1. starting with a blob of clay (monster clay). I use a potter's wheel because the big tree is easier to handle while working on it. Only fingers and wooden tools were used for the first steps.
2. Some more clay added to the tree
3. The tree is slowly recognizable as such
4. Tree fungi are added to the trunk...
5. ... and removed for smoothing the surface with an old brush and some white spirit
6. aging the tree with an needle
7. scratching the bark into the trunk with an metal needle and a self made tiny rake.
First, vertical furrows are carved deep into the trunk with the needle
The resulting beads are then scored horizontally using the needle and thereby divided into different sized fields
Finally, dip the small rake in the furrow and pull the tool out of the valley. This is repeated until the desired result is achieved
(This is a pretty boring job and takes several hours)
8. After the bark has been fully sculpted, smooth the entire surface of the tree with white spirit (work sparingly!)
9. The view from above
Now the tree is ready for making the moulds...
10. ... and cast him in grey resin
(on the far left you can see the original tree)
