'Five Wolves' (Wolf 3 - Phase 8-11) by Shane Wilson
November 17, 2011 Categories: Five Wolves
Wolf 3 was challenging, to say the least. It is carved almost completely from the inner, softer and more porous antler. Detail and depth, the subtle shaping of bone, muscle and hair - all become exponentially more difficult and time consuming as there is little room for error.
When working from a reference photograph, such as this, it is necessary to determine where the animal 'lies' in 3D space. This becomes more difficult when the photograph is taken using a telephoto lens, since the effect is to compress the subject.
After studying dozens of other photographs of wolves in various states of repose, and reviewing wolf anatomy, I was able to locate the major landmarks (hip, knee, shoulder blade, vertebrae) in order to properly orient this wolf in the antler.
When working from a reference photograph, such as this, it is necessary to determine where the animal 'lies' in 3D space. This becomes more difficult when the photograph is taken using a telephoto lens, since the effect is to compress the subject.
After studying dozens of other photographs of wolves in various states of repose, and reviewing wolf anatomy, I was able to locate the major landmarks (hip, knee, shoulder blade, vertebrae) in order to properly orient this wolf in the antler.