Mini Island Prototype: In Progress

To those who DON'T know, part of my senior show will be a large multi-piece display of miniature islands suspended from the ceiling. I'm currently working on a prototype what is allowing my to determine potential problems and also work out the kinks in my techniques. I'm using a combination of foam, hardboard, chicken wire, and paper mache. I plan on finishing this one completely before I show it off. You've seen The New Yankee Workshop, right? Always complete the prototype before the show starts! Afterwards, I'll have various step by steps and work in progress images of the later models.

Just you wait and see. It's gonna be great.

Self Portrait: Hot off the Press

Here is a piece of work that I "finished" some weeks ago. I believe it turned out well as I have been recognized by people who have seen this mini.

Originally I was gonna paint this guy, but it turns out that I didn't have time and my professors thought I should leave it unpainted. Over the summer I plan to make a mold of this and cast several replicas. I can then leave the original unpainted and do whatever I want with the duplicates.

More to come later, I'm sure.

Figure Studies

As part of my Figure Studies critique, I needed to finish up the ceramic bust I made in class. As you can see, it's 1:1 scale, as it can wear my hat and shades. Next to it you can see a mini bust I'm working on as well!this way you can kinda see the scale I'm working in.

it's mostly terra cotta, but the white bits are epoxy putty. The reason it looks like he has a beard is because his face kinda, well fell off. I used the putty to clean up the seam and also as my adhesive. I also added an eyebrow for good measure.

Starting next weekend I'll be working on my Senior Show, and thus I'll be setting up a little miniatures workshop at home. I hope to have a mess of armatures within a few days of getting home.

Papercrafts for Show

One thing that I have been somewhat interested in for a while now are papercrafts, which are paper model kits which you print off and assemble.

Here you can see two that I have made completely from scratch. In the past I have extracted models and textures form WoW and run them through various programs to get them in this form, but in this case I built them in SketchUp and textured them either within that program or in Photoshop. They are by no means the most complicated or advanced papercrafts out there, but they are, as stated, actually origional!

Stay tuned, I have one or two other projects in the "Almost ready for Primetime" stage.

Emily Mini DONE

And voila, she is done!

I think I might add some static grass to her base, but other than that she's finished. as expected, the face was the hardest part, but then everything behind her back and under all that hair was a real trick as well.

The ground turned out well. It looks like very good earth... Or maybe delicious chocolate....

Emily Mini Pre-Paint

Emily is now fully sculpted and is now awaiting paint. The blue block she's standing on is the foam her armature was stuck into to give me a better hold on her while in progress.

Now she has a very splendid and worth-while hill to stand on complete with sand. When the whole thing is painted up and whatnot, you can expect another picture.

On to bigger (but not necessarily better) sculpting projects. Details forthcoming.

Emily Mini WIP

I'm currently working on a couple more mini projects. Pictured is my Emily mini as she stands now. I still need to file down her dress a bit, as there are lumps and seams here and there that need to go. Also, some places are a bit thick, making her look thicker than she should be. After I decide the dress is done, I'll finish up her facial features and give her arms, which are currently not even in their final placement. I'll finish her off with hair and paint, and I'll have my most detailed mini to date done!

Sitting beside her over there is an armature of me in a significantly larger scale. I'm kinda putting that off till I'm done with this one though.

Pretty soon I'll be making miniature heads as a part of my figure studies class. I'll get plenty of practice then!

More on this later.