Hellbeard

Oh no! I've been there myself, and it's absolutely the worst, completely saps the creative energies. Glad to hear you're doing a little better now, keep hanging in there. Oh yes, they look very creepy indeed! Especially the one that looks like his head is exploding, and the one with the melty-looking face. Or was the third guy the one that was infested with an alien parasite brain-slug? *shudder* Huzzah! --OneBoot :D Nice catch! That's exactly spot on. Thanks for the encouragement. :D Thank you. What a strange notion. ;) Here's an update. The proportions on the arm for the brain-parasite guy are way off. I hope if I lop off the arm and reattach it shorter it'll help fix it somewhat. Probably also bring up the shoulder a notch.

Looks pretty good. Here is tips: As you work consider the stages of curing to influence the putty in different ways. You must use very light touches to coax the putty into shape and move from general shape to specifics. For example, after about 30-45 minutes you can use a fine tool to indent texture into the beard hairs which will deform the shapes less if you indent it earlier in the curing process. That works pretty good for doing folds and stuff- you can smooth out the "fabric" and rougher shapes and then later push in and smooth the folds. It's helpful to start with an armature with some shapes in the under-sculpture to help have some form to work against as you're sculpting the outer layer. hth

Thanks dude! I've been experiencing a little sadbrains syndrome and I think I'm coming out of it little by little. I'm stoked you think they look creepy because I'm totally aiming for that feels. I hope to make many more updates soon. Here's a bit of progress:

Here we go again. o_. New sculpts underway! 1:56 scale, science fiction theme. Trying to pick up some steam again. This goan be an alien invader guy, barely passable for human. Inspiration: "They Live!" This is an astronaut infected by alien stuff. Like, maybe totally ancient and stuff. This'll be a brain slug controlled guy. Group photo.

Wow. Thanks! I'm not worthy. I do enjoy sculpting and making up this kind of stuff very much. I wish I knew how to commercialize it yet. It doesn't seem realistic that I would get anything into production in the foreseeable future.

Thanks! Here's another update: For scale:

Wow, thanks! I appreciate the compliments. I do not, to be honest, feel in the zone much. Recently I need to really coerce myself super hard to sculpt and find it difficult to have very positive feelings about it. I do think the recent sculpt is coming along nicely but due to personal and professional reasons my mood is a little low. I suppose what's showing through is practice and repetition. I think I should study more references and that will probably help too. 1:56 isn't arbitrary! It's the perfect scale!

Progress update:

"Magic sculpt" or "Pro Create"? ProCreate.

Thanks! Another practice head: A new figure, science fiction cyborg: Not so sure about the head though. I might make an alternate or two and consider swapping it in.

Thanks.I hope to do more and have a production line later on (like, in 6months to a year). Thank you. Good insight! I'll keep it in my mind when I work. Here's some better lit photos:

I'm sorry I neglected to thank you folks for such nice words! Haven't visited the thread in a while but I thought you guys might like to see these. The lighting isn't very good so I'll take some better shots with sunlight when I have the chance. It's a painted version of the Gnome Necromancer that I sculpted. I had some test casts made of which he was one. I hope to post more stuff sooner than before.

Thanks OB. Practice makes perfect! That is, it makes better than before, at least. Gee, that's quite a wide question to ask. What background do you have? Drawing? sculpting? What goal do you want to reach? Personal work? Artistic? Commercial? Hobby? For a general sort of advice I recommend getting materials: your choice of putty/polymer clay (Green Stuff, ProCreate, FIMO, Beesputty, etc. etc.) and a set of cheapo chinese sculpting tools (AKA wax carvers- I still use a really cheap one I bought ten years ago), some wire and something to use as a base. Start with an armature (you can plan ahead with a sketch, I print out true to scale human form to measure against with a caliper), that is a bit of wire to hold up your sculpture. Add mass by going from the general to the specific. Lubricate your tools (I use water almost exclusively- I keep a small jar and moisten my tool periodically). Then work. I think it's best to both work in the scale you want things to be in and to try making things both bigger and smaller to get a better grasp of what you're dealing with. When you work bigger you have to understand the shapes better- to be specific; when you work smaller you understand how things make an impression in a more graphical sense. You can easily find online resources. I think minisculpture.co.uk has a bunch of stuff in their resources forum. Don't get bogged down by techniques, theories, forumula and tools. It's the sculptor that does the work, not the tool and not the theory. It's good to learn, sure, just don't let it paralyze you. In the end, experience is the best teacher. Directed experience, purposeful experience, more so. So, working and doing is a very good way to start. Ask for advice and info and feedback, it helps quite a lot. Also, enjoy what you're doing. Do what's interesting to you and you're bound to be more engaged. Don't be shy to ask me more questions if you have. If you can answer some of the earlier questions and add your own info maybe I can give some advice. In the end I'm somewhat of a novice myself so take what I write with a grain of salt.

Yet another 1:56 scale practice head for the 1:56 practice head throne. Note that it’s a little bit oversized because I was trying to exaggerate some features which turned out— exaggerated. I think I might try for this guy again and push the cartoony style I'm aiming for even more; maybe try to keep it a little bit closer to the true-scale.

Groovy! Looks great!

Some more.

Some improvements:

A new figure in 1:56 scale. Just sort of freestyled it.

Great critique! I'll keep it in mind as I keep going. Thank you so very much. I think one reason is how thick I placed the clothing layer on top of the basic anatomy and I'll try to control it better next up. Thanks a bunch. I'm available if you got any question. It's one of the more rare and more satisfying things when one's work inspires others to create!

Thank you OneBoot. I suppose he might be a little off, that's fine. Depends on what "for real" and "practice" mean. I believe one is always learning and I thought adding dynamism to the poses is something I need to push further so if I messed it up it's OK. I appreciate the feedback and critique on everything because it's very helpful for improving. He has been sent off to have a test casting made as part of my trying to move further down the road to commercializing my stuff.

Here's another one: The larger study really helped get the form better. With the rest.

Thanks, friends! Here's another practice head.

Thanks guys. I appreciate your comments. It's very encouraging and thoughtful of you to take time to write what you think of my work. Here's more stuff: A reporter figure in 1:56 scale With an Infinity miniature for comparison: A sketch in Super Sculpey Firm. Experiment with a more graphical sort of representation.

Thanks guys. I think I might get some figures cast in the next couple of months or so. Any suggestions on what you might like to see? Another couple of heads. One is oversized and the other is true to 1:56 scale. Also progress on the body/figure. Oh, and this in super sculpey with paint and effects:

Here's another: