Heroism in the Face of Adversity

I mean, hell, if a (chuckle) - modern - quote - "artist" - unquote - can paint a canvas completely white and call it something like "Man Seeking Knowledge in an Every Darkening World - Inversion #1", then a statue of a smiling pig can be called "Heroism in the Face of Adversity.

But as the mission of CooperToons is to educate and enlighten, this will be the first step in a detailed account - from first to last - of how to make a bronze statue. This image is of the "model" and was created in clay. Traditionally the model is made in water or oil based clay. But this statue was crafted from "polymer" clay, that is a polyvinyl chloride formulation which can be modeled and then hardened by baking according to designated instructions. For small sculptures CooperToons finds using polymer clay is an acceptable (albeit more expensive) compromise between 1) modeling in water based clay which has superior qualities for shaping and sculpting and 2) not wanting to trash your home. As famed sculptor Louis Slobodkin said, sculpting is a great way to mess up a house.

So stay tuned for (intermittent) reports of progress in creating what will truly be a porcine artistic masterpiece.