Planning your sculpt

[quang]

THIRD STEP: Fleshing up.

Note how the flesh is kept thin to allow for the eventual add-on clothing.

The subject would wear high-heeled boots so these are added early on as they would change the attitude of the original pose (the very reason why high heels are used in fashion and... on the sidewalk in certain neighbourhoods )

This kind of pose –where some part(s) of the body touches other parts (i.e. arm resting on knee, hand on hip)– is more complex than straight up-and-down poses. The position of every part is relative to others. Move one part of the body and the others do as well. So extra care must be given to the length and proportions of the body.

Roughed-up hands are added to check out the final 'character' of the sculpt.

Arms are also separated at the shoulders, pinned and replaced in position. Note the red marks for alignment.

Sherlock Holmes and Hercules Poirot wannabies will find an invaluable clue as to the nature of our subject in the ...stool.

Q.

 

[quang]

Flip side.

 

[LCoote]

Hmmm, that looks very nice Quang whatever it is doesn't really matter

 

[garyjd]

Quang, Is it a fictional character? Regardless I really like it.~Gary

 

[quang]

Is it a fictional character?

Yes... and no!

Anyway, here's some more progress. Drawers (pants) added on. Face at a relatively advanced stage. Hair and boot tops built up. Green stuff is Magic Sculp + Kneadatite.

 

[quang]

Back view.

 

[Johan]

.... I know what it's going to be :lol:

But I'm not telling

Do you take pre-orders? I really am going to want one...

 

[Hardy]

Great to see this one take shape

 

[thegoodsgt]

Quang, you make it look easy! Nice explanation of the process....

 

[garyjd]

Quang, I think I now know, either way I'm really enjoying the process, thanks for sharing my friend.~Gary

 

[quang]

The figure is taking shape. The subject is about to reveal itself!

More details added on the face and the hair. Arms dressed up. Hands refined.

The torso is separated. Again the red marks for alignment.

Next the legs are separated and put back together.

At this stage, the figure is 'de-constructed' into 5 major components. All mating surfaces are carefully 'keyed' for precise assembly. The resulting parts are put back and hold together without glue. Each part will be detailed separately and frequently mated back with its neighbours to check the continuity/unity between the various parts.

Note the sharp angle made by the lower leg and the ankle.

 

[y_wong]

Hey quang, thanks for sharing. Very informative and it's good stuff.

Just a question, when you part off the arms and legs, some materials are lost due to the blade thickness, so how do you compensate for this?


regards

 

[Guy]

Saw an old Photo of Custer in this pose.....hmmmmmm

 

[Johan]

.....OOooops.... forgot to log in again.

 

[quang]

Wong Yau: To compensate for the 'lost material', one of the two mating surfaces is cleaned up and sanded smooth. The other mating surface is smeared with putty coated with talcum powder to prevent it from sticking to its 'mate'. The two surfaces are pressed one against the other using the red lines for alignment. The oozing excess putty is discarded after curing. HTH

Guy: Custer heh? To be frank with you, at this point of the sculpt, everything (inc. the subject) can change. I always have a main subject to which I try to stick to but during the sculpting process, other subjects/ideas creep up as the figure is taking shape. I always have one or two 'substitute' subjects to fall back on if anything goes wrong.

The beauty of scratchbuilding is that even if you're pretty sure of the path you want to take, you never know what you will find on the journey: a bend, a fallen tree or ... a dead end. :lol:

Johan: The final figure don't have a firearm although its name/denomination would call for one.

SUNDAY INTERLUDE

 

[Jim Patrick]

Quang, forgive this rather basic question. Why mix Magic Sculpt and Kneadatite ? I have both and am just cutting my teeth with this sclupting thing. Just curious as to why and if there are any problems with mixing the two together?

Thanks,
Jim Patrick

 

[quang]

It's NOT that basic a question, Jim.

For some reasons, the MS+KN mix gives a stronger, harder texture. Particularly useful for thinner, delicate parts (such as fingers, gun barrels, sword blades,...). It can also gives paper-thin sheets when rolled.

For good results, the MS and KN need to be throroughly kneaded SEPARATELY before combining together.

As for the figure, the reason why I used the MS+KN mix is rather stupid: I had some kneaded KN left so instead of throwing it away, I added it to the fresh MS. :lol:

HTH
Q.

 

[Dani A.]

Hi,

This is progressing VERY well. I like your approach, not quite a s-b-s, but nevertheless as interesting and useful as one! (Yes I know this can be difficult to explain... but I will try) I think sometimes people get involved in the technical details, but fail to explain what lies before/ behind (in fact, in some cases I'm quite sure there's NOTHING behind... ). Sometimes you see technically unpeachable works, but which have almost NO creative value. I have even seen some cases where I would think the author just cheats, inventing this process, a posteriori.

Keep up!

Dani

 

[quang]

Hello Dani,

Glad to see that you've got my point. (Besides, someone who chooses Harvey Keitel as his avatar cannot go wrong ).

To me, the most interesting part in the creative process is not the 'how' but the 'why'.

The 'how' deals with technical stuff and has been (still is) covered in countless articles. The 'why' deals with 'artistic' matters and is often the reason why some great works of art are 'greater' than the others. We can use technical tips to a point but the lessons we can learn from other artists' insights are priceless even if it's only for our way of LOOKING at things.

For that matter, I find the recent DVD revolution a god-sent gift to us artist-wannabies. The audio-commentaries and the 'making-of' extras on these discs can radically change the way we look at a film.

On the top of my list: Ridley Scott's commentaries on 'Alien' and 'The Duellists' and Peter Weir on 'Master and Commander'.

Sounds like off-topic but I can assure you, it's not!

Q.

 

[Dani A.]

Hi,

Precisely, that is what I wanted to explain. I know of many people that do not see the difference between the "how" and the "why", or that fail to grasp what is beyond the technical aspects - which is their loss! Some people are even unable to perceive what a difference it makes when a particular modeller takes into account that, as opposed to one who does not.

I know what you mean about film extras - I enjoyed Scott's commentaries about "The Duellists". I will remember your other two suggestions!

(I am glad to know my little homage to Keitel adds a plus to my credibility... )

Dani