WIP Female stealth warrior

[Elia]

Hello all & Merry Christmas,

I have been wanting to do a female warrior character for a while now, one where I wouldn't have to strictly follow uniforms & equipment and which would give me more freedom to try out different things. After looking at a few books to get ideas about pose I decided on a kneeling/semi-crouching pose, the idea being that the character is hiding, watching and biding her time before an attack (hence the title of the piece).

When sculpting a figure my method is as follows: I photocopy a male/female reference picture to the scale that I want and build a wire armature which I place over the reference picture and mark where the knees, ankles and elbows are. I then pose the figure often using myself as model (needs must and all that ) and then begin building up the figure. In this stage I find it helpful to use a caliper and to check the figure against the reference picture as I progress. Also, whenever I need to I consult an anatomy book. In this particular case, the torso and arms are not yet placed in their final position because I want to be able to sculpt the lower part of the body without the arms and torso getting in the way.

As for the clothing/equipment I have not yet a definitive idea of what they will look like but they will be inspired by the medieval period (not very original, I know) and I was thinking of arming her with a pull lever crossbow and a couple of daggers. That's all I have in mind for now, probably will get more ideas as the thing progresses.

Attached are pictures of the reference female figure, armature before & after posing and tools.

As always comments are welcome.

All the best,
Elia

 

[Gaudin]

Loving the antennae, should be a cool character

 

[Elia]

, yes, it could be part female part insect!

 

[Blind Pew]

Well done for having a go at this project.

The only thing I'd say is, be careful of not having a clear idea, as this may work against you. I mean this in the sense that sometimes a project can become muddied by indecision. Anway, good luck!

 

[Elia]

Thank you for your advise, Blind Pew, I'll make sure this doesn't happen!

All the best,
Elia

 

[Elia]

Hello everyone and Happy 2015!

After a brief pause for a small trip to Lyon I'm back at the bench. I'll do the lower half of the figure first (including clothing) before moving on to the head and body . The arms will be sculpted and cast separately but for now I'm keeping them until the torso is more or less defined.

All the best,
Elia

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

A kneeling character! .. Interesting. I suspect either Spear, or Archery may be involved with this one.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Elia]

Hello Marc. Yes, I thought of a crossbow as her main weapon.

All the best,
Elia

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Ok. I was nearly right.

However, now I am getting a very basic visual concept.

Mark

 

[Elia]

Hello all,

the figure is progressing slowly. I added the trousers and the boots (wrinkles and laces on the right boot have to be completed). I'll add the daggers/sheaths to each thigh and then I think I can call the lower part of the figure done!

Enjoy the rest of the weekend!

All the best,
Elia

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Elia,

Just as a thought! regarding the feet. Is the rear foot much longer that the fore foot? or is it the camera angle? Because the rear foot does look surprisingly long.

Are the measurements between Heel and Toe the same on both?

Regards,

Mark

 

[Elia]

Hello Mark,

thank you for your feedback. You're right, they do look different. I think that the camera angle has something to do with it but I'll check the measurements again just to be sure.

All the best,
Elia

 

[Elia]

Hello everyone,

the figure is progressing. It's the first time I'm doing this pose so it takes a lot of looking at myself in the mirror in order to get it right. So far it's proving to be a good challenge and - also important - fun to sculpt.

Following Mark's comment (thank you!) I changed the right heel and foot and added a bit to her backside - I think the pose looks more natural now. I've added the torso and started sculpting the head. Given the pose I thought of completing the head before moving on to the clothing. There's no point in sculpting the wrinkles etc. only to smudge them with my fingers later! Obviously there will be adjustments as I go along but I have a good idea now of where's it's going.

As always, comments and suggestions are welcome.

Enjoy the weekend!

All the best,
Elia

 

[ookami]

interesting will be cheking the updates, what size is trhe sculpt ??

 

[garyhiggins]

Hi Elia, she's coming on nicely, when you're working out a pose, I think it helps to study the stop motion animation work of Ray Harryhausen ( Jason and the Argonauts, Jack the Giant Killer etc.). He had a way of posing figures that was a bit hammy and stage actorish, but really got across the feel of what was happening.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Elia, Very nice work indeed! .. However, (IMHO), that rear foot stills looks quite long in comparison to the fore foot!



But her, 'Derriere', now has much more volume to it.

Regards,

Mark

 

[Elia]

Thank you for your comments, Ookami, Gary and Mark.

@Ookami: I'm using the 8-head proportion system and an estimated height of the 1,70 m, so the scale is about 1/8. Standing up the figure would be 21 cm.
@Gary: I remember watching the fight with the skeletons in Jason and the Argonauts on a Saturday afternoon when I was little, but I confess I've not seen much else of his work.
@ Mark: I've looked at it a thousand times, added yet again to her derrière, measured it over and over again and it still seems longer ! This camera angle is really annoying!

Here are the latest pictures. I'm working on the clothing now (a kind of sleeveless doublet) and then I'll move on to the arms. There's still a lot of work to be done but it's progressing.

All the best,
Elia

 

[garyhiggins]

The problem with camera angles is that your eye naturally compensates for perspective and the camera doesn't The best way to deal with the problem of different sized feet is to cut a template for the sole of the shoe (preferably in thin brass so you can bend it), drilled at the heel so it can slide up the armature wire. Use it to size one foot then turn it over to do the other one.
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[Tubby-Nuts2]

Elia.

If, Gary Higgins, has thoughts or advice! .. Then believe me these are worth listening to! Rather than my rhetoric. As I note there is only one other, 'Sculptor', that has chipped in. (Which wasn't much help). ..Trust me on this!

Regards,

Mark

 

[Rich Sculpts]

The problem with camera angles is that your eye naturally compensates for perspective and the camera doesn't .

Definitely agree with Gary on this point - so much so I will be using my digital camera throughout my next sculpt to reveal faults. The camera is a very harsh critic, something I have found to my cost taking photo's of finished work. Can't tell you how many times I thought the work was a 100% finished only to be told by the camera I was totally wrong It a love-hate relationship with that camera /

-Rich