Kusuma - Crystal Ball Forest Dragon

Well, it's been a while since I submitted a sculpture. I am really proud of this one though and I think it shows a huge improvement in my skill

So meet Kusuma, which means "flower" in Indonesian. He was sculpted for my mother as a mother's day present. He proved to be a huge challenge, especially the wings.

More views and detail photos of him here:

His is sculpted from a mix of green, black and gold clay over a tinfoil armature. He was brushed with gold, bronze and a very small dusting of spring green PearlEx powder which gives him a beautiful, sparkling lustre. He was then baked on a temporary tin-foil ball as I couldn't bake the crystal for fear of it cracking or something.... Thankfully he fit onto the real crystal properly after baking.

The wings were tricky. I layered 4 layers of individually made and placed clay feathers over a wire bone - there are over 30 feathers on each wing! They are very heavy. I sculpted the wings separately and glued them into shoulder sockets after baking. This worked okay, but I want to find a better way to do it in the future since they warped a bit during baking and don't fit flush against his body as they should.

He was glazed with satin Sculpey glaze. It's the first time I've glazed a sculpture and I love the look it gives. So shiny and smooth It really brought out the sparkle of the PealEx.

The crystal is glued to the base and the dragon was then glued to the crystal. The weight of his wings has made the sculpture a little off-balance - the stand holding the crystal is a little too small and I would like to replace it with a larger, heavier one to make him properly balanced, so any future crystal ball dragons with have sturdier stands.

But despite some little flaws, I am incredibly proud of him and my mother is too! I am now at a level where I believe I can sell these sculptures, so I am already in the process of making a shop. It may be a while, but be on the lookout in the future if you would like to buy a custom sculpture of your own!

Details

Materials - Sculpey polymer clay, tinfoil, wire, PearlEx powder, Sculpey satin glaze, crystal ball & resin stand
Height - 13.5 cm (5½")
Length - 13 cm (5")