Week 25 (29 Dec 2002 - 4 Jan 2003)
Floating maw
The air fills with a non-noise, an electric undercurrent, more a sense that something unnatural is going on. Then the creature appears, jaws like awkward fistfuls of knives. Everything that moves is food to the floating maw. It will gorge itself until its tapered body -- all stomach -- distends and sags nearly to the ground. But it still won't stop eating.
This week's offering is a floating maw, another original sculpt. While rummaging around for bases, I came across the Reaper flying base for its beholder-type beast (which I'd never assembled -- I've been racking my brain for years as to the best way to mount it). I began with a tapered lump on top, then added in the mouth and the eyespots. That wasn't quite enough, so I decided practice my texturing. Later on, I added first the bottom row of teeth, then the top. Finally, the catfish whiskers went on.
Here's a tip for anyone starting a project similar to this: work ahead. Despite the delay, I've actually been doing more than one mini a week, but I've been holding a few back in case I couldn't work (which was the case over the holidays this year). This is one of my earlier pieces, and it took a bit of effort to hang on to him (proud as I was at the time). I've learned a good deal since sculpting him, right down the putty mix. I now like the yellower mix better than a straight 50/50 combination, as I find it a little softer and easier to work with. The teeth are pretty awkward, but it was my first attempt at the sort of staggered perspective of different rows. Not terrible for a first try, but certainly in need of some work. I'm going to throw some paint on him soon, and the texture of the body ought to be fun to try and capture. It'll also be a challenge trying to figure out how to make the teeth look acceptable. In the end, sculpting is about making things that I think are fun, and I'm still having a really good time.
So, a look back for this belated New Year's post. I hope things go well this year for the folks who're following and playing along.
Back to week 24 (22 Dec - 28 Dec 2002)