repeating the process until the whole mass is perfectly smooth.
The tools for modelling can be procured at any artists' supplies store, or if once seen can be easily whittled out in pine wood.
Many fancy that foliage is one of the easiest things with which to begin, but the author of "Minor Arts" (an authority on all such subjects), recommends beginning with an animal. Procure a plaster cast of the object you are about to model, say a rabbit. Form a lump of clay (working on a smooth board or a slab of slate or marble) into a general rude resemblance to the object. It is well to make a smooth base of clay on which the figure may stand. Have the clay from which you model your figure a very little wetter than the base as the drier clay will absorb the moisture from the lump, and in the process the figure will be more firmly fixed to the base.
This rule should be always remembered in building up your figures. It is much easier for the beginner, however, to take from than add to the clay. Therefore in your first attempt, be sure and have the blocked out form sufficiently large. Ascertain that you have the main points correctly by means of a large pair of compasses. Don't be discouraged by repeated failures. "Rubbing out" is much easier than in drawing, for it is but to work the whole into a lump and begin again. If you find that the clay is getting too dry, sprinkle water over it by means of an atomizer or a brush dipped in water.
When the figure is blocked out satisfactorily, proceed by means of tools and fingers to bring out the details. Use alternately the point of your bone tool to form the eyes and indentations of the ears. For the larger curves the fingers are the best tools. A few days of earnest, studious work will enable you to imitate any simple object. In finishing the hair the bone tool may be used,
