#442 In the studio: Roadrunner in progress

I have many sculptures in various stages of completion in the studio and I live with them as long as possible.
Over time, I continue to see the work with "fresh eyes" as I move around the models, making adjustments and "tweaking" until the inspiration and/or desire to finish or a deadline initiates the mold and foundry process.

Below is a clarified line drawing of a roadrunner.  

I begin most of my works with not only field work, but with drawings and photography.
Note the base design with the flowering cactus:
The bird's legs and tarsus are too thin to support the weight of the body when cast in bronze.
Therefore, a mass reinforcement for the figure is an important consideration but must present good design.

Below, I've blocked in the major shapes and established the essential feather groupings and concentrated on the large forms, correct proportions, and gesture.  Like all birds, the roadrunner's feathers grow in predicable sets and groups and I have arranged and organized the plumage patterns. 

Below, I am experimenting with a design alternative by putting a little snake in the bird's beak.  

The species typically feeds on snakes and lizards in the Southwest.  Although the snake works 

well in the composition, I'm not sure about using it . . . but will live with it.

Shown below, is a page from my sketch book.  Before I start a sculpture of a species new to me, I research, observe, photograph, and complete many drawings and studies of the subject.

Sculptors sculpt what they know while painters paint what they see.