I love detail. Each time I tackle a project I try and push up the bar a couple notches.Inevitably I start to regret the decision about half way through the project as I discover just how much work have created for my self - again... but then as the project nears completion I start to rejoice again or things just start looking great. It is always worth it in the end. Satisfaction only comes when we do our very best.

Good cartoon work is believable. That can only happen by studying and knowing what things look like in real life. With this project it was fun to dig through my library and study old gas pumps. I didn’t copy any specific model, but took the features I liked and combined them. The screws and bits of trim will make this piece - especially as we add the paint and aging glazes.

I was tempted to make the post a steel one for it would have saved me a lot of time, but I succumbed as always to the artistic point of view and carved the woodgrain. The plated on the side will be another bit of detail - a ‘No Smoking’ sign. They are always posted by gas pumps and help make the cartoon realistic.

Because of delays in the arrival of our sculpting epoxy the deadline is definitely pushing us on this project. I’ll be at it again tomorrow, having a little fun sculpting one of the antique gas pumps. The first one is always more fun than the second.

-grampa dan