The Doubtful Guest

I love the works of Edward Gorey. I just participated in a Gorey swap on Craftster.org. It was harder than I thought it would be to think of things to make. I didn't want to try to do illustrations like his; he's definitely one of a kind. I finally settled on trying to recreate The Doubtful Guest, an interesting little fellow that popped up one day and unexpectedly moved in with family, creating chaos and discomfort. I made my doubtful guest out of paperclay. He's a little fatter than the original, but maybe that's because he made himself at home in the pantry and fridge.

 

Instead of trying to paint the texture from the drawing, I drew on the figure with a Sharpie. Actually, a couple of Sharpies; they tend to dry out and die fairly quickly when drawing on paperclay. I was lucky enough to have some black and white striped fabric that was perfect for his scarf. It's even got enough body to it to look like it's flowing out behind him. A painted trinket box from Michaels is the base. I really love the stark black and white: just like a Gorey illustration!

I don't work much with clay at all, but I am pretty happy with this Doubtful Guest. I hope my swap partner liked him as well.