BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 3!

BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 1!

BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 2!

I should make a photobox for my sculptures so I can get more consistent lighting. Until then - enjoy!

Reduction around Decay's ribs.

Getting there! Photos taken on November 2.

BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 2!

BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 1!

At long last, here's some progress on my Decay maquette. I finished the armature and began adding clay on October 19th; it was a much-needed break from INKtober, a chance to work my hands more thoroughly than I do while drawing.

Hole bored through foil with an old turkey skewer.

Decay stands 12" tall at the top of her mane.

I am proud to say this is my first reductive sculpture. I quickly lumped clay onto the armature without worrying about details; my college maquettes were additive. Reductive sculpting is so much quicker!

The clay is Prima Plastilina. I picked up six pounds of the stuff for a great price last year via Craigslist. I'd used Roma Plastilina during college, but only learned after graduating that it contains sulphur. Prima is sulphur-free and, unlike Roma, it does not have to be heated into pliability.

Rough clay masses visible.

Top view showing smoothed masses.

She'll be useful for drawing extreme distortion!

A couple days later, I began refining Decay while listening to music (Tears For Fears and Massive Attack, if you're curious). I wanted to tuck her belly up more since she's a gaunt thing.

I'll smooth and add / subtract where needed.

Marking Decay's extended grin.

 Decay is still a work in progress. I want to find glass beads or jewels for her eyes; sculpting them would be tedious. If I can find green rhinestones, that would be perfect.

Krehyceru: 3D-Printed Model by Jacob!

I recently got an EPIC belated gift from a good friend of mine: a 3D-printed model of a creature I designed!

Check out Jacob's original post here!

The Krehyceru ('kreh-hee SHEE'roo) is a critter I first drew in 2005: one of those random beasts I had to get out of my head before it disappeared. During college, Jacob asked to model it in Zbrush for some free-time practice. The end product turned out wonderfully. Now that I have a physical model to draw from, I plan on revamping its design and creating model sheets for it.

Once more: a HUGE thank you to Jacob for modeling this guy!

2005 drawing inked in 2006 with ballpoint pen

BRAINSICK: Decay Maquette, Part 1!

Another project I began in December: a maquette of Decay, one of Paranoid's hallucinations. I've wanted to sculpt her for ages, largely because I have not successfully drawn her face head-on before!

Decay is a partial armature at the moment. I'm focusing of getting Brainsick ready for my beta readers, so I've put the maquette off temporarily.

Armature mount, from a setup used for a 2008 college sculpture.
Easily obtained from Home Depot!

13" x 14" pine base.

Example of the proportions I'm aiming for.

Feet secured with screws and washers.

Decay thus far: a wire skeleton.

I'll continue working on her within the next few months, if all goes well. Keep your eyes peeled!

Sculpture: Kitty-Dog!

My aunt introduced me to Sculpey clay in 1999. It's a polymer-based, oven-baking clay that's perfect for building small figurines, of which I built dozens upon dozens. It gets stiff with age, but it doesn't dry out; the Sculpey I have on hand is around 12-14 years old!

In December, I got the sudden urge to make a figurine: I was aiming for a cat, but it turned into a kitty-dog.

Eyes are glass seed beads.

Although I monitored kitty-dog's baking time, I ended up baking it
too long: singed ears, eyebrows, and nose - oops!

The last figurines I'd sculpted? - Christmas tree ornaments from 2006. I sculpted the kitty-dog using some of the same clay mixtures I'd used on these two:

2006 photo.

2013 photo during my holiday visit to my parents'.

I have a maquette in the works (temporarily on hold) for one of Brainsick's more devious characters. I'll post progress for her soon!