Fnukblog

And then I went freelance...

2011-08-30T09:20:00.004+02:00

Made a sweet poster for my new business venture. I think it says it all. Please, if you even feel tempted to have your own unique sculpture made, then please contact me, and we will sort you out.

I've published my condensed portfolio online on the webpage issuu. Please have a look:
http://issuu.com/ferskvandspiraten_jens_viking/docs/morten_lassen_portfolio

Oddsockshire: Luca and Brolly

2011-07-20T20:27:00.004+02:00

Here Luca and Brolly have been painted in their designated colours. This time I used acrylic paints. They may have been of an inferior quality. Currently I'm no big fan of acrylics is all I can say.

Original design by Henrik Sønniksen

Photos by: Chris Bradford

Oddsockshire: Luca and Brolly work in progress 2

2011-07-20T20:13:00.001+02:00

When I had finished baking Luca's head, it had cracked a bit in spite of the cork inside (go figure)
I quickly filled the gaps with green stuff.

Then I sanded the entire marquette. The bare metal on the arms and legs etc. also had to be sanded down as they'd recieved some marks after being bent into shape.

The removable joints were covered in green stuff for shock absorption purposes.

On the picture above we see the platform Brolly's head is resting on

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

Ronin: Finished

2011-07-19T04:03:00.001+02:00

The colour scheme for the ronin was pretty straight foreward. I once again took my inspiration from Frank Miller's Ronin and decided to stick to what was represented in the graphic novel. I added my own twists here and there.

the robot parts had too look as dead as the skin looked alive. therefore I chose an oveall green palette for the limbs as an opposition to the red palette of the skin and clothes. The pattern on the sash draws atttention to the sculpture as a whole. It is a focus point for the eye.

here are some more lovely outdoor shots.

Photos by: Martin Bested

Oddsockshire: Luca and Brolly work in progress

2011-07-13T23:17:00.006+02:00

As the concept sketches were already done, I had the pleasure of not being able to cut corners when it came to the finished pieces. In other words I'd have to shape up and fly straight, if the project was to be approved by my employer.

Contrary to what I'd initially feared, I enjoyed working under these conditions as I was forced to solve problems rather than ignore them. It added some spice to my work ethics.

I was given the concept sketches with the correct measurements and then I set to work. As the limbs on Luca were quite slim and his head quite large, it was decided that the head would have to be skulpted around a base of cork. Cork is good for filling out large shapes in a Sculpy model as it is lightweight and keeps its shape and size when heated. This prevents the sculpy from cracking up.

I decided, as the limbs on Luca were so slim, I would not cover the metal skeleton in a layer of sculpy, but simply paint it over once Luca was finished.

I did Brolly's head in three stages:

Firstly I created a mould for the head in sculpy to get the shape and size correct. When I had baked it, I carved and sanded it into a shape I was happy with.

I then proceeded to skulpt half the head i.e. the face onto the mould, then bake it for 5 minutes. Just enough to make the surface hard.

Then I sculpted the back of the head onto the mould and the face and gave that the same treatment. This way I could shape the joint for the back of the head to fit with the face part. I baked both pieces for an additional ten minutes and then connected them with glue and greens stuff. phew

All the planning and positioning was done prior to sculpting.

Here we see how I planned the skeleton to be positioned inside Luca and Brolly. Notice that Brolly and Luca are connected in one piece of wire. I saw no reason to do them seperately. Luca's head I had to do seperately though, as it was too cumbersome to do when attached to the body. Brolly's umbrella head would also have to be detachable from the main piece for the same reason.

In this way it would be immensly easier too transport them.

The hands and feet were done in green stuff after the sculpy body had been baked.

Oddsockshire: Concept sketches

2011-07-13T21:11:00.000+02:00

I was hired to do some marquettes (sculptures) a couple of months back for a nice woman named Sara Barbas. She was among six people chosen to pitch an idea at Annecy in France. She pitched the idea for an animated series by the name of Oddsockshire.

Annecy is the biggest annual european animating film festival in Europe.

Being a former sculptor at Aardmann in Bristol UK, she wanted to make some marquettes for her presentation, but didn't have time to do them herself. Luckily I was available to do them, so under her close scrutiny I set about recreating the designs she'd had made. She wanted me to do three marquettes:

A boy and his umbrella named Luca and Brolly (they would count for two marquettes)

A suitcase named Valise.

Ronin: Sculpted piece

2011-06-20T09:24:00.001+02:00

After having settled on a pose both dynamic, powerful and cool my approach was simple: Big pieces first. Details later.

This was the pose I was most happy with:

Even though there is a lot of movement in the sketch, I still thought it was too stiff. That happens a lot when I sit and sketch. Then I usually correct it in the sculpting phase.

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

This time I learned just how much facial expressions affect muscles in the neck. I made a small study of neck veins using a mirror and my "angry face" I'll say it again; Human anatomy is a facinating thing!

To truly make the robotic parts seem so alien on the ronin, I decided to give him a very traditional japanese hairdo. So it would not only be a clash of flesh and technology, but also a clash between progress and tradition.

I did the sculpy parts first, then the hand and sword in green stuff. The wires were discarded guitarstrings given a second chance at life.

Once I get some paint on it, it will hopefully be a bit more clear what I'm trying to achieve:)

Ronin: Sketches

2011-06-18T01:48:00.002+02:00

Now I wanted to do something a bit kick ass. I'd had a brief taste of feudal japanese culture (In other words a Shogun marathon on tv) So i wanted to do something a bit japanese. My main criterias were that - A: It needed to be kick ass. B: have a crazy pose. C: Be a bit robotic/cyborg- ish for variety and fianlly D: It needed to be kick ass.

Being a huge Frank Miller fan I very quickly decided to do my own version of Frank Miller's Ronin: A japanese warrior with cybernetic arms and legs. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ronin_%28DC_Comics%29

The robot arms and legs would still have look very organic, which pleased me as I've always found human anatomy to be the most interesting thing to draw and sculpt. Next up I had to choose the pose...

That turned out to be quite a challenge as there were too many tempting ideas to explore!!

To illustrate, here's just a few of the ones I really liked...

To make it clear he was half robot, I decided he'd have one of his arms cut off. This would also make the sculpture easier to give a dynamic pose, as there'd only be one arm to consider when posing. The arm not holding the sword could easily get in the way and spoil the finished result. As an added bonus, I wouldn't have to spend so much time copying the design of the first arm and make the mechanics in the arm work.

Its amazing how individual arm muscles react to the slightest position changes in the arm. I'd definately want to dodge that bullet, as I weren't going to copy the arm muscles directly from reality. That would have made an organic arm pointless to begin with.

Wardancers Finished: Stag

2011-05-22T02:51:00.001+02:00

Next up I had t do the dancer on the "pogo-stick". I made him wear a deer mask. This I choose to make the headgear more subtle as the main area of interest would be the stick and the pose. Now was also the time I wanted to use ankle blades for my dancer.

He'd be dancing without using his legs, that's the general idea at least. This would help to illustrate the discipline, time and effort it takes to become a member of the troup. Help to enhance the uniqueness of the "appointment" to ceremonial dancer/warrior.

photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

I'm very happy with the finished piece. It gives you a sense of speed and purpose: To kill and maim with style.

Wardancers Finished: Hawk

2011-05-20T15:33:00.001+02:00

I thought a hawk dancer would be a logical inclusion to the troup so I made one. He was originaly supposed to carry the flail I made for the "dog", but after a while I thought a spear would better suit him. It supported the pose I'd choosen for him much better.

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

I didn't like the pose for a long time, but once the spear was in place I never ceased to love it.

Wardancers Finished: Hunting Dog

2011-05-19T23:11:00.004+02:00

The rest of the dancers would be dressed as creatures of the forrest. One of them had to be a dog I thought. Orion hunts with his dogs so naturally one had to be a dog, end of story.

I'd originally intended the dancer to be stabbing a person with some ankle blades, but as I came further into the process I liked the idea less and less. I had anothe dancer who had to flail a chain and hook around, but that didn't work either.

At last I came up with the idea of giving "the dog" the flailing chain, make her stand up instead of kicking horisontally into the air, and also gave her a sword to wield. I like it much better now.

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

There is something quite menacing about the piece, just as if staring at a whirlwind of death heading your way.

Wardancers Finished: Beastman

2011-05-18T03:14:00.005+02:00

I wanted the dancer who played the beastman to look more feral than the rest. I took my inspiration from indian ceremonial dancers, who dress up as bisons. The whole theme is basically modelled on the little of what I know of indian rituals.

I decided the beastman would carry a drum: This would signal him banging the "War drum" e.g. he brings strife to the forest. At the same time the other dancers, even Orion, would be dancing to his beat symbolizing that they would not be there if he wasn't. He's the enemy, but he's still in command of everyone.

To make the beastman dancer more gruesome from the rest, I made his mask be the skull af an actual slain beastman. Also he has a beastman mane, heavily inspired from the bison headgear of indian rituals. First I thought of adding a few feathers to the headgear, but decided against it in the end as I thought it unnecessay

Photos by Fruzsi Gaal

Wardancers Finished: Orion

2011-05-18T03:01:00.005+02:00

The chief deity in the wood elf religion, Orion, awakens every spring like the forest he protects. When he does so he blows his hunting horn which signals the beginning of "The Great Hunt". He hunts the natural enemy of the wood elves, the so called "beastmen": Men mutated by by the warping effect of chaos. Orion uses dogs to chase down the beastmen.

I decided my wood elf dancers would reenact this hunt, so I made an "Orion" dancer to lead this ceremonial "hunt". Others would would then play the roles of beastman and various different creatures of the forest.

As the god Orion is male, I thought it would be cool to make the dancing Orion female. e.g. it has to be a female to avoid offending/challenging the real Orion.

My main idea for the troup of dancers was that I wanted each to be easily recognizable from one another at a distance. I did this by emphasizing on their headgear and weapons. Make these bigger and more prominent compared to their clothes. Then the clothes could be quite uniform to mark them all as being part of a group.

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

I sculpted the body first, then the head. Weapon and horn were sculpted seperately and then attached with glue.

The skeleton was simply two pieces of 1,1 mm wire twisted a few times around each other. Nice and simple

Portfolio

2011-05-18T01:48:00.029+02:00

Click on the individual titles below for an exstensive look into each creative process.

Dragon

16 inches tall

Oddsockshire

8.5 inches tall

Concept by Henrik Sønniksen

Woman and Dog

5.5 inches tall

Callidus Assassin

6 inches tall

Light Apprentice

10 inches tall

Concept by Igor Noronha

Sherlock Holmes

6.5 inches tall

Goutted'Or

Run to the Hills

9 inches tall

Spartan

5.5 inches tall

Archer

1.5 inches tall

Ronin

4.5 inches tall

Wardancers

1 inch tall

Deamonette Head

7.7 inches tall.

Wardancers Pre production: Poses and weapons

2011-05-17T02:29:00.002+02:00

Now that I had the heads sorted out it was time to get to the most interesting part of pre production: Poses.

I wanted them to be very aggressive in their appearance and posture as well as elegant and graceful in their stances. Many of the poses here were used although I did make some changes to individual equipment etc, later in the process. I also wanted them to fight in very different manners f.ex. one would have blades tied to his ankles so he couldn't use his legs, but had to rely on a pogo-like stick to keep him mobile. Others would be wielding spears, swords etc.

Here you see some of the weapon designs I played around with. I became very fond of the idea of blades shaped like the leaves on trees or bushes. I think it went well with the whole "forest" theme.

Wardancers Pre production: Heads

2011-05-17T02:10:00.005+02:00

Now that I'm confident in both green stuff and sculpy, have made big showpieces as well as a lot of individual sculptures, I'd like to take it to the next level and do minature work. I planned to make 5 cm tall minatures solely in green stuff.

This time I would make my own interpretation of elven wardancers from the Warhammer universe. They are essentially elves who fight and dance. Used for religious seremonies and general mirth.

First off I wanted them to have differently shaped heads from that of humans. I wanted them to look alien, but somehow still attractive. I made some sketches and then proceeded to make two test heads using sculpy. Here I'd also establish the difference in cranial shape from man to woman. The female would have a smooth forehead while the male would have a pronounced jaw and brow.

Photos by: Fruzsi Gaal

I concluded the headshapes to be a good mixture between pleasing and disturbed, although I found the back of the skull too big and alien-like on the male.

Callidus Assassin

2011-04-22T00:11:00.003+02:00

I've been playing the board game Warhammer Fantasy for the better part of my childhood and teenage years. I was rubbish at it, but I was mainly in it for the minatures as you can well imagine.

I'd never done a piece from the Warhammer universe before so I decided to give it a go. I wanted to do a Callidus assasin from the Warhammer 40.000 universe. From Wikipedia:

Callidus: Latin for "cunning". Specializing in trickery, deception, deceit, infiltration and impersonation. Their greatest asset is their ability to use the shape-changing drug Polymorphine. This drug, coupled with special training, allows Callidus agents to change their very shape and appearance allowing them to impersonate other persons, members of the opposite sex, and even humanoid aliens like Orks and Eldar.

I wanted to show an assassin in the process of changing shape. She'd be turning into the person she'd just killed. I thought of adding the body from the beheaded man to the base of the piece, but it turned out to be too time consuming for me. I left her with the head alone. It solved my design problems and it still looks cool.

I made it in green stuff and used guitar strings for the tubes ( think it was an A string :-P) I cheated and used small plastic skulls from the warhammer fantasy minature range.

Photos by Greta Clemente

The model alone is about 15 cm tall. I made the base in sculpy and painted it with Citadel colours.

I imagined the transformation process to look a lot like Han Solo being freed from his carbonite prison in Star Wars Episode 6

Photos by Anders Clausen

Props for Goutted'Or part 2

2011-04-03T00:36:00.002+02:00

I had to do some daggers the main character would be juggling. They were made in green stuff. The skull was also made for the movie, to my knowledge but not included in the final cut. I'm not implying theres anything wrong with that decision. I'm just saying..

The knives had to be exotic and varied. The skull had to be cartoony. I think I did alright.

Photos by Christoph Peladan.

I had to do a small rowin boat as well. It had to be tied to a huge tree. The boat was done in one piece of thick cardboard with a lot of glue. Then I covered i in small strips of thin cardboard and painted it. All done in one day. The ores were created from a stick and a piece of cardboard. Nothing fancy, but it looks good I think.

Just so I don't get into copyright trouble: The tree wasn't done by me!

Photos by Leonardo Ligustri and Greta Clemente.

Then I did a ship. It was made from a 5 £ model ship. I had to make it look old and derelict.

I cut the ship in two with a saw. Added planks made from cardboard, made a railing in the back. The sails were cut to pieces and then small flags were added to the top as well as a looot of rope and then some more rope for good measure. I even made the goddamn ladders!

People dont realise that mast are not one solid trunk of tree, but smaller pieces stuck together. I certainly didn't know until I'd studied the a lot of model ships from various books on the subject. I had to seperate the masts and then reconnect them to make it look believable. Then i had to break them again because a derelict can't have intact masts. It's a fact.

I painted it, added seaweed using a combination of cotton, wood glue, paint and water. Then I repainted it.

I just couldn't resist adding a frontfigure to this piece as well. Made with love in green stuff.

Here's me with my creation. isn't she a beaute:

Finally I had to do a pair of legs hanging (from a rope). As a contrast to everything else I'd previously done, these should be able to animate i.e. move.

The legs were made in Super sculpy. The trouser legs incidentally, were made in real fabric and then painted to look real.... yeah, showbiz, I know.

Photos by Greata Clemente

Props for Goutted'Or part 1

2011-04-02T01:31:00.007+02:00

In the summer of 07' I ran into Christoph Peladan, a budding director and animator from France. He convinced me to help him as a volunteer props maker for his short movie "Goutted'Or". I'd mainly be sculpting, but I would also have a chance to do some carving and painting jobs.

The first thing i'd be working on was a small frontfigure for an approximately 1 meter long model ship. It had to be loosely based on Cthulhu the half squid half dragon god. The ship had already been made. We made an imprint in a large piece of sculpy, baked it and carved it into the right size. Then I went to work with green stuff. Sculpted the torso and face first. Later I did the tentacles using wire and a lot of patience.

The painting was done by someone else. What more can I say?

Here is a small cannon I also had to do, approximately 5 cm long. The barrel is made in green stuff and the carriage was done in solid styrofoam.

Photos by Greta Clemente.

Next up I had to do a large version of the squid (Horray!) This time the ship was five meters long so it had to be made in solid styrofoam as green stuff is too expensive and heavy. I can't really classify the material correctly, but it's like compact styrofoam so it doesn't smoulder when carved.

This proved an interesting challenge as I not only had to scale it correctly, but I also had to carve it, which meant I'd be working from the outside and going in unlike sculpting, where you work from the inside and then outwards (Well that's how I work in general anyway)

I made mistakes, heck yes I did, but theese mistakes were easily remedied with some fimo plast.

The smaller front tentacles were made from a single piece of styrofoam, but the rear tentacles were done in two parts: One part wold be connected to the frontfigure. The other would be fitted later to "grasp" the ship. I reinforced the joints with a gluegun, wires and finally fimo light.

Photos by Christophe Peladan

Oldies but goldies

2011-03-22T05:14:00.003+01:00

This was the first ever sculpture I did. The men are made from green stuff, the rock from clay. 2003

This is a terran marine from Starcraft made in white clay. 2004

Bust of Eddie the Monster from Iron Maiden. Made in a combination of white and red clay. 2005

This is a bust of Angus Young, lead giutarist in AC/DC. Done in white and red clay. 2005

Small version of same guitarist. Done in green stuff. 2005

Angus the Devil. Made in green stuff. 2007

Spartan warrior. Made from green stuff. 2007

Sherlock Holmes: Finished piece

2011-03-20T03:49:00.001+01:00

Here we go:

Before and after:

Got it finished just in time for christmas even \o/

Photos by Anders Clausen.

Sherlock Holmes: Sculpting part 2

2011-03-20T03:32:00.004+01:00

I had the sculpture of Sherlock Holmes:

I'd made a violin and a bow:

The bottlecap was only intended as an size indicator, but pepsi, if you do want to sponsor this page just call me, awright. I drink pepsi max thank you. The strings on the violin btw. were made seperately with a glue gun and then glued to the violin. Swearing is allowed if imitated.

Here I've combined it all in one glorious mix:

I added a watchchain and corrected the arm a bit. One foot broke when I glued it to the base, but that was eaily mended with green stuff.

Hands were done in three stages: Palm first, then each finger positioned seperately. Lastly I'd make the hands and fingers actually look like hands and fingers. Now we're talking!

Last photo by Anders Clausen

Sherlock Holmes: Sculpting part 1

2011-03-19T23:49:00.002+01:00

I had my pose, the outfit and the general look figured out. I also more or less had a plan of action. I'd sculpt the main body first, then the outfit and lastly the head, all done using sculpy. Then I'd bake it and add hands and violin, both made in green stuff. I'd have to make the violin first and then attach it to the neck before making the hands, as the hands would have to grasp the violin and react according to its size and shape and not vice versa.

I tried using a very thick and flexible wire this time instead of using many small wires. I'll say it now:. Don't do that. The sculpy will have a hard time sticking to the one wire and you'll hate yourself . On the plus side though, it is easier to cover the wire, but a well made skeleton using many small wires is always better. It takes time yes, but it is worth it. Sing a song while twisting the wires together. With a friend if possible.

I made him twist his upper body to give the sculpture some life and randomness. I also didn't want his left arm parallel with the left leg which would have made him look static.

This was the base for the violin. First I made a rough outline of the body. When that had cured I filled it out with some more green stuff. Lastly I cut, filed it down and carved the details into the body (the F-holes ( I'm not kidding)). Then I could concentrate on the neck.

The added pin would later become the figerboard. Finally I sculpted the fingerboard, tailpiece, bridge and scroll.

This was the last sketch I did before starting on the deatil. I made it just to make absolutely sure I hadn't any misconception of how f. ex. he should be holding the bow string, how he parts his hair or what kind of shoes he wears.

Sherlock Holmes: Sketces

2011-03-19T03:27:00.000+01:00

I've always loved action figures, especially the old Action Force/ G.I. Joe range because you could pose them so easily. My brother also have an deep seated interest in action figures. This christmas I decided to give him a cool gift. It's said the best gift is the one you make yourself. Well, I didn't think a drawing or an ashtray would make him jump for joy, so I decided to do something a little more ambitious.

As well as having a common interest in minatures, we're both huge fans of Sherlock Holmes, epecially when he's played by the legendary Jeremy Brett. The answear was obvious; Make him a Sherlock Holmes sculpture for christmas! Here goes..

First off I wanted to make the iconic Sherlock Holmes, i.e. he should be doing something he's known for, examining a crime scene or smoking his pipe, but which? You always see him running round with his deerstalker and magnifying glass, but that was too obvious a choice for my taste. That is why I like Jeremy Brett's interpretation of Sherlock Holmes. He almost never wears a deerstalker. He's known for playing a violin in a robe though... hmmm, now we're getting somewhere.

Leasure suit and playing a violin it was then. Now I just had to figure out his look. If I could pull it off I'd go for the Jeremy Brett version ( I may have mentioned before I liked his version of Sherlock Holmes) I opted to go for realism as much as my skills would permit me to.

As my Sherlock would be plaing the violin I wanted him to be wrapped in the music. This helped me a lot when figuring out his pose.

When I sculpt I aim for the model to be interesting from all angles. Again you have to balance this with realism. I remember once being told that the world famous skulpture of the greecian disc thrower was a bad sculpture because of his realistic pose. He looks good when viewed from the front or from behind, but when viewed from the side he looked, quote; "As a wounded soldier" That can't be good, can it?

So: Energetic movement, realistic pose and no "weak" angles to make it look uninteresting. OK THEN!

Woman and Dog: Finished piece

2011-03-15T16:42:00.001+01:00

I painted the piece in Citadel colours. I always use citadel colours. They are easy to mix and are waterbased so they can be thinned down and they don't smell. They may be costly, but hey, I got a day job so that is no biggie. I added fake grass to the base and also some between the pavement tiles to make them appear old. Notice also the squashed can. I'm very pleased with the final outcome.

Photos by: Anders Clausen

Woman and Dog: Skeleton and sculpting

2011-03-13T22:16:00.002+01:00

I stuck to my usual method of making skeletons: Get the correct measurement, then pose it, lastly you recheck the measurement against the pose and make it work together. This sculpture would become a fairly big piece. I did not expect that to begin with. If the sculpture is going to weigh a lot, I can recommed adding a supporting "leg" to the skeleton. This skeleton worked as it was, but only just.

Once I'd sculpted all I could in sculpy and baked it, I made the details in green stuff. I sculpted the woman and dog seperately from each other and then glued them to the same base. First then did I begin work on the leash. I sculpted it on a flat surface. I recommend a surface like wood, glass or metal. Don't use cardboard. It is a pain to remove green stuff from a cardboard surface without taking some cardboard with you. When it had cured, I cut it into shape and glued it onto the models.

The strap for the purse I flattened seperately, but applied it to the model before it had cured. The same method was applied to the small piece of dangling leash in the woman's hand.

When I work with clothes, f.ex. the trusers, I'll sculpt all the muscles first. Then ill roll some small sausage pieces of sculpy and apply them wherever I want the clothes to fold. I use the same method when making sleeves or indeed any seperate pieces of the clothing. I do this so I know I'm not screwing with the muscles in favour of design.

The pieces of cardboard on the base would later be painted to resemble pavement. I would also sculpt a flattened soda can using green stuff.

I would later readjust the hand holding the leash with green stuff. If you got the option, make hands with green stuff as it can be done in stages and not necessairly all at once.

Woman and Dog: Concept sketches

2011-03-13T18:22:00.002+01:00

It was suggested to me that my next project be something a little more down to earth. I wanted to do a female at this point as well. This was to better understand the subtle differences in the physiology of men and women.

At the same time I didn't want to make the standard pin up or damsel in distress. I wanted to make a woman who got it all under control (well almost in control) A cool person who knows what she wants. A buissness woman or doctor or something.

I had to make an interesting pose, a believable pose full of energy and motion. I thought of making her interact with something. At the same time it would have to be an everyday thing. A dog might fit the bill. Why not? It would be the random element I'd need as well as a good oppotunity to actually sculpt a dog. It would give the piece a story as well. DOG!

I'd let her talk on a mobile phone while walking the dog. A small commentary to the distracted mind through which modern man percieves the world. It would also be a good excuse to give a twist to her pose. Let her be carried along by the dog unwillingly. Could it be a metaphor for fate? Nah, better stop while I'm ahead.

Back to practical matters. What breed of dog should I make. didn't want anything too small or too large. I wanted something springy the same time, but also a dog a business woman might pick as a pet. I settled for a greyhound. Sleek, elegant and fast.

I found a lot of pictures on the internet, but I wanted to get the physiology into my head and my hands before committing it to form, so I decided to do a couple of sketches of the greyhound beforehand.

Archer: Sculpting part 2

2011-03-13T16:00:00.000+01:00

I needed to add a bow to the archer. I did this by bending a wire into shape and covered it in a moderate layer of green stuff , forming it into an approximate bow shape. Once it had cured, I carved it into the final shape I wanted. I also cut away some room for the handle and then I sculpted the hand holding it.

The bow string was made simply by rolling a small piece of green stuff into a string, attach one end to a surface and let gravity take care of the shape as it cured. Lastly I glued it all together and sculpted the final small details.

I redid the hand holding the helmet and connected the quiver to the main body. Added a small pouch to his belt and some small details here and there and that was basically it. I had my archer. I painted and glued it onto the dragon base. Nice and easy. I choose green fort the clothes mainly to make him stand out form all the red in the dragon. I felt blue was too much of a contrast though. It seemed out of place.

Final result.

Archer: Sculpting part 1

2011-03-13T06:16:00.003+01:00

After I'd decided on the archer's pose, the next step would be to actually sculpt the unlucky fella. I found some 1,1 mm wire perfect for the task. I wrappe two small pieces of wire around each other. That was it. I had my skeleton.

When working with minatures don't get wire which is too thick. I acidentally mistook the wire I'm using on my current project for 1,1 mm wire. It's not far off though, perhaps less than 1,5 mm thick, but it really makes a huge difference when working in these scales ( aprox. 5 cm tall minatures )

If I could skip making a skeleton for a minature I'd do it in a heartbeat, as a badly posed/planned skeleton really limits your freedom to get the minature to look just like you want it to. This is true no matter what scale you are working in.

First off I sculpted the stomach, chest and legs. Then both upper arms. At this point I cut away the wire for the arms, as I didn't need the strenght. I removed the wire at the elbow in the arm which clutches the helmet. The wire in the free swinging arm I removed at the wrist.

Once I'd sculpted all that, I started working on the clothes and details of the minature. The head and bow I'd sculpt seperately and then attach them later. I did the head this way just to try out the method. I sculpted it onto a toothpick and then remove it once it had cured. I can recommend the method if the head'll be inaccessible to sculpt because of the rest of the minature, but if have the choice of sculpting the head directly onto the minature or not, I'll always opt for sculpting it on directly.

I got big hands and a toothpick can be a bit fiddly as a handle, when concentrating on something more important than a firm grip.

Once I had attached the head and made a neck, I sculpted the rest of the right arm to the head. that way I could make certain that everything was placed correctly and had the appropriate lenght before adding any details.

Photos by Greta Clemente

Archer: Concept sketches

2011-03-13T05:19:00.001+01:00

When I designed the archer I wated to make sure there was contrasts between him and the dragon. Sure there would already be some apparent contrast established by the dragon's appearance: It was big, violent and ill tempered. The archer would have to be small, harmless and frightened. A hamster of a man. A Wormtail more or less.

At the same time there was no humor about the dragon. It was all business. I wanted the archer to have humor in his appearance, movement and pose. I decided immidiately to make him fat. A typical sidekick character. Plain clothes and if possible a small hat or helmet to reinforce that image. An overweight squire.

In the beginning I'd thought about letting the dragon fight a mounted knight. That way I'd also have an oppotunity to try and make a horse. The more I thought about it the more I came to loath the idea. It was just so standard and boring. Hence the idea about an archer came creeping into my head. Then I thought about adding an arrow to the eye of the dragon. Tthere was my story for the piece. The archer it would be!

Fininshed Dragon: Moneyshots

2011-03-09T23:28:00.000+01:00

The colour scheme was based the colour of an uncooked lobster. Again, the coolest and most unexpected patterns and colour palettes are all located in nature, so go there for inspiration. Notice btw. the added archer. Notice the fear in his eyes. Bwa ha ha.

I'd like to thank the following people:

Anders Clausen for his stunning photos of the finished dragon.
Greta Clemente and Claudia Marvisi for some truly excellent production photos.
Henrik Malmgren for some well placed kicks in the head when asked to do so.
Christophe Peladan for the unwarranted sarkasm : P
Kitija Matisone for suggesting I take production photos and the moral support.

Fininshed Dragon: The base

2011-03-09T22:45:00.000+01:00

Here I am holding my creation. Naturally I was excited, but at the same time a bit miffed that I'd forgotten to shave or indeed wash my hair.

Initailly I'd thought about removing the dragon from the wooden plank to which it was attached, but I was afraid I might have created a strain to the wire when I stapled it to the plank. If that was the case, I might risk the dragon breaking into pieces as the wires returned to ther original position.

Then it was suggested I might keep the dragon on the plank, carve the plank into a pleasing shape and then attach it to a larger base. I did this and it worked admirably as it would also make the dragon easier to observe from its raised position.

This was the end result. After carving the planks and gluing them to the base, I sculpted it into a hill with boulders and a cliff using Fimo Light. It is light weight, relatively cheap, easy to sculpt with and most importantly, it cures when exposed to the open air for a longer period of time i.e. it dries out. Once again I'd dodged using an oven.

The base I had gotten specially made for a paltry 5 £ (My old wooshop teacher from elementary school was very reasonable with the price) I coated the side of the base with tree polish (or something like it) sanded it, then repeated the process three times till I'd achieved the desired effect.

Then I painted the details on the base, added a layer of sand, painted it white and finally glued shards of crushed light bulbs on top of it all and voila. a finished dragon! Meanwhile I'd also designed, sculpted and painted the archer, but that process will be covered next.

Finished Dragon: Details details

2011-03-09T17:58:00.000+01:00

I was happy with my tree for about two hours until it was pointed out that it didnt look like a tree. I then placed a thick layer of green stuff on the stem and mutilated it until it looked like bark. I drilles some holes into it as well and stuck some wires which I sculpted into branches. You will see the finished result later.

These were the absolute last details I sculpted before moving on to the wings. I sharpened the claws on the hands and feet once I'd baked them. Its so much easier to carve sharp edges than it is to sculpt them. The membranes in the ridge on the dragon's back were made simply by squeezing thumb an indexfimger against the sculpy and removing the excess. I made the membranes in different sizes and made the larger more detailed to give some variation.

The horns on the elbows and kneecaps were surrounded by smaller horns gradually turning into scales. This would help me pick out a few large scales when painting the dragon, which would also add to the variation in skin texture.

I baked the head first before attaching it to the neck. That way I could press the socket in the back of the head against the end of the neck to make them better fit together. To make the head stick, I added a layer of green stuff un top of the joint after gluing them together.

I'd decided the dragon would be chasing an unlucky archer, so I added an arrow to the eye of the dragon. Then there would also be a little story behind the piece, which is always welcome.

Finished Dragon: The wings

2011-03-09T15:42:00.000+01:00

Another little piece of advice: Don't ever never ever sculpt something which require a large set of wings attached to it! If you do anyways, here's how I did it:

Make a frame for the wings using wire. When wrapping a wire around another wire do your best to wrap it tightly. If you don't, it'll stick out and give you a lot of grief when applying the sculpy. I wanted my wings to be pretty lightweight to minimise strain to the wireframe. Therefore I had to be economic when applying sculpy to the membranes on the wings. This is when you'll be glad you spend the time necessary to make a good quality skeleton!

I made the membranes by flattening a large amount of sculpy like cookie dough. Then I cut it into appropriate sizes and placed them on top of my frame. I worked one piece of memebrane at a time, so each individual wing would require four pieces of flattened sculpy to make. lastly I used my fingers to flatten the sculpy as much as I could without exposing the wireframe.

The day I had to attach the second wing had arrived. I'd baked the dragon and the unattached wing and then, after taking a deep breath, I proceeded to drill into the shoulder of the dragon. At this point I'd decided to strengthen the shoulder by adding a layer of Green stuff (also known as Kneadatite), to the shoulder and also to the drilled socket itself to as a shock absorber to the sculpy.Green stuff unlike sculpy is not brittle, but quite bendy and won't crumble or break as easily.

Green stuff is a two part epoxy component which cures after a day or so of being mixed. This would be perfect to use as I'd already baked the dragon once, and didn't want to risk it getting burned by another go in the oven. It was also useful for repairing cracks in the sculpy, which had appeared after the dragon had been baked.

After adding the layer of Green stuff to the joint I had to let it cure. Luckily, I had a roll of toiletpaper I didn't need, to stabelise it while it did so.

The green stuff at the tip of the wing was added because the wing, being unattatched to the dragon before being baked, had to be stapled onto a wooden frame for it be sculpted properly. The green tip of the wing is the covered piece which had been stapled to the wireframe.

Dragon Skulpting: Head

2011-03-06T23:31:00.000+01:00

This was a straight up sculpting job. No little neat tricks to easen the mind, just pure leg work. One thing though. The membranes connecting the horns were made by placing an excessice amount of sculpy on the horns themselves and then gradually smoothen the excess out thowards each other to make them connect. That way the membrane would look thinner in the middle and thicker at the edges, as it should be.

Ah yes again: Big shapes first. Details in the end. Here the details were the scales and the small horns.

I think the end result speaks for itself. I Added an extra wire for the tounge, and then looked a looot at pictures of lizards to get the scale texture down precisely. Here's another little tip: you may think you know what stuff in nature looks like, but you don't. Do the research, then go to work, and if that is too boring or hard to replicate, then bend the rules. Just make certain you check out what the stuff looks like in real life before trying to replicate it! You may get inspiered and you may save a lot of time.

I sharpened the teeth with a knife once I'd cured the head in an oven. Dont screw it up by being impatient and trying to do everything at once. Plan your progress, but leave room for cool accidents to happen.

Dragon Skulpting: Finishing step and textures

2011-03-06T22:53:00.000+01:00

I found some additional production photos.

I was very careful to count the number movable "joints" on the underside of the dragon before starting to sculpt it, ie. I didn't want there to be an uneven number of joints on each side of the belly. Because of the even number of joints I'd have to make, each joint would have to stretch or squeeze according to what its twin joint on the opposite side was doing. If one joint was stretched out, the other had to be squeezed together. The finished result made the dragon look more organic and flexible.

This was the solution a came up with concerning the wing muscle/arm muscle problem. At the same time it gave me a nice chance to brush up on my knowledge on back and shoulder muscles.

I decided that the belly joints would go all the way up to the tail and then I would start work on the textures.

This was the finished result. I'd looked at some photos of lizard scales and forund out that larger scales tend to be situated on the back and then get progressively smaller the further it goes thowards the underside/stomach.

The texture on the body were made simply by gently pressing a drill bit against the surface and then let it run along the until you get the desired effect. The larger scales on the back would be made by placing tiny blobs of sculpy on the surface and then smoothing them out till they looked the part. I left the underside smooth to give some variation to the piece and also to make it easier for ppl to distingush what is up and down.

I would later replicate the process on the head.

Dragon Skulpting: First step. Part 2

2011-03-05T15:04:00.000+01:00

More work in progress photos. A good rule of thumb when sculpting is to limit yourself to a couple of simple big tools in the beginning. I find it easier to keep away from going in to details too soon, if the tools I'm using are ill suited for the purpose. Later sure, go crazy, but keep to the big tools in the beginning.

At this stage I'd figured out where everything should be placed on the dragon, shoulders, hips, chest and so forth. The the next step was to start bulking out the fella. I did it like this; Main body, then arms and legs and finally I'd do the hands and feet.

But working on the bigger shapes was far from tedious work. You still have to figure out how all the muscles would react to each other; How one shoulder would look streched one way and then how the other shoulder or indeed the chest muscles might react to that specific movement. ...yeah well, I guess you had to be there.

Dragon Skulpting: First step: Part 1

2011-03-05T11:11:00.000+01:00

My main drive is to make stuff you want to look at: Who doesn't?! I think that is easier than it sounds. We humans are born curious, so anything new automatically has a certain attraction. The difficult part is to keep the viewer interested. At the same time I want my stuff to look alive. If something looks alive it's easier to keep the observer interested: You don't think you've seen the full potential of a sculpture if it looks as though it could change position any second it pleases, leap into your lap or steal your wallet. If you haven't seen it all, then maybe you'll want to look at it again, non?

Rule nr one when trying to make a realistic sculpture is: To keep looking at at your work with symmetry in mind. When to apply it and when not to apply it.

The body is overall more or less symmetrical, but at the same time its not. Just consider the internal organs. We dont have two hearts or livers do we? Would you call your own face symmetrical? No and probably not. And if your face is symmetrical, please leave your phone nr.

What I do when sculpting is to aim for symmatry to begin with: Everthing must be proportionally correct. Then I start posing the sculpture and then I throw symmatry out out the window. When I'm done posing the sculpture, I double check the entire thing, to see if I've been symmetrical enough.

Rule nr two is: Be as asymmetrical as possible when posing a sculpture. Nobody, and I do mean nobody does a symmetric pose in nature. there is always weight and counter weight. My mistake was to assume a decending dragon would have its hind legs curled up under its body eg. the symmetrical approach. This may be a realistic approach to how a flying dragon would look, but it's also rather boring to look at. Rest assured I got a few deserving comments about that.

I let the legs flail about. It look rather cool and at the same time it adds to the chaos and turmoil of the piece, gives the body weight and overall credibility. Believe me, a dragon can use all the credibillity it can get.

To be honest I didn't have an exact idea about how the body would be twisting around itself until I got to actually sculpting it. For this project I'd be using super sculpy. I does not cure/harden until you have baked it in an owen. Perfect for time consuming projects. Just remember to keep you hands clean or the sculpture will soon start to look dirty. I made a snake of the dragon as seen on the pictures above and then I flattenet it into a flesh like sepentine. One edge of the serpentine would mark the spine, the other the middle line in the stomach.

Then I went to work on the arms and legs, got the muscles placed. Made a small self study of the back and shoulder muscles. One quick note: Don't get carried away with small details! DON'T.
I did. Got so excited I accidentally sculpted a foot. Then I slapped myself and continued my work on the main body. Stick with the big picture till it's done

Dragon skeleton: head

2011-03-04T15:22:00.000+01:00

This simple creation would later turn out to become the head of the dragon. The thicker piece of wire would become snout and jaw. The thinner would become horns.

I took my inspiration for the placement of the horns, the spread out look, from lizards who become agitated and "puff up" membranes on the side of their heads. I did this to further emphasize the mood of the beast.

Dragon skeleton: body

2011-03-04T15:11:00.000+01:00

The first thing i did whan I started out, was to take four rather thin cords of wire and then wrap them around my arm until I'd determined the proper lenght and shape of the main body. After I had the body shape I added arms and legs using much the same method, but was careful to measure out extra wire for the limbs to wrap around the main body.

Then I strengthened the skeleton with a much thicker wirecord , just the main body and wing basically, and left some spare cord which I could attached to a wooden base with a stapler. Every major wire was carefully connected using ordinary garden wire.

I repeated the process when I added the tree and connected the brancehes to the dragon's tail for added support to the entire thing.

At this stage I decided only to add one wing to the main body frame. This I did because I knew it would be hell to sculpt both the body but also the second wing if I attched it at that point. It was a gamble as I was not quite certain how durable my sculpting material would be, if I had to drill the second wing in place, but I concluded that the alternative would be worse.

Fifth dragon sketch: Head

2011-03-04T13:24:00.000+01:00

What do you do when you can't decide what face to wear?

Easy; you take all of your drawings, walk into the nearest kitchen and ask the comlplimentary three italian people sitting there. 'Cause if you have a question about design, you ask italians.
Grazie mille Greta, Claudia and Leo:)

Didn't make a drawing of the finished head design. Decided to sculpt it then and there.

Fourth dragon sketch: The wings

2011-03-04T13:03:00.000+01:00

Next up came the difficoult task of sorting out the physiology of the wings; How to place the arms and subsequently the wings compared to each other. It had to have both or it wouldn't be a proper dragon!

I decided after some deliberations to place them next to each other and not on top of each other, as I'd seen other people do. I was sorely tempted though, as it would probably be easier to do, but if I placed the wings on top of the arms, then there would be no room for the shoulder blades and muscles connected to the arm.
Hence I had to figure out how to place the limbs in front and behind each other,

I also played around a bit with the look of the wings themselves; I took my inspiration from pictures of bats as I thought it would look the coolest, but also becaue I tend to go for the classics when it works.

Third dragon sketch: Proportions

2011-03-04T12:29:00.000+01:00

Next up I thought about why the dragon was spiralling downwards as if to attack/eat something. I decided it was trying to eat a human. Why it did, I'd have to figure out later, but I was going to make it pretty large compared to a human if it should be able to swallow it in one gulp.

Next up I worked a bit on the proportions of the hips and shoulders compared to the rest of the body. I went for a chinese snake like dragon. To better emphasize the slinky movement it would be making as it was spiralling thowards the ground.

Second dragon sketch: Postures and accessories

2011-03-04T11:58:00.000+01:00

This was the finished posture I came up with. I was happy with the speed and the weight of the dragon.

I made the practical choice of supporting the back end of the dragon with something. At first i thought a building would look rather neat, but decided against it, as it would take too long to do. At the same time I wanted the dragon to be the main attraction of the piece, hence a tree was needed! It would also lend some menace to the dragon, if the tree were to be split in two by the tail of the creature.

First dragon sketch: Initial idea

2011-03-04T11:51:00.000+01:00

I woke up one morning and decided then and there to sculpt a dragon, as you do (must have been something I ate the previous day) This was the first sketch I did. I had the posture down more or less, but it still needed some additional work before I'd commit it to reality. Also for it to spiral, I'd have to slim it way way down.