I was commissioned for ten Doberman Pinschers by Lynch North West.
Manny
Stanley
Jefferson
Duck
The Twins: Foxy and Fight
Richard
Shilo
My Guys!
Eek
Perkins
The Process
I start by compressing the initial loose wool down into a long shape.
Next the pipe cleaner legs and tail are worked in.
These are wrapped with the highlight color.
Hopefully after all that the basic shape is satisfactory because now I start overlaying the final black coat.
Often this is when I get impatient and despair of ever getting a dog to be proud of.
Now the head is shaped, either before or after it is covered in black.
Lynch North West, the commissioner, likes him!
This is the original, the grandpa, the old man, the first, the wonky, the experiment, the learning curve, the predecessor.
His decedents improved greatly.
At this stage if an “edit” or “surgery” is needed felt is removed.
In the final stretch the ears, glass eyes, brown highlights, and thread nose are added.
Lastly comes the collar with a lot of finger-nail art 3mm metal spikes (Yes, they exist - who knew). The pin heads help get them evenly spaced.
The Spokane Fair liked him!
This was an experiment in the dog breeds, namely a German Shepard. He didn’t make my repeat list.