clay

I'm using a technique where the sculpture gets fired more than once. The under layer for draconis is going to be white clay. Rather than take a bunch of time and energy to knead the dough into a single consistency/color by hand i choose the easy way of rolling. Take out a portion of the clay and cut it into pieces, stack those pieces and then roll it out flatish. Cut the clay into pieces once more, stack them and then roll them out flat again. Now your clay is very pliable and thoroughly mixed (although if you're mixing two different colors to make a new one the only real way to do it right is to knead it together a little at a time by hand).

You need to try and make sure the clay isn't any thinner than about an eigth of an inch when using it for the wings or other parts that stick out away from the body (horns, spikes and the tip of the tail). Really thin clay burns before the thicker clay even sets when too far away from the main body. Proceed in stages to cover the body, filling in slight musculature and definition as you go. Don't be afraid to experiment with body positional changes. What you don't smooth over in this stage can be covered up later with scales and such.

Since the spikes for my dragon are going to be a different color than the body and they're really thin in any case, I make placement markers with pieces of wire held to the body by a ridge of clay. I like putting these spikes on in pairs so that there is a length of wire like a stapler that would be flat against the body with clay covering it for support. I don't have any progress photos for creation of the mouth (if yours is open) but it needs to be done in this stage. You first take your "gum" colored clay and make the interior gums. These are basically trianglular shapes that fit into the mouth. Next create a tongue (mine is red) and insert it, pressing down on the clay as far into the throat as you can get. Because I am assuming that the draconis has teeth much like an alligator or preadatory mammal, there are to be both an inner an outer gumline. Roll cones to create the teeth and place them along the outside of your interior gums. Make a thin roll to go along the bases of your teeth to create the exterior gum. Finally roll out a length for your lips and have them cover the gums to your desired shape.