Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Tentacles!

Back to work now! When last we met, we had completed the child and the bulk of the demon. Let us join our sculpting project already in progress as we create tentacles for our critter.

 First we need to find a clay mix which lets the tentacles flex but uses a small amount of Bake and Bend clay (B&B clay is in very small packets so I need more to sculpt all the tentacles) I start with the pure B&B clay; on the left, and mix different ratios of bendable clay and ProSculpt until I have the sample on the right which is a ratio of 12 parts ProSculpt to 1 part bendable.
 You can see how flexible the pure B&B clay is.
 This is the 12:1 ratio sample which is still very flexible. This is the mix I decide to use for the project so I mix up a big batch and leech some of the oil out by placing it between sheets of printer paper for an hour.
The armature is prepared by adding 18gauge aluminum wire to the support rod for each tentacle.













 Cut a few strips of clay off the sheet of leeched clay and roll them into tapered tentacles. The tentacle is a round tube with a flattened bottom which will get suckers attached to the flat area. The tentacle slides onto the wire before attaching the suckers. 
 Another tube of clay is rolled out in a much smaller size which will become the suckers on the tentacles. Small pieces are cut off the tube for each sucker. the taper on the tube will let you start with small suckers at the tip of the tentacle and work your way to larger tentacles as you move to the thicker section of the tube.
The balls of clay are attached to the tentacle in two rows.

The sides of each sucker are seamed onto the tentacle.
The centers of the suckers need not be seamed to the tentacle. Here are the suckers ready to detail.













A ball stylus is used to indent the center of the sucker.


The left row of suckers has the centers indented. The lower tentacle shows the completed suckers.
Next time we will finish the tentacles and do the final fit to the demon body.
Have a great day!
Mark

Saturday, May 21, 2011

White Rabbit

Hi there! Well, we all survived the show in Philly last week. Got to meet some great artists there: Sprite, and Linda to name two! Had a continuation of the party after that as Kelly and I got to host Maryanne Oldenburg and Diane Keeler at our home for a few days after the show. Love to rub elbows with the who's who of doll making! We had a great time sculpting in the studio for a few days and the three of us batted around ideas for this little guy while we worked on (of all things) dragons. Go figure!
So here is the White Rabbit to go with the Alice set. Look for the complete set at The Toy Shoppe!


A special thanks to Greg O. for being the inspiration for this!
 I'll get back to the child and the demon this coming week.  Have a great day!
Mark

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Finished!

This is the other set I was able to work on. Did not get the white rabbit done. Oh well!
Have a great week! Hope to see some of you in Philly.
Mark

Monday, May 9, 2011

Scarecrow

Finished this guy. Now to get a presentation ready for the show.

Last Big Push!

Working as many hours as I can the past few days to get sculptures finished for the Philly show this week.

 Finished the Lion yesterday.

Will post the Scarecrow tomorrow. Hope to post the completed set as well so you can see how they all get along. Have a great day!

Thursday, May 5, 2011

TINNED MAN

*** Special announcement, to all my friends from facebook: My login will no longer work so I have no access to Facebook. Therefore, I will no longer be posting there. If you find me and want to communicate, you will need to email me. Sorry!
Finished this guy last night. Hope he will be received well at the Philly show this month.



All the "metal' is sculpted polymer clay. The costume is silk with an applied trim and leather belt. His boot is leather as well. I will post images of the lion when he is completed. Hope to get on the Scarecrow this weekend.

Thanks for looking, have a great day!