BBC Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition once again commissioned me to make the trophies for this year’s winners. My remit is to sculpt the creatures in the winning photographs. I never know what it’s going to be, from leaf-cutter ants to snub-nosed monkeys!

This year’s over all winner was ‘Essence of Elephants’ by Greg Du Toit, a photograph taken at night by a waterhole. Using my own photo references I created a sculpture of an elephant drinking at a water hole, using the reflective granite plinth to suggest water.

The Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year was awarded to Udayan Rao Pawar for his photo of a gharial crocodile and babies.

I thoroughly enjoyed this animal sculpture, carefully modeling every scale and working out it’s unusual toes and leg formation. Here again I chose the reflective plinth to give the impression of water.