Hi all,
a belated Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all.
I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and lots of quality time for yourself and your family - and your hobby ;)
This is a rather large update with almost 60 images, as I started this project on the 23rd of Dec.
It is loosely based on Frank Frazetta's "Queen of the Nile".
It is a complete scratch built/sculpt and the figure is about 25cm tall (if she'd stand).
I started off with sketching the proportions and then creating a wire armature.
Then I bent it into the intended sitting position.
And based on this sitting armature I also started with the throne - scratch from standard 1mm plastic card.
Position check :)
Next I covered the armature with self curing ProCreate (a kind of GreenStuff)
Once the PC was cured and the armature sturdy I started the basic sculpt using SuperSculpey (firm).
Since the firm Sculpey is quite sturdy I didn't have to bake it before adding the final "skin layer" with standard SuperSculpey.
It has a rather nice and smooth finish, and makes those legs look quite sexy :)
Torso...
In between I also worked on the throne.
I wanted it to look more like a throne than the original.
And with big wings - still staying with the Egyptian flair.
Looks like one of those old Hollywood Cleopatra thrones :)
Ah, yes :)
To make it more comfortable and "royal" I started to sculpt blankets
And a cushion too.
Of course those royal feet need a cushion too, don't they?
With this done I baked the body, so I'd have an easier time working on the head and hands. Here is the first attempt of the head....
The first one didn't work out right (don't even have an image), so I started a new head.
Bare skinned it's hard to judge how it will look in the end (especially painted), but I hope it will work out.
Next were the hands.
Not easy...
The left one looks good, but the right hand still needs some work, after baking.
Now that the body, head and hands were baked, I started adding the details, using GreenStuff.
The neck bracelet and breast-cups are close to Frazetta's original.
Here I started with the hair.
Again staying with the Egyptian/Cleopatra style
Next was a very basic bracer
But once the hair and bracer cured I started to detail and ornament both.
Some jewelry for the thigh - it will just be visible under her skirt - a little tease :)
By now I had a pretty good idea of how I wanted the scene to look in the end.
Moving away from Frazetta's image and more in the direction of a "Dragon Queen".
I have always been a huge fan of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anne_McCaffrey - and even though this scene will not be based in Pern, it'll still be inspired by these wonderful stories.
The idea for the scene is to have the princess be accompanied by two "Watch-Wher's" - not quite dragons, rather Rottweilers :)
I created two simple models with natural clay to check for the poses.
And while I was creating new armatures and waiting for them to cure, I added details to the princess, like these two buckles.
The two new base sculpts for the two watch-whers.
Again using SuperSculpey I added the muscles and skin.
They are not elegant flying dragons, but rather muscular, stocky beasts.
Oh, what a sweet little young bird....
...well...
...hmm, angry bird, maybe?
:)
Or Killer-Chicken?
Satisfied with the first Wher I sculpted a second one.
The pose is almost as if it asks: "Mom, can I catch and eat it?"
"Like now?!?"
But I realized the head was too big. Unfortunately.
So I cut it off...
and sculpted a new one.
So, this is as far as I got in the last 2 1/2 weeks.
I hope you like this new project and I look forward to your comments, suggestions and feedback.
Thanks for your time.
Cheers
Klaus
