Sea Lion Miniature

My daughter wanted a sea animal for her class exhibition, and she suggested a sea lion . The grey sea lions were fairly common, and did not excite her much. Then we saw a picture of a white sea lion and decided to go with that.

'Cute' was what she wanted. So I made a few sketches, got her approval and got to work. Did not use any armature. I did the neck to tail in a single piece of clay, and attached the head separately.

Gave some light grey beauty spots all over. I gave it slightly lighter eyes to add some interest. Then highlighted areas like the flippers, tail and around the eyes in light brown.

Since the flippers were relatively fragile, I decided to add a perch. Nothing would do, but a bit of ice. And decorated the edges with stylized waves.

This little guy is less than 3 inches from head to tail.