Moby Dick 08

To make Moby Dick, I first carved a wooden plug with the three characteristic humps of a sperm whale's back. I then heated a sheet of plastic by holding it over a candle, moving it slowly in circles to distribute the heat evenly and to ensure that the styrene didn't ignite or melt too rapidly. When most of the sheet was soft, signified by a slight sag in the center, I pulled it down over the plug. It quickly cooled, retaining its new shape. This process is called thermoforming. After excising Moby Dick's back from the sheet, it was detailed by longitudinally scribing deep scratches in a random pattern. A harpoon made from brass rod was glued into a hole drilled in the whale's back. Line was attached to the harpoon, then tangled and streamed into the water. I didn't paint the white plastic cetacean, but dirtied it with dry brushed chalks and streaked red enamel "blood" from the harpoon wound.