The story of the Guldcat Panther.
It all began on 2020.06.26
It began with a head...
The Cat or in this case the Panther that I actually based this figure on was the beginning of the Guldcat project. I did not know what would become of it by then nor if I would even manage to create something at all. But determined as I am there was no turning back. So I grabbed a lump of air drying clay and started to shape a ball. Then I added two more clay pieces for each chin and a T shaped piece for the nose and brows. I own a porcelain Panther that I am very fond of. It's about 80 cm tall that I bought at a second-hand store. It has been inspiring my work in a way.
Body building.
At first, the body just looked like a pile of potatoes that I placed together and formed a body to get the impression that I was on my way.
It's no secret that I love the cartoon style of the 1930s and I wanted to implement this a little grand. I would say that gloves and the shape of the body are more 1930s. Like the tale of the cat in boots, I left my body without clothes.
I decided to make a more human-like body without a tail and more butt. I want the cat to give a relaxed feeling so the cat got a little stomach. The most important thing is that I cut out a big heart on my chest, not only for the name Guldhart but mainly as a symbol of heart disease, an important point I want to offend.
SNEAKERS.
So obviously a cat with boots was not ideal for me. I have always loved sneakers. Especially sneakers like the Nike Air Max 90, Reebok Pump or Jordan 4.
I have already changed it 3 times and I will probably do it again. Eventually, I might even make more styles. But for now, I just stick to the style I like most and wear most in private. I think it's a fun key element to the Cat piece to throw in some half realistic sneakers to spice it up a bit.
I might implement my heart logo to the sneakers somehow in the future. There is no pattern underneath today and that might be something I want to implement as well. Instead, you can find my gold-coloured logo as a stamp of quality.
Smarter solutions
By now I succeeded to create by hand the Cat model we know as Goldcat. But there was a problem.The limbs had nothing to hold onto.
There were just flat surfaces which was a very fragile way of trying to assemble the figure. Even tho I manage to stick the parts together it was just not solid enough. The concrete material is very strong in itself but still, it needs help.
So back to the drawing board. I figured I could simply extend the neck and make a hole underneath the head to be able to attach the head to the neck directly. The same technique was implemented onto the joints between the shoulders. Now I could hang the arms giving them more support when putting the parts together.
Making molds
Now that have the actual figure. It was time to make a cast of the 6 pieces to be correct. A mold is like a silicone chamber that you can fill with epoxy or something else of your liking to duplicate the original. So you build a barrier around the original parts and then fill it up with the silicone mix to create a mold this is called casting an object. Then you carefully have to cut out the original with very jagged cuts to make the silicone mold to prevent potential lines when casting the mold. It sure was challenging for me at least. It will take a good amount of practice to get that perfect mold. But I like it, it's fun. The molds are made and prepared so all I had to do now was fill it up with concrete or epoxy and wait.
Painting.
Let's skip to the good part of what it is to paint. So the idea with the cat is that it should be seen as a shiny canvas. An unlimited possibility only your imagination sets the limit. There are different ways to do this that I usually do. Depends on what results I want. I sometimes paint with acrylic on the cat in different types of brushes. When you make more advanced figures that need details, it is an excellent choice to paint with acrylic. Ink can also be a good asset. Sometimes POSCA pens. If I just want to write or mark what I do. I also usually use spray paint. It's fun to spray around and mix colours to get fun and interesting results. On special occasions, I even add custom pieces of clay such as clothes or other details. Like making a Formula 1 helmet for example. Think less create more! If you are not satisfied, do it again.
Story goes on.
It would take a long time to go through every detail but you may have gotten a hint on my work by now. The Cat figure has taken a month to single-handedly create. It has gone from version 1 to 3.5. So there has been a fair amount of trial and error which I expected. I can't wait to see what the future can bring and I'm very excited to be sharing it with you. I've done pretty much in a short period of time considering I'm not doing this full time. But I'm very passionate about my work and with your help pushing me forward, i will continue. So I thank you for reading and hope you are excited like I am. To see all the latest things I create, just follow my Instagram account click on the button bellow.
