bugs I've made (and the few real bugs that I've collected) I'm curious to look into mini individual-bug shadowboxes. Ever heard of such a thing? I haven't found any yet in my price range (between zero and free dollars) and have considered that I might have to...
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Among other things, I've been working on the weevil sculpture. I'm happy with how it's coming along and most excited to see my improvement in skill with the polymer clay medium. Not long ago I had sculpted a relatively big ant. I found it hella' frustrating detailing the ants legs. Now, working on the weevil, sculpting the legs wasn't nearly as hard, with better results (but still hella' time consuming). On the whole, I spent almost 4 hours sculpting the 6 legs to my liking. Not to mention that those 4 hours were hella' spread out over a few days (the child just... keeps... growing). The truth is, repetition can be a good teacher in and of itself. Although, if I had to choose just a few new techniques that caused the improvements, it'd go a little something like this: First off, with the ant, I built, posed, and secured...
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Twas few nights after Christmas and all through the house not a creature was stirring except for a weevil, an EVIL WEEVIL! I'm still in the beginning stages of researching this Sri Lanka Weevil (Myllocerus undatus)... at least that's what I think it is. It could be a Little Leaf Notcher Weevil (Artipus floridanus), which is native to Florida and looks, for all intents and purposes, EXACTLY the same. Whichever it is, they are stirring and notching stripping the leaves from the plants in our yard. One of the common posts I've come across on the interweb says you should be killing them every day! Apparently this means war. You know, a lot of folks throughout history have made a swift transition from Christmas to war. Here's a look at the enemy... This is the Sri Lanka Weevil with it's "distinguishing" characteristics: a relatively yellowish head, relatively large eyes and the heel...
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