That sounds ominous doesn’t it. No worries, the Elf in question is not a ‘Shelf’ elf but a clay bust made from Super Sculpey Firm. He’s a little battle damaged and gnarled around the edges. Once fully cured and cooled I will decide which item of the three I’ve done this year to paint for the Markham Fair 2022. Yes it’s back, and in person, fully operational once more. We’re excited for it!
The bust is roughly 1/5th scale, as far as I can tell. That’s a comfortable scale for me to work in. I am a tad rusty. I got into wood working more this year than any other one previous. There have been times when I have completed twenty or so sculpts, but this year I’m sitting at three. The Ninja Turtle was an exercise in patience, and the Apoxie Sculpt had a steep & unforgiving learning curve. So I’m back to sculpey in its various consistencies.
I wish I had the money, and the know how to mould and cast resin copies of my work. I find I enjoy using Chavant Hard the best for sculpting/modeling in clay. It’s firm and rigid, but also reusable. I like Sculpey and Apoxie because you get a solid paintable piece that’ll keep for years and years. But nothing sculpts like oil based hard clay. Atleast for me. I’m no guru or expert. I just do it for shits and giggles. Warm waxy clay that can be spread on hot, then cut away and refined cold is my jam, man!
I have the armature wire ready to go for a fourth bust, I’m just not sure who it will be. I like the idea of a Killer Croc, from Batman. Or a cleaned up Hellboy bust wouldn’t go astray in my office. That’s a character I seem to be drawn to a bunch. I can always fall back on my goblins or ogres. My trusty monster men.
Perhaps I should try more women sculpts? I don’t know. I’m concerned that they always tend to be a showcase for tits and ass. Cleavage and ass cracks seem to dominate sculptures of the female form. I went to art school, I’m no stranger to nudes of any gender or combination. I just don’t want a bunch of hand sculpted tits floating around my office. I once did a nice clavical & up bust of the blonde woman from Vikings – Lagertha. That turned out ok. My proportions were off a bit on the size of her skull. I made it about 5mm too deep front to back, but didn’t have it in me to cut that out and reattach the two more to scale parts. She at least looks like a woman. With a slightly over sized novelty head.
So Elf Barbarian is in the oven at 175°, for the next 2.5 hrs. Then I’ll shut off the oven and leave the whole lot to cool down slowly inside. I might get cracks, but as of yet, no major catastrophes. Well, I shouldn’t say that. I had to bake one piece laying down and some important details got smushed flat on the baking tray I use. I was sad about that. But I fixed it with more sculpey. More of a time waster than anything else. My issue tends to be burned sculpey, as I make my pieces tall, as in floating off their base via thick wires, and the elements can burn the clay since it bakes for so long. However, as long as you prime the ceramics before the full paint job you shouldn’t get any uneven tones from the darkened burnt ceramic material. Or so I have found. Again – anecdotal don’t take it as gospel.
Oh look the sun has come out. First full day of Fall is here, and my oh my how the temperatures have changed. I’m amazed at how humid these last few days have been. But out on the east coast we are gearing up for hurricane season, so that makes more sense. Winds, hail, rain and the potential for tornados. Things are getting silly out there!
You know what movie I just bought for $5.00 from Walmart the other day? Fury. The Brad Pitt in a tank in WW2 Germany film. It’s still really good. I had totally forgotten how it starts, so it’s great to rediscover solid movies from the last 5-10 years. I was hoping to see Top Gun Maverick but Fury for $5 is hard to beat. I also picked up Morbius for cheap too. Will have to find an evening to watch that with my wife. I’m going in knowing it’s kinda bad, so low expectations here. Let’s see if it will limbo in under my low bar, or just barely hurdle it. To tell you the truth I am excited to find out one way or the other. I also brought home The Rise of Gru for the kids, and they thoroughly enjoyed that. So yeah. Would be great to get back out to the movies again with the family, that was always a great way to give my wife 3-4 hrs of alone time on a Sunday. I too liked the silly yellow Minions, nonsense and all. The kids laughed for 90 minutes, and I didn’t have to pay theater prices for snacks and drinks. That’s a win in my book.
Didn’t I start this out talking about baking a sculpture? Yes, yes I did. And somehow got all the way out here discussing cheap Movies and expensive theater snacks. Focus! I have to focus! It’s all fluff here any way. You don’t come here for political analysis or a dialectic on the duality of man. This is surface level, fun time fluff. I’m like pulp fiction magazines. A fun way to waste 3-5 minutes of your day. Like it or lump it! Ciao Bella!
Greatwall Studios Graphic Design 
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