Today's installment in my Tutorial Tuesdays series is a complete revamp of my sculpting tutorial. I've cut out some extraneous steps and updated everything to my current technique.

Additional tips:

-USE SULFUR FREE CLAY IF YOU ARE MAKING A SILICONE MOLD. I cannot stress that enough. I use Jolly King plasteline clay for my base sculpting.

-You want to use a grocery bag, not plastic wrap here. Trust me.

-Use as many angles of reference material as possible, and always remember you are sculpting the skull and musculature that's beneath all of that fur.

-Keep those sight ports clear right up to the very end so you can keep checking the alignment. Only fill them right at the end before molding.

-Try to allow space for your seams in the places you know they'll be; for example, I've made all of the eye ridges deeper than necessary to compensate for the depth the seams will occupy.

-Symmetry is tricky. I find it best to leave my sculpts overnight and readdress the symmetry in the morning, but you can also use a mirror, or take photos and flip them, and of course ask others to look it over as well. If you find something off, figure out whether you like the look of the left side or the right side better, then try to duplicate whichever side looks more right onto the side that doesn't. Alternatively, you could alter both sides simultaneously to make them symmetrical (if a little off), then make adjustments to the shaping afterward.

-Animals naturally have some degree of asymmetry, and no one is perfect when sculpting either. Your goal is to minimize this distracting asymmetry, not eliminate it entirely. I aim for 1/4" variance or less when sculpting personally. Fur is a forgiving mistress, after all.