SCULPTURE - "Santa vs. The Yeti" FINAL

BEHOLD...The SMACK-DOWN in TOY-TOWN!

Santa didn't start this fight, but he sure as fruitcake is gonna end it! Ain't no giant Yeti gonna be munching on Kris Kringle's workforce and get away with it! Some heard him exclaim, as he drove the beast out of sight..."I know when you are sleeping...I know when you're awake..."

Okay...enough silliness. Here are photos of the last few stages of the sculpting process...pretty much the same techniques that I've shown all along. I added smaller pieces of sculpy to build the general shapes and flow of the Yeti's fur. Then I spent a good deal of time adding detail with various sculpting tools.

Once all the fur was done, I glazed the whole piece with oder-less solvent. Then I let it sit overnight, to set up after "melting" the sculpy to a smoother surface. I covered the bottom of a pie pan with a piece of aluminum foil, and placed the sculpture in the center of it. I baked the Yeti in the oven at about 250 degrees, for 30 minutes. After I turned off the heat, I opened the oven door, and just let it cool down slowly.

Next, I painted a gray-blue base-coat with acrylics, then several layers of glazes, building up from the darker values to the lightest...dry brushing and blending until I was satisfied with the results.

While waiting for the Yeti to bake, I started painting Santa...first a base coat of brown, then the colors I wanted. I then used very thin washes of tans, black, and various blues to add depth and variety to the paint job.

After all the painting was finished, I used super-glue GEL to fix Santa onto the back of the Yeti. I had left a hole in the Yeti's shoulder for the armature wire that protruded from Santa's foot. I had also sculpted a "foot hole" in the Yeti's back. Once the glue had set-up, I sculpted a little piece of "fur" out of plumbers epoxy to look like Santa's hand was holding on the the beard hair of the Yeti. A bit of touch-up paint to match the Yeti fur...and it's all finished!!

Here are various views of the final "Santa vs. The Yeti" sculpture. Hope you enjoyed watching the process!

SCULPTURE - "Santa vs. The Yeti" pt. 4

"Here comes Santa Claus, Here comes Santa Claus..." This is my final post for 2011! Hard to believe the year will be over in a few hours. Glad I was able to finish this phase of the sculpt just in the "St. Nick" of time! (I know...I'm groaning too.)

Let's walk ya through the process...I'm sure it's starting to get a bit repetitious. As before, I made a wire armature to get the size and pose where I wanted it. I made Santa a bit larger in scale than the original rough-in.

I made the hammer out of a nail, and plumbers epoxy. Then I covered them with the sculpy, and baked it.

I was trying something new this time around. Many sculptors that I follow online use a heat gun for "locking in" certain areas of a sculpt, while keeping other areas soft, to continue sculpting. I have much to learn about technique...as you will see, I scorched a lot of the rest of the sculpture. I just didn't want to wait on using my little toaster, as the heat gun is a faster way to bake stuff. I used plumbers epoxy to connect the hammer to the arm...then just started building up details.

Santa's face was a little tricky, since the size of it was so small. I'm not super patient with the tiny details, so it isn't as refined as I'd like. After I had baked the face, I added some beard bits on top. It's all shiny, because I glazed it with solvent, to blend the surface some.

Once I attached the head, I just kept going with more detailing. As I've said before, I was going for a "barbarian" style Santa. After the final baking, the features were so scorched by the heat gun, that I couldn't see much of what I'd sculpted! So...I painted on a quick coat of acrylic, and it's good to go. (I will not be baking it any more, so the next stage for this guy will be the final paint job.) I'm currently re-reading "The Hobbit", so it may be why Santa looks a bit like a battling DWARF!

I'm on the home stretch now. Next will be addition of Yeti Fur, and an ice-covered base. After that...the final painted piece!

"See ya NEXT YEAR!" Happy 2012!

SCULPTURE - "Santa vs. The Yeti" pt. 3

Now that Christmas is behind us, I'm picking up some momentum on sculpting the YETI. The image above is still pretty rough, but it's getting there bit by bit. Let's look at the development of some of those "bits".

Usually, after I rough in a general layout of a piece, I start taking it apart and refining specific elements. I cut off the hand, and made a new armature of wire. After adding a bit of Sculpy for the fingers, I made some claws separately and baked them by themselves. I then added the claws back into the softer clay. You'll notice the gray color of the Sculpy...it's a mixture of "super" sculpy and "super...firm" (which is gray). I didn't like the crumbly texture of the firm, so blending the two gives it enough firmness for detailing. (Thanks, Jake A., for that tip!)

Before I baked the hand, I glazed it with some oder-less solvent (like you use with oil paints). This softens some of the details a bit. After baking, I used super sculpy to add some fur texture...then baked it again.

I attached the wire "stem" from the armature of the hand back onto the forearm of the Yeti. I used wire to wrap the stem around the arm's inner foil/wire, then used Plumbers Epoxy to make a good solid joint at the wrist. I added the sculpy back on top and it's ready for more detailing later.

Okay...now let's switch over the YETI's HEAD! This is one of the most important parts, and was fun to see where I'd end up. I was strongly influenced by Silverback Gorillas, but tried to keep some human-like expressions, too. I used the rough sculpt to give me some size relationships, but the face got a bit larger...which was fine with me. I began with a nice set of "choppers"...fangs made separately and baked, then blended in to the jaws.

Once the teeth were baked, I just started adding bits of clay to create the head. I didn't linger on the fur details, as I would be adding that later. The eyeballs are copper colored "BB's".

You've heard of "defacing art"? Sorry if this looks a bit gruesome...he felt no pain.

Here's the new face, with a little bit of quick texture to give me an idea of how it will look, once I start refining the rest of his fur.

You'll notice that Santa is not on his back...think I'll work on him next. Stay tuned!

SCULPTURE - "Santa vs. The Yeti" pt. 2

Let's get this Yeti started! I finally got all my Christmas shopping and wrapping done, so I was able to sculpt some this afternoon. This version is, as usual, my rough block-in. I will cut things apart and start refining specific areas...i.e. the Yeti's face, hand, Santa, etc. Then I can work all the fur after I reassemble the parts. Now that I look at the proportions, I will probably make Santa a bit larger.

Here is the basic armature that I started with...and a bit of foil wrapped with wire to "bulk" out the torso (so I don't have to use so much Sculpy). I forgot to take photos of the in-between stages of putting on the clay...but figured you'd get the idea. Remember, you can click on the images to see larger versions.
More to come in the days ahead!

SCULPTURE - "Santa vs. The Yeti" pt. 1

It's been WAY too long since I've done a sculpture project. I'm taking some time off during the holidays, and really wanted to have something fun to work on while at home. An epiphany hit me one morning, and it seemed perfect for the season. I may not be able to finish it before Christmas is over, but I'll get a good start on it.

I was thinking about all the animated classics on TV this time of year...especially "Rudolph", with Yukon Cornelius fighting the Abominable Snowman. It occurred to me that since Santa lives in the North Pole, it's possible he comes from good Norsemen stock. I figured that, before he could set up the ol' toyshop, he had to make it safe for Mrs. Claus and his tiny little elves. Thus, the battles ensued to clear the land of voracious Yeti...a much larger and more vicious version than the modern day shy creatures of lore. Maybe Santa is the reason they hide!

I started with a very rough sketch, just to capture the idea. Then I saw my ugly mug in the mirror and a camera on the dresser...voila...yeti poses to work from.

I gathered images off the internet to inspire me. (Hope these folks don't mind my posting this stuff!) I plan to build on the "viking / barbarian" theme for Santa's look.

Tonight I decided to work up a tighter color sketch shown above, just to help refine the concept a bit. I will probably change some things along the way. I don't want to be limited to the sketch...the YETI must reveal himself in the clay! Stay tuned!