Clay

 

Clay with surface colour c. 17" high

I ran out of white clay so I thought I would use up some terracotta. As I worked I realised I liked the terracotta so i let it stay. Also the wire armature was very close to the surface in parts so I let that stay visible too (you can't really see it from this angle).  I put a dull yellowish wash over the whole surface then dug and scraped away parts of with a knife to give some interesting texture. The clay is DAS air dry clay which I think contains some cellulose so the parts I scraped away have a kind of rough papery feel.  Makes me think of Antony Gormley's description of clay as "flesh of the earth".