Wow, that was an intense 8 hours. We got stuck straight in with building an armature, posing it (by design!), and gluing it into my base. This was fun for me, I had to quickly attach two bigger 2 x 4s to my original base support in order to accommodate my pose. (my character has a fairly wide stance). Thank goodness Duct tape was invented.  We’re fortunate in this part of the world, for Zap a Gap in my opinion does a great job gluing metal and wood etc, verses epoxy glues. Regarding my character design, I made him up as I went along. Building the armature and posing lends itself greatly to ones imagination.

This was my first time using Chavant clay. It will need to be warmed up a little before it’s used in the way it is intended. Chavant is an oil based clay so cannot be cured. A toaster oven may have been handy here. We had around 4 critiques throughout the workshop so while Jordu was character sculpting and demonstrating various approaches and methods etc, we had ample time to have our own work critiqued along the way. Feedback for my character was for the most part positive. He has good movement, pose is strong,, but I need to revisit the anatomy and make him more ‘believable’ in that department. I think my initial approach was too Ecorché.  Jordu’s input however was gold. I really appreciate his input. I’ve lots of changes to make before the final deadline for submissions.

Everyone involved in the workshop were exceptionally talented. It was a humbling experience being apart of this. Our deadline for this coming Friday (midnight), is to upload final updates on our characters. I have uploaded a work in progress of him so far from my workshop right here incase anyone’s interested. He can only be best described as a demon type fella, probably close to life size already, he likes to sneak out of the walls late at night, especially during a full moon to steal trinkets. Even USB sticks aren’t safe, believe me I know this first hand.

Jordu Schell was amazing fun, and equally highly  knowledgeable on character building and sculpting. I am privileged to have had the opportunity to be apart of this workshop and hope it happens again soon!   http://www.schellstudio.com/

I have to say, thank you so much to the Stan Winston School for being able to host these workshops.  It opens the door for so many around the world.

The Trinket Thief  

Well, just one hour left before my sculpting workshop starts with Jordu Schell!

I’m in good shape and ready to go!

WEEK 02 A

WEEK 02 B

WEEK 03 and 04 A

WEEK 03 and 04 B

WEEK 01

WEEK 02

WEEK 03 A

WEEK 03 B

WEEK 03 C

Here’s the work on my second character. His jaw was fairly heavy at one point and in the process of moving him to a different stand for sculpting, the weight of the clay at one point pulled down the jaw, so much so the clay cracked horizontally around the mouth! I’ve got him better supported now though. He needs a permanent stand until I fire him in the oven.

It’s been a learning experience!

Well, here’s my 3rd homework assignment through the Stan Winston School of Character Arts.

I’ve been juggling between ‘bread and butter’ projects this past fortnight, so it’s been difficult finding the time to push the sculpts forward. I worked back into the forms, changed things and applied lots of details. I used a lot of reptile and elephant reference. She’s come along way since my last update. In case anyone is interested, I plan on posting a picture based ‘making of’ very soon complete with some of the tools I used.

Despite making big changes to her horns, baking her teeth (thanks to Casey Love’s baking tips) and playing with secondary forms etc, she still needs work regarding detailing, but I’m getting there. There will be an update on her progress soon.

Well, here is my homework assignment regarding week two’s sculpt. He is, for the most part… a happy frog. (Please see happy pose reference in my drawing ideas)

A bug flew into his a*s and he quickly became angry frog (aka ‘wtf’ frog) I’m trying not to, but dragon influences are starting to seep their way into this design.

I like where he is going. He’s rough with most of the major forms in place, bar is tongue! I’ve utilized toad and frog anatomy for the most part.

I’ve tried to keep him as dynamic as possible for now. He’s come on well considering the original drawing ideas. I would have liked to have gone more ‘horror’ on this one, but I think he’s going into comedy territory slightly.

Here is my dragon character update.