Monster Rider (4)

Hi all,

finally an update!

I was blocked by some health issues and then catching back up with real-life work.

But now I finally have some time at hand.

unfortunately the deadline for the contest (April 8th) is now approaching fast.

I'm sure I won't be able to enter it painted...  :(

Since my last update I did a first test with the hand and staff.

 

I wasn't convinced by the hand, so I took it back off :)

But I started with the rider's turban.

 

Some of you older ones my know Chris Achilleos' "Harem Guard" 

Which is an illustration I always loved. So I will try to build my rider in her spirit.

Here you can see the initial version of her staff - which I killed quite quickly

 

The start of her tunic

 

The Wolp'er-Tingah got some details, like the stitches,

 

some tubes,

 

more tubes,

 

and more stitches.

 

Then I started with her boots and the "skirt"

 

I also worked on the base for the temple

 

Not very well visible...a bit better in b/w and high contrast

I also sculpted a column (unfortunately I can't remove the supporting roll without breaking the column...)

 

While her skirt broke off (it was a mix of SuperSculpey and Greenstuff) I finished the boots, made a new staff and began to sculpt her hand.

I hope to have some more images soon.

Cheers

klaus

Monster Rider (3)

Hi all,

in the last post I stopped at the decision point for the monster's head.

The initial idea for the Wolp'er-Tingah* was something close to human. 

*Wolp'er-Tingah - some of my German readers may chuckle, as there is a taxidermist tradition of mixing animals to create a Wolpertinger - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolpertinger  

As mentioned in the previous post I was thinking about a human head for the beast.

So I quickly sketched some ideas.

First something wage and ghostly

Then a bit more human

but even this human version didn't really convince me.

So I quickly sketched a dragon-style head and left it at that for the night.

The next day I looked at the options again and decided to take the dragon route.

So I added some basic eyes and a gums for the upper jaw

Then I started to block out the nose and lips

some of the cheek lines

Eyelids

More facial details

Eyebrows and wrinkles

Nostrils

Starts to look properly angry

With dragon skin

The next evening I started with the lower jaw

Basic jaw line

At this state I did a pose check

Relatively big, I probably have to beef up some sections of the body...

But continuing with the dragon-style I started to flesh out the neck

With the neck-muscles 

Still toothless

but already cool looking

At that time I did another all-around check and left it for the night.

The next evening I continued with the dragon skin for the lower jaw and neck

And I sculpted the tongue

Ready for some dental work

So I created a bunch of teeth from GreenStuff

 

The next evening I inserted the teeth and sculpted the teeth ridge

 

Now that's a proper smile 

 

With the left over GreenStuff I sculpted the mounting points for the reins as well as some horns

 

Since I always wanted to repeat a fiery-skin effect as I did with the Tar'Akoona dragon

I added a patch of this skin to the right side - at the same time beefing up the mass back there

 

And the thigh on the left also got some extra mass

 

With this the basic build for the Wolp'er-Tingah is completed

 

I'm quite pleased so far

 

Last night I finally began the rider

 

Though my cat wasn't quite pleased with the stinger...

 

...I was able to fix it - with some battle damage 😉

 

So here's the basic shape and pose for the rider

 

Hmm...

 

Ah, looks better with the reigns

 

So this is as far as I got.

What do you think?
Comments, suggestions?
I look forward to your feedback.

Cheers

Klaus