In Memoriam

Hooo boy. Sculpting.

I’ve been itching to sculpt something for a couple of weeks now. Pretty sure the last time I sculpted something was about a year ago. It’s such a hit and run urge than whenever I feel like sculpting something, it’s usually when I can’t (I’m out of town, in school, etc.) I had a pretty cruddy weekend and not able to think of anything to draw, so I was pretty thankful to had something to occupy me.

I’m not…quite good at sculpting humans if I’m being honest. I recently checked out a book from my school library to help me understand a more anatomical approach to sculpting 3d forms since there’s a muscle difference between actually forming the shapes and drawing the shapes. I wouldn’t be surprised if my drawing knowledge helped me slightly, but it’s all just a matter of practice at this point. There’s plenty I’m aware of that I need to fix the next time I make a bust, but regardless sculpting is pretty fun! I enjoy seeing things slowly come to form.

I’ve noticed I have different set of expectations when it comes to making cosplay/plushies/sculptures and drawing, with the former I’m excited to see the final product. I get so impatient I sometimes rush the initial development and frustrate myself with the production because it’s NOT turning out how I want it to.

As the title states, I focused on everyone’s favorite boy.

 

Dante!

Not the best but I don’t claim to be a master sculptor. I almost gave up on this because his face just wasn’t turning out right. In fact, I redid it completely because the eyes didn’t look right at all. I notice I have an issue with making eyes too flat when I’m sculpting them, yet I NEVER seem to remember to make sure not to do that. My favorite part about this is his hair. It’s not 1:1 but I think it’s pretty good translation of his weird Scott-McCloud-in-Understanding-Comics-esque hair.

I focused primarily on catching the general silhouette of his hair rather than translating it entirely into a realistic version. I think that is the distinction between trying to sculpt something realistic and something more stylized, as OBVIOUS as that is.

 

Work in Progress shots + Explanation

I’ll probably take more in progress shots with later sculptures – in fact, I’m planning on sculpting Preston next! – but these are the extent of WIP shots I took because I just was so engrossed in making this.

Out of focus shots and nail polish I ended up scratching off later that day because I can’t stand to have anything on my hands!

I sculpted his face, head, and shoulders first before really trying to sculpt his hair. I would try to sculpt everything at once and it never worked out. I’d ALWAYS end up messing up my work on another part of the sculpture. With something as small as this (roughly 2.5″ tall), any accidental smush would ruin 2 hours of work. A wooden dowel served as an armature and a Holding Stick as I was sculpting his head and facial features.

No issues the first round of baking. I dunked it in cool water to harden it faster and I was ready to move onto sculpting his hair. However, the second time in the oven the sculpey ended up cracking! Down the front and back of his neck, caused by the sculpey shrinking around the wooden dowel. I simply applied some milliput to the crack. That’s what the white coloration is.

After that, I just waited for the milliput to cure entirely before moving on to painting, and finishing it! It took me a good 8 hours to do but it was fun every step of the way.

Onto the next project!