Sir Pugsly Pugsworth, Steampug

Image of Sir Pugsly Pugsworth, Steampug Inventor extraordinare. He is a pug dog dressed up in clothing with a monocle, and top hat. The background is steampunk gears.
“Sir Pugsly Pugsworth” 10″ square cradled wood panel assemblage

I’d like to introduce you to Sir Pugsly Pugsworth, Steampug (Steampunk) inventor extraordinaire. Pugsly is a little bit snooty, despite his short pug snout, so you’ll have to excuse his monocled stare; just please be sure to compliment his fabulous outfit and you’ll become the very best of friends.

The Crafter’s Workshop provided me with some product to create this project. The opinions I share are solely my own.

In a few weeks, I’m having a solo art show at a local venue here in town (Topeka, KS). As part of my show, I wanted to create a mini series of dog portraits. The idea for Pugsly has been kicking around in the back of my mind for months now, and at last I got to create him for the show.

I began Pugsly’s portrait by using our fantastic Steampunk TCW262 Gears stencil. This is hands-down, my favorite stencil, in fact, you may have seen it used in my Otter portrait I completed last year called “Albert’s Steampunk Dreams”. (Albert is a steampunk aviator otter who is featured over on my blog site complete with an airship; there’s a link at the bottom of this post if you’d like to hop on over and see him).

For the background medium, I used our TCW 9009 Black Modeling Paste with our TCW9025 Plastic Palette Knife. The following photo image shows close-ups of the left and the right sides of the background so that you can see the yummy texture that was created using my heat gun after the modeling paste was applied. I just love watching the modeling paste pop to life and become 3-D when heated, don’t you?! I also applied some mica ink sprays and finishing waxes to apply some color and make the raised parts stand out even more.

Next, it was time to create Pugsly’s face. For his fur, I first did some test strips to figure out which medium would be best to use. Based on my test results, I chose to use our TCW9005 White Modeling Paste. After sketching Pugsly’s portrait onto the background, I then used our TCW9025 Plastic Palette Knife to apply the white modeling paste to his face, ears, and neck. To get the realistic look of his fur, I used a needle tool to scrape the modeling paste into individual strands of his hair. I worked in small sections at a time so that the modeling paste would not dry before I had time to mold it into the individual hairs for his fur.

For Pugsly’s eyes, I used our TCW9052 Super Thick Gel which dries clear and shiny (perfect for eyes!). I left both of these mediums to dry fully overnight, before proceeding.

Close up image showing Pugsly's facial features, including hair/fur and eyes.
TCW9005 White Modeling Paste was used to create the fur. TCW9052 Super Thick Gel was used to create the eyes.

Next, it was time to dress Sir Pugsly. To stick with the Steampug theme, I really wanted him to have a period costume from the genre (of Victorian times or thereabouts) but with a modern twist of bright colors and materials that would not have been used at that time. When designing the costumes or outfits, I make paper templates of each clothing item, to ensure all the pieces and parts will fit together seamlessly (pardon the pun).

The following image shows Pugsly’s jacket and shirt cut out, but not yet attached to him. The pieces are laid on top of his figure to ensure that they will work with the next pieces to be cut, which were his top hat and cravat (neck tie).

Close up image showing the paper templates for the top hat and cravat (neck tie) laid on top of Pugsly's figure with the jacket and shirt fabric pieces also laid on his body.
Clothing paper templates and cut fabric pieces were laid on Pugsly’s body for scale while being designed.

I used TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium to attach Pugsly’s clothes and hat. I also used the matte gel medium to affix the metal gear embellishments to his top hat and the background. The brim of Pugsly’s top hat is made of embossed aluminium foil that I hand painted to match the embossed and hand painted hat body foil, these were also adhered using the matte gel medium.

Close up of the right side of the finished work, showing the textural elements in detail.
Pugsly’s clothing was applied using TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium.

I hand painted Pugsly’s features and fur using acrylic paints mixed with the TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium to seal the modeling paste. Pugsly’s monocle was a necklace that I had purchased and cut apart to manufacture the monocle shape and chain. The ‘glass’ in the monocle is acetate packaging which I repurposed and cut to size to fit inside the monocle. Pugsly’s monocle was attached using our TCW9052 Super Thick Gel to ensure a strong, yet shiny hold over his eye and clothing. I added some finishing touches using acrylic paints and water soluble aquarelles sealed with our TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium.

Close up image showing Pugsly's completed monocle in detail.
The monocle was applied to Pugsly’s left eye using TCW9052 Super Thick Gel.

I brushed our TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium over the entire background to seal the pieces, mica ink sprays, and finishing waxes.

Close up image showing the left side of the completed work and textural element details.
TCW9011 Matte Gel Medium was used to seal the background elements.

Here is Pugsly’s completed Steampug portrait.

Sir Pugsly Pugsworth's completed Steampug portrait.
Sir Pugsly Pugsworth, completed Steampug portrait.

If you’d like to see my other portraits and works, please hop on over to my Instagram account and follow me as I’m sharing sneak peeks of the twenty plus artworks that will be featured in my upcoming show!

Michaela Butterworth
The Crafter’s Workshop Design Team Member

Hi, I’m really trying to build my following. Will you please hop on over and follow me on my blog and social media accounts?
Thank you so much!
My Website and Blog Teal Hare Creations
My YouTube Channel
My Instagram
My Pinterest

2 thoughts on “Sir Pugsly Pugsworth, Steampug

We love to hear from our fans, so please leave a comment here

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.