3 replies to this topic

[SAbel]

Here is a look at some of my work. I entered this into the GenCon sculpture contest last year. It is one of my characters for D&D 4E, a Genasi Stormborn, Sorcerer. I have 3 views of him, let me know what you think. I used Kneadite for this one, home made twisted wire armature, and guitar string for the staves. He is "flying" supported buy a wind cloud under his one foot.

[Jupey]

Very nice, clean. Love the detail, can't wait to see it painted.

[dks]

Interesting design, intense expression, and an unusual way to make a "flying" miniature.

I am not sure what to make of the anatomy and clothing. Genasi are not quite human, but the differences are largely in the color (which doesn't matter to a sculpted figure) and in the hair (genasi are bald or have crystal "hair"). So I would expect to see more realistic anatomy and more believable drapery in the cloth. Use reference material. The torso and limbs are proportioned and articulated unnaturally. The head is too shallow (no cranial dome), with an overly large mouth and ears, not enough forehead or chin, and eyes that are arranged more to the side than the front of the head; check reference to see how the skull is typically shaped and where the features are located on it, and sculpt lots of faces for practice. The fingers on the hands are asymmetrical and not properly jointed, but I know that it takes observation and practice to sculpt good hands (and they still give me trouble). My most useful anatomy reference (besides a mirror) is the Anatomy Coloring Book, by Kapit and Elson. For clothing reference, wear your own clothes that are most similar to what the figure is wearing, then take a photo of yourself posing like the figure, and you can see where and how deep the folds would realistically be.

I think one of the judging criteria in the GenCon contest is also "castability". Although this figure is generally flat in the side view, the right foot and the two staves would make this difficult to cast. Imagine the molten pewter flowing outward from the center of the spinning circular mold -- it would not be able to flow back toward the center to fill the foot and the bottom ends of the staves. You could separate the staves from the body and cast them as separate pieces, or tie them to the rest of the body with wires or pieces of sprue that the buyer would cut off of the pewter figure. Adding a connection from the right foot to the "cloud" would also help.

Anyway, keep working and show us what you do next.
Have you been to ReaperCon or the Reaper Artist Conference?

Derek

[SAbel]

Thank you both for the comments.

Derek very helpful critique of the work. Your right on the mark for the sculpture and help me to see more of what I need to focus on. Thank you very much.

Sean