Archie is our two year old black and silver, miniature schnauzer. He is an adorable, scruffy and at times, a slightly annoying little dog!  Those that know me, will know I like a challenge when creating my “Twists” and as in real life, this little chap was definitely that !

Firstly, How to capture his rough, curly and slightly scruffy coat.  

I made the  basic shape as normal and then experimented with applying multiple strands of wire which I “twisted” to replicate the texture of his coat. It seemed to achieve the desired effect. 

Archie the Miniature Schnauzer

Originally bred as ratters, Schnauzers have very distinctive  beards and eyebrows which would have protected their their eyes, mouth and necks from a nasty nip by a rat when doing their work.  Although Archie doesn’t have the traditional long beard, he does still have quite impressive full beard and his eyebrows are just adorable. 

My first attempt at replicating the beard using straight wire didn’t work at all , in fact it looked rather comical. At this point I nearly gave up! My second attempt was thankfully more successful. I manipulated chicken wire, applied it in layers then “twisted” it to give him that distinguished schnauzer look. 

Finally how to portray his cheeky character. His eyes  proved to be the key. I used shiny black marbles which catch the light and add a cheeky glint to his face, just what I was hoping for.