Hippo Brief

I've been working on my hippo design for the West Leeds festival. I've made one model from clay so far but I need to get feedback from Jane first to make sure it's the sort of thing she's after before I start making anymore. Ideally I need to make as many as I can out of clay in order for me to make a large number or moulds in the shortest time possible. I kept the design of the hippo simple, leaving out any features that could easily break off or chip - these are designed for kids so we have to assume that if anything falls off it WILL be eaten or used as a weapon. I've decided against facial features, limiting it simply to little capped ears at the moment (however there will be nostril indents for more suggestion of facial features when I don't have to move the models around as much because at the minute I keep having to retouch them alllll the time). I tried to keep as much of the hippo resting on the floor as possible for stability - I enlarged the surface area of the base of the head to make it more sturdy and instead of giving each individual leg definition I simply suggested the limbs by making two cylindrical rows, I'm considering making it sturdier still by completely connecting the small space between the head and the body but ideally I want to avoid that as I feel it will mess with the aesthetic, I'll have to see what Jane says. As for the sizing, hopefully I've got that right. I've kept the shapes simple enough to keep basic painting times minimal - school kids aren't renown for their intricacy so I reckon, provided they haven't been supplied with a teeny-weeny brush, one lesson should be sufficient time to decorate a hippo. When I email Jane some photos tomorrow I'll make sure that they include the model alongside a 30cm ruler to give an indication of scale.

Fingers crossed!