Think about the personality of the creature you are making!

Start by choosing a creature with a very definite personality - such as a mean bird of prey, or a buzzy, fussy insect, or a sleepy reclining cat. Try and really think what it is about the creature which gives it its character.

Don't design your sculpture first! Let the natural shape of the withies suggest parts of your creature to you. For instance you might find a slightly bent withie which reminds you of the wing span of a bird.

Think big - forget about detail unless it really helps describe the personality. For example the hooked beak on the eagle opposite helps describe its hunting character.

Tips

Make sculptures of flying things and let them hang instead of stand! Make a "washing line" out of wire and keep testing your sculptures to check they balance.

Don't be afraid of letting your sculpture move away from the animal you first started making. As you make your sculpture and your imagination starts to take over, the sculpture might become completely imaginary - and the more fantastical the better!