Clay sculpting (1)

Hi all,
I hope you don't mind, but since I'm currently not doing any WH40K stuff and rather work with clay, I decided to move the posts over and keep them here.
Easier for me.
This will be one huge post once, to get everything over, and then normal sized again.
Appologies :)

The following 3 pieces are rather simple sculpts, done and there are no step-by-step images.

 

The first one is a small mask style piece, about 15cm, of a witches head.

This was the raw sculpt, before smoothing and adding details.

And the final piece with pupils, crinkles and lip lines, as well as warts.

Photographed with two different light settings.

It is currently at a friends in the oven.

I will post an update as soon as it's burnt.

 

Another quick piece is this little mole for the garden.

Kind of comic style setting with a mole coming out of his hole, front paws spread on the mound and huge glasses :)

This one is also currently getting burnt.

 

The following piece I did already in summer and it is already burnt.

Since I wanted it to be very colorfull and with a specific pattern - including bright red - I decided to rather use airbrush and acrylic colors than using traditional glazing.

For this I primed it in white.

Then I sprayed a very bright yellow as base color.

Some golden Yellow to soften it and add first shadows.

Orange for the top side

and black for the pattern.

The pattern was then refined with a standard brush.

And the final piece, with glowing eyes. It also received a generous coat of gloss varnish to protect it form the elements, as it will find its new home in our garden.

This monk's head is another mask style piece, about 15cm big.

 

As base I used an old plastic package of a computer mouse - it has the perfect shape for such a mask.

After applying the clay for the basic form I added the first facial shapes and guiding lines.

Then I sculpted the basic shape for the nose

and added the volume for the lips.

Eyebrow shape and basic mouth.

building up the eyes.

Starting to give the eyes their form.

Smoothing the eyeballs and adding the iris'

And the pupils.

Smoothing the skin and defining some of the larger wrinkles

Then some facial hair, using a stiff brush and a knife.

Scalp hair in the same way.

And finally the hood.

Depending on the light, it looks very different.

This piece is currently at a friends house, to get burned.

----

This piece is almost done, but still work-in-progress.

 

The idea is a little fountain for the garden in which a lying dragon is spouting water - and hits a frog, who's carrying an umbrella.

Pretty silly, isn't it?

 

Well, as usual I started off with a little base.

Onto which I added a slab of clay, starting the basic shape for Bertha.

The hind leg and claws.

And the front leg. The texture of the ground was done with a stiff brush.

As you can see I'm a sucker for smoothing early, but I prefer to have most of the textures early in the sculpt.

The other sides hind leg,

and the front leg, exposing the pose.

The right paw.

Then I inserted a hose, which will in the end be used to connect to the water pump for the fountain.

Around this I started the neck and basic head.

The head got heavy and needed some support :)

Starting the facial structures.

And adding details such as horns and the tiny wings.

Then the wings received their skin(?)

After removing the support I felt the neck was to thick, so I reworked the lines.

Better, but now it needed extra time with the support.

While the neck cured, I started with the frog section.

For this I created a little lily pad.

And started with the basic shape for Roland,

and positioned him on the pad.

Then I started the legs.

and arms :)

Next was to create Roland's umbrella.

I wanted to do a rather large leaf, from which the water would be deflected. So I sculpted the basic shape and let it cure.

In the meantime I hollowed the dragon.

This is necessary for the burn process, but also for inserting the hose once Bertha is burnt.

I managed to hollow her and even remove the hose without any major damage - some small scratches were easily covered again.

So this is the final walk-around for Bertha:

With Bertha completed I wanted to position the leaf umbrella on Roland.

But the leaf was to heavy for the stalk and it broke off :(

 

So I decided to sculpt a smaller mushroom instead.

The mushroom needs to cure a bit before I can position it safely, and then I still need to sculpt Roland's hand holding it.

I hope you like this little scene and I look forward to your comments and feedback.

Cheers

klaus