Polkadot – Cat Sculpture

To celebrate and honour a very much loved and special feline called Polkadot, I was commissioned to carve her in Yorkstone.

It was clear from the photographs of her that Polkadot was an independent and determined cat and after seeing my ideas for the piece, it was agreed that a walking pose, with tail up, would suit her perfectly.

The photographs of Polkadot were arranged in a beautiful book, which I borrowed throughout the carving time. This was a huge help and an opportunity to get to know her a little before chiseling began.

At the start I made some sketches and then a series of clay maquettes.

Initial sketches

sketch for cat sculpture cat sketch

Initial sketches for sculpture

Clay Maquette

clay models for cat sculpture

The clay models are a good way to work out the pose, look and feel for the sculpture and to present to the customer for discussion and approval. Sometimes it is difficult to tell from a sketch how a sculpture will look in three dimensions, and the maquettes serve, hopefully, to bridge this gap, so I can move forward with the carving. They serve then as a good guide throughout the making time.

Clay models for cat sculpture