COMPLETED Work in Progress: Slow Loris

Slow Loris is complete and is en route to it's new owner! This little fella was a handful and a great challenge. From the wire armature, the washed wool core, wired hands and feet, and myriad of colours and textures used; a lot of time, attention and detail went into the creation of this piece. I can't wait to hear from the recipient of this commission.

He is so photogenic and loves to climb in trees! Slow Loris is fully wired as you can see from the work in progress pics and it makes it that much more fun to hold! I used alpaca, various types of merino, angora and New Zealand Corriedale wool. There is a variation of colour that makes him look very realistic.

So many different poses and such a nice weight in your hands. With my more detailed pieces such as this one, you can feel the weight and the structure of the piece and they truly feel alive in your hands.

These eyes are just precious. They capture the light perfectly and add even more life!

I really enjoyed this commission and look forward to feedback.

If you are interested in your own custom piece, please contact me.

_____________________________________________________________

It has been  a while since I have updated this work in progress but the holidays are over and HAPPY NEW YEAR! My work schedule goes back to normal so I can resume my felting adventures and will have more updates more frequently.

Slow Loris is coming along nicely! I am just about done. Just some minor bits and pieces to look after. I have finished fleshing out the body and getting the face sculpted and coloured to my liking. I am still waiting on another pair of eyes (the original pair had a flaw) so I can set them permanently.

Here is the adorable little face! You can't see all of the fine colour blending in the face, but I was going for realism and am very pleased with the results.

 Such a striking little fellow. I am going to miss him for sure!

I am adding on the last bits of colour over the core layer and will then felt it out smooth. I might leave it a bit fuzzy for realism but will see how I go. I am loving my new hand carders and I am really excited for what I can do with colour now that I have them. His colour is a blend of about 5 or 6 shades of browns, nutmegs and fawns. Once blended it gives a nice natural colouration.

More to come...I should have him done in the next day or two...

___________________________________________________________________

ORIGINAL POST

I have been working on a special piece...the adorable slow loris! I was told the little guy on the left of King Julian is meant to be one. Anyway...these little guys are so cute...too cute for words and I am so pleased to be working on this.

I spent a few hours poring over photos and videos of this little guy in action. I used a photo of the skeleton as a guide for making my armature. The armature started out being a crazy 15" tall, I scaled it down so he will be roughly 10-11" when complete.
 

Once I was happy with the armature, I wrapped it in core wool and started filling in and shaping the body. This little guy already feels real in my hands!

Adding more core wool to the body. I'm still fleshing him out to get the proper thickness on all of the limbs and torso before I can add the final layer that will be his true colour.

Received my eyes today that I special ordered from my supplier in the U.S. They are gorgeous museum quality big brown eyes that are really going to capture the light!


Later that day...

ROADBLOCK! I was digging through my wool stash and found I only have a teeny tiny fragment of the brown merino I was going to use for this fella's markings. YIKES!

Another order placed. This one is local so I should have it by the end of the week. And finally a good reason to order some hand carders. I am going to have to blend about 3-4 colours for each bit of his body. I am working with a range of colours from grey, fawn, reddish brown and a caramel colour in addition to the brown.

Looks like that leaves me with just fleshing the body and doing the hands and feet until I get the rest of my supplies.

7pm:

I've got a lot of fleshing out done today. Glad I have ordered the rest of my supplies needed to complete this project. Here is the head being formed. It is in very early stages. It starts as a felted ball and then I will add elements on one by one.

I spent a good chunk of the afternoon fleshing his body out. Looks so cute! Very huggable and a nice weight in your hands. He really feels alive.

Here it is in a crouching position. It stands at 6" on all fours.

More fleshing to do and will try to get hands and feet done. At first I wasn't going to wire them, but the more I think about it, I am leaning towards it.

9pm:

So I've decided to do fully articulated fingers and toes. Here I am attaching the feet to the body. Everything is completely wired so the entire body is poseable.

With these feet, the slow loris will be able to easily stand on its own. Next: hands.

Midnight! I've attached all the hands and feet and have pinned the head up and placed the eyes to get a good look at how my buddy here is shaping up. Looking great!

Just look at those eyes! Astonishing! I can't wait to get my chocolate wool and hand carders.

So cute! This is the biggest felt I have ever made. I'm falling in love and will have a tough time sending this commission to it's new home.

Bedtime! More work tomorrow. Will finish fleshing out and will work on the face :)