I did a lot of thinking about the direction I wanted to go with my figures and charms. After Slinky Dog got so much attention and admiration, the answer hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm usually very particular about detail. I'm also a perfectionist (being a Virgo and all). So with my next work, I decided to incorporate my new answer.
Quality > quantity.
I want to ensure that people get a unique, one of a kind product from me. I want to make sure that it has my flare, that people will someday know it's something I created just by looking at it.
So I gave it a shot with making Vaporeon from Pokemon:
I added extra detail in the tail, ruffles around his neck, and spine. I think he turned out exceptionally well and I'm very proud of him!
He took about 3 hours in total to create.
Then I got the idea to try to do all of the Eevee evolutions from Pokemon. I tried my hand at Flareon next:
To be honest, Flareon was probably one of the hardest figures I've sculpted to date. In total, he took about 6 hours to create. His legs gave me the most trouble. I also had troubles figuring out how to do the fire. I knew I wanted to use liquid clay to create a firey texture, but to my disappointment, I couldn't find liquid clay anywhere. So I was forced to make my own... which was tricky and very time consuming. As well, my intentions with the fire around his neck, on his head, and at his tail, was to be transparent. I had worked in regular clay with transparent clay but unfortunately after he was baked, the fire wasn't transparent.A real disappointment on my part, considering I worked so hard with the fire parts.
Oh well... it's a learning experience for sure! All I know is that I would love to remake Flareon the way I had pictured him from the beginning. I intend to do so once I get a little more experience under my belt.