Not Quite Cuckoo

I've been itching to get back to some sculpting, and finally had a chance over the long weekend. This was supposed to be a cuckoo, but the crest got a bit too big, and instead it looks like some kind of gold-colored cardinal:

click above for larger view

The burnt tips on the crest and tail feathers are strictly a happy accident--I let this thing cook for too long! The gold Premo Sculpey that I used was a bit harder and slightly more crumbly than the other types of Sculpey I've tried, and unfortunately there were a few cracks after the baking. I don't think volume or size was the problem, as my previous tiger project had no cracks whatsoever (the bird is just under 2 inches tall, while the tiger is closer to 3 inches tall, and obviously much longer). The transition between the neck and chest is somewhat awkward, and the head got flattened a bit along the way, but overall I'm pretty happy with how this turned out.

Sculpting is a lot of fun. Maybe it's because it's a change of pace, or because I'm not so familiar with the process of it, but I find the whole experience to be really relaxing. Hopefully I'll be able to set aside some more sculpting time in the near future!