Handmade Totoro Diorama

Full View Please! ^o^

Made this as a surprise for my wonderful girlfriend

My first attempt at a sculpture and a diorama. Made with Sculpey, and other mixed media.

Very pleased with how it came out in the end, I learnt a lot during making this and will definitely be taking another sculpture project on soon.

The base used to be a cheeseboard, the rocks are from our garden, grass is actually from a reptile shop. The umbrella is made from canvas with a wire frame, supported by sculpey.

Totoro was made using a polystyrene core, wrapped in foil and sculpted around, which meant I could use a lot less clay for the main body while still being firm.

The most time consuming aspect was definitely the fur, which i used a craft knife to carve individual lines all over and then go over again for a more fine texture. They were then smoothed out a little with metholated spirits.

It has since been touched up a little more and varnished. I made a nice box for it as well.

Characters (c) Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli