Reworking a Porcupine

January is a time for new beginnings and I usually go into the studio with a eye towards organization.  Winter is my favorite time in the studio because the sunlight pours in brightest at this time of year - and it is the warmest room in the house.  This year, I took a hard look at my design wall.  For years - yes, years!- I have had a porcupine figure hanging unfinished.  I took him down from the wall and decided I would complete his look.

So, what was the problem?  It was the quills. I don't try for a perfect replica of a species, but I do want to get the right overall look.  Porcupines have a dense coat (including quills). The quills are mostly along the back and sides and stick out a bit more than the rest of the coat, giving the mammal a unique fuzzy and almost soft look. I had tried various options for getting something to stick out and gave up with the leather tubes shown here.  They were too big, chunky, and didn't give the fuzzy look I wanted.

I decided I would have to forgo the whole idea of quills and focus on the overall fuzzy look.  I tried various fabrics, but everything frayed too much, so I settled on brown leather. Many strips were cut into fine fringe and attached to the coat by hand.  I didn't want any fringe on the body of the figure, so to give the appearance of quills on the head, I attached a fringed hood to the coat.

I did want something to provide the idea of quills.  To do this, I cut longer strips of leather and tipped each with a glass bead.  Real porcupine quills have lighter tips and catch the light, giving the animal a bit of a glow.  I hoped the beads would have a similar affect. 

Each of the longer quills was sewn onto the coat by hand.  In the end, they blended into the other leather strips a bit more than I wanted, but the overall look was very 'porcupine.'  He's quite a guy and has a lot of personality.  I haven't decided if he's going off to a gallery or for sale on the website, but I am glad that he is finished.