bgcdazzler's first ever mini WIP (a confusion of cockups and learnings)

[bgcdazzler]

Sure Digga: I use

1. Tin foil for the basic armature (or wire for thin bits. For Pig I used a couple of ties you get in toys that hold the doll figure to the cardboard packaging, but any type works).

2. Fimo Professional - it's pretty cheap (about £10 for 350gm; not sure of the US costs). Looks like this:

it's good because you can work it as long as long as you like, it bakes in 30mins at 110 Celsius, and at this temperature it doesn't burn or bubble, so you can bake as many layers as you like. It's ever so slightly rubbery after baking, so not the easiest to file smooth, but a damn sight easier than greenstuff.

3. Kebab skewers. Also good for prawn kebabs. If I want a sharper tip I just whittle one down with my scalpel. Similarly for a flat side to help smooth the clay, though I've only had partial success.

4. My big fat thumbs.

That's it: though I just read an interesting tip about smoothing the surface with Vaseline and a brush, so might give that a go.

 

[bgcdazzler]

@Arch: I seriously doubt my painting or sculpting will lead to fame (maybe infamy), but you're welcome to have em for as long as you're interested.

 

[Digganob]

That is one of the most common things I have always struggled with. I will very much like to see the smoothing technique when you do it.
Thanks for the pic.

 

[bgcdazzler]

Me too!

I'll do my best and report back.

 

[bgcdazzler]

Oh my all fathers. It's so simple.

I don't have any Vaseline but another suggestion was to use acetone- so I got a bit of nail polish remover off the missus and brushed it on. It makes a big difference!

i'll try to show it in pics.

Step 1: you can see little nicks and marks from the skewer, plus whorls from my fingerprints

step 2: after brushing lightly with acetone the thumb marks and worst of the nicks is gone! Genius!

this will make such a difference. I urge you to try it.

 

[Zab]

same thing works on greenstuff but for the love of all that is holy DON'T lick your brush!!!!

 

[bgcdazzler]

Agreed: I had a nice glass or two of Talisker instead. Same end result, but much tastier.

A a couple of things I wanted to share: someone asked about the eyes. I prefer to do the eyes last (in painting and sculpting) and it seems this is quite unusual, so I thought I would do a quick SBS on the dwarf's eyes.

Step 1: crazy eyes. Drop a little ball of Fimo in the eye socket, then lightly push it in with the tip of a kebab skewer or cocktail stick.

Step 2: mummified eyes. Start to press it into the corners. Try to leave a bigger blob in the centre for the eyeball; sort of aiming for a lemon shape here.

Step 3: eye shadow. Start to add an outline to the eyes, pulling down the eyelids and building the final eye shape.

Step 4: Final eyes. Once happy the shape is right, smooth everything and give a final, deeper outline with a scalpel blade or pin. Then add the creases at the corners: this dude needs quite pronounced lines as he's smiling so terrifyingly.

Job done, and ready to bake. You'll notice I lost all definition in the beard, but I have a plan for that...

 

[bgcdazzler]

The big beard showdown

I seem to have to learn this lesson every time: don't try to do too much. Bake, then add on top.

I'm glad this fella became a dwarf, because I have been wanting to practice sculpting hair. The hair on Pig is pretty rubbish, but this lovely big bushy beard gives me a chance to try out new methods.

So here's what I did last night. The alcohol was to help keep my hand steady, honest...

1. Here he is baked. I made a rough little backboard under his chin to provide a framework for the beard. I probably should have taken more care because it's not the right final shape; but I can fix this later...

2. I then roll out little sausages and stick them on in the loose positioning of the 'flow' of the beard. It's nice to vary the thickness for that uneven unruly look.

3. The finished rough.

4. Next I go over it pretty roughly with my skewer, just to push it down and make sure it won't move. It doesn't look too bad here, and if I wasn't experimenting I would be tempted to leave it here. But a dwarf's beard is a sacred object, so it probably deserves more attention.

5. So next I go over it with a scalpel. A scalpel blade is really useful because you can do thin strokes, and if you twist the handle sideways it adds a 'kink' in the hair, changing its flow and making it more naturally curved. Wit habit of practice (light even strokes work best) I can see something quite nice coming out of it.

6. The finished scalpel work. It took a while (maybe half an hour) and it's pretty mind numbing, but the end result is much nicer than just using a skewer.

7. I added the bits just beneath the centre of the bottom lip; I think it makes it a bit more natural than the Amish look he had before. Same process: sausages, skewer, scalpel.

8. Now I could leave it there and be happy with that... But you know, dwarf beard and experiments (and drunkenness) etc... So I had made some braids (you may have spotted them in the background of some of the above pics). I stuck these on randomly and went at them with the scalpel (not the skewer, I didn't want to lose their definition). Here you can see I did all the bottom parts of each braid bit first, so I didn't have to keep turning him around.

10. And in the cold light of day it looks like this. I'm quite pleased with that.

the overall shape, however, is wrong - a bit too curved around the face on the right hand side. So I'll need to bake and then build up some more. But I feel much happier with this beard and hair technique now.

Phew! A long one, sorry. If you made it through all that you deserve a well-earned cup of tea. Cheers!

 

[ArchArad]

Yay tea for me! I really love your sense of adventure and experimentation (alcohol-induced or not).

 

[bgcdazzler]

Twinings English Breakfast tea. The stuff of champions. And hangovers.

I'm happy to share - it's always fun, and there's so much to experiment with. I have rough plans for about twenty different models in my head, plus so much more to try out: dragons, machinery, armour, gross nurgly plague stuff... I just wish I could do it full time. Sigh.

You may notice that the beard no longer matches the moustache: I'm going to cut it off and redo it once I have the shape of the head better. Still so much to do – and that's without sharing any of the painting I did last night too!

 

[ArchArad]

Can I add an angel to your list? There are so few kick-ass and cool angel sculpts out there. Even just a bust with wins....

 

[SaintToad]

In my opinion the beard has a more interesting and realistic texture than the mustache. If I were you, I'd try to put a very thin skin on top of the mustache and match the beard rather than cut off the beard to match the mustache. You may need to get tuned up to recapture the technique, though!

 

[bgcdazzler]

Definitely getting rid of the moustache, not the beard! I'm just adding more volumes to the face and forehead, trying to get that right as he looks too odd and cartoony at the moment. Plus he needs ears, obviously.

I'm also thinking about more beard stuff too: more braids, some jewellery, food crumbs maybe, or feathers. Not sure yet, but I want it to feel like an impressive semi-cared-for but ultimately undisentangleable growth.

Not sure that is a word, but hopefully you know what I mean.

 

[bgcdazzler]

@Arch: I may get to an angel... Sometime in the next decade, at this rate!

 

[bgcdazzler]

Just realised I didn't share the tree solution for my base. It's primed now but here is where I got with it. I've added some lichen and roots to the hollow stump. The green bits scattered around is aquarium gravel.

 

[ArchArad]

That's perfect for the tree.

Regarding the dwarf: elaborate braiding starting to come undone in places and some jewels/beads/bones would probably look pretty cool. Are you going to give him hair?

 

[KruleBear]

Watching your sculpting develop is mesmerizing.

 

[bgcdazzler]

Thanks Krule - very kind of you to say.

Arch- I'm glad you like the tree. That was harder than the dwarf! I hate greenstuff.

An an update to the dwarf: you can see from the last pics that the dome of his head is too small, and he looks quite cartoonish. So I've been adding volume to his head, cheeks, eyes and ears. I think this is more in proportion and 'realistic':

you can see I've cut off the moustache. Time to add it back on!

The rough shape:

then whittled like the beard:

Then time to do some bushy, bushy eyebrows.

Here's where he is right now. Weirdly, I'm most pleased with the ears...

I'm happy so far because he feels like a step up from Sprogrot- I was hoping that like with painting, each of my sculpts would be an improvement on the last.

I don't know whether to do hair or leave him bald. Or a helmet. All suggestions and criticisms are very welcome!

 

[Sicks]

I think he looks good bald and that way if you cast him up it leaves room for people to add hair or headwear as they'd like

Although I must say he bears a passing resemblance to my friends dad lol

 

[ArchArad]

The addition of the width to his forehead and the fabulous eyebrows have pulled it all together. I like the slightly over-the-top style as it suits a dwarf. Bald works well I think.

Upwards and onwards to greater and glorious things!