The Maned Wolf: Life Size Sculpture
Article written by Yvonne Anderson & Rita Bartel (all images credited to Rita) | April 2022
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Rita attended a smattering of art courses, at the Academy of Art in San Francisco in her younger days, and at a local junior college later. She has always been artistically inclined. She tells us, “When I was a little girl, I would make personalized birthday and Christmas cards and sold them to my classmates. I pursued painting seriously in my twenties, mainly in oils, with some success, but I left art behind during my working years. Upon retiring four years ago, I was able to get into art full time, and to my delight, I was able to explore many avenues and mediums. This led me to try sculpture, and to use Pal Tiya Premium for my Anthony and Cleopatra sculptures, as well as other projects.
The story behind the Maned Wolf
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While researching an animal to use as a model for a sculpture, I ran across an article on Maned Wolves, which are found in Argentina and Brazil. The South American wolf was so unusual, their proportions so out of the ordinary, that they immediately attracted me. They appear to be foxes on stilts, and are actually members of the canine family. As this project progressed, these maned wolf sculptures took on an important personal meaning for me.
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My Abyssinian cat, named Cleo, who looked very Egyptian, would always be with me while I worked on this project. She kept me company every day. Unfortunately, she passed away about halfway through the project. This inspired me to incorporate a tribute to her into my work.
Read on :) |
Maned Wolf Art
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I have a sketchbook for my sculptures, and I started with a maned wolf drawing. I progressed to a male subject and a female.
After researching various products, I had come to use Pal Tiya Premium on several previous projects. It is easy to use, and the end result is a strong, excellent finish. Firstly, I made small table top versions of them (about 12 inches high) with Pal Tiya Premium, using wire and aluminium foil as a base. |
I had worked with a friend on a large sculpture using Pal Tiya Premium, and we had used pvc pipe as a skeletal base. So, that is what I used for my large sculptures, trying to measure out proper bodily proportions. I then covered the skeleton in foil, filling out and shaping their basic contours.
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Due to the maned wolf height, the biggest challenge was keeping them moist during the curing stage. We live in an area which gets very hot during the summer months, so I had to devise a system of sticking each of their feet into a bucket of water, then wrapping them in large, wet towels which ended up in the bucket to wick the moisture up. Then I wrapped it all in plastic, and taped it closed. I would have to unwrap them every few days to re-moisturize them.
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I finished them from the bottom up, so the curing process was going on for the bodies while I finished their upper torsos and heads. The sheer size and weight presented a challenge as well, and my husband and a friend had to lift them onto a work table and back down into the buckets to cure. My husband’s lower back is still complaining about that one!
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Black Maned Wolf
My husband mentioned that the sculptures looked like the Egyptian god Anubis, who had the head of a jackal, and ushered the dead into the afterlife. Given that, along with her very name, I decided to give them an Egyptian theme, and painted hieroglyphics on them depicting things from Cleo’s life, and Anubis passing judgement on her entering the afterlife. I also fashioned a jewelled broach on the neck of Cleopatra, which contain some of my little Cleo’s ashes.
The finish was three coats of a matte flat black spray paint. I hand painted the hieroglyphs and jewelry with acrylic paints, and sealed them with a gloss clear spray urethane. I sealed the bodies with dead flat clear spray topcoat.
The finish was three coats of a matte flat black spray paint. I hand painted the hieroglyphs and jewelry with acrylic paints, and sealed them with a gloss clear spray urethane. I sealed the bodies with dead flat clear spray topcoat.
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How Rita found the whole process...
I found the process fun, exhausting, frustrating, exciting, challenging, sometimes overwhelming, and exhilarating. When it was finally complete, I loved the entire process of making the maned wolf.
I would have paid more attention to balancing the long legged wolf weight better, although they don’t move at all I feel I could have done a better job at the start of the project.
The Maned Wolves greet everyone who comes to our house in our entry, which is done with an art deco motif.
I enjoy walking by them every day. They bring me joy, and I love other people’s reaction to them as their size alone demands attention.
I would have paid more attention to balancing the long legged wolf weight better, although they don’t move at all I feel I could have done a better job at the start of the project.
The Maned Wolves greet everyone who comes to our house in our entry, which is done with an art deco motif.
I enjoy walking by them every day. They bring me joy, and I love other people’s reaction to them as their size alone demands attention.
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Additional pictures |
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Our considerations
To give long legs structure, refer to our planning pages and watch our video on all things armatures below.
