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Step 1
Establish the line of feathers on the eagle's shoulder area which will be white. The bald eagle gets its name from the large area of white feathers on its head and the line for these feathers must be set before any feather details can be added.
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Step 2
Sculpt small pointed sections around the bottom of the white feathers in a sort of necklace, or scarf of feather tips. These should be created from small bits of clay and also pulled from the clay already on the sculpture.
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Step 3
Pinch the clay to further accentuate the tips of the feathers and to set up additional separations between feathers. This method also creates a unique feather pattern for each eagle sculpture.
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Step 4
Add small lumps of clay to the feathered area on the back of the eagle's head to create the eagle's musculature. These should be slightly larger than those in the front section around the throat.
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Step 5
Continue working on the feathers until you have created several layers of feathering that resembles the eagle's natural feather patterns.
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Step 6
Use a fine edge tool to realistically create the eagle feather's delicate structure. Place indentations evenly along the shaft of the feathers. The feather's edges don't have to be intricate but can instead simply hint at their intricacy and let the viewer's imagination add the details.
