Week 30 (2 Feb - 8 Feb 2003)
Texture study (scroll down for more textures ;)
"Gods. What a day. We must have walked on eight different types of terrain, many of them rough. . . ."
I'm still a bit unsatisfied with my abilities to create different terrain textures, so I decided to do a series of practice pieces. One of the main things I'm concerned about is rock -- a couple of the comments on last week's piece noted (quite aptly) that the thing I'd intended to be a rock looked more like a wake.
I started out with some leftover putty, which I flattened out onto a piece of blister plastic. I cut in the wood floor first, then progressed across the putty. For the next section, I dented in the putty a little, trying to suggest loose sand or mud. For the next section, flagstones. Finally, I tried a few different approaches for grass or nondescript surfaces. From the top down, I used a pin, an awl, and the pointed end of a sculpting tool.
I was reasonably pleased with the wood, which I just used my primary sculpting tool to make -- it's sort of a short saber. I didn't concern myself terribly with the straightness of the cuts, though I should have paid some more attention there. The knothole seemed like a good touch, and I like how the grain came out.
The muddy or sandy area was pretty lousy, but it served as good practice for my ViC miniature (still unfinished a week past the extended due date. . .). I knew to cut in much deeper dents for that surface, and tried for a sort of ethereal, ridged surface.
The flagstones were the most abject failure. I don't know what I mixed into my putty -- it's still fresh enough that there aren't any lumps. My cutting is pretty weak, as well. I didn't realize that it looked so bad until I blew up the picture for this update. By fouling it up so much, I realized that I need a bit more practice. I'm also pondering how to texture the tops of the stones a little if that effect is needed. I think fine-grain sandpaper may be the way to go for that.
Finally, I tried a couple different grassy or nondescript surfaces. The loose sand or grass at the top is something I practiced a lot on my turtle and starfish miniatures, and I'm reasonably happy with it. Still not ideal as grass goes, so I decided to try saber-shaped sculpting tool again.
The knife-point certainly gave the grass at the bottom right a different texture, something perhaps more reminiscent of individual grass blades, but it still needs something. I'm going to try different layers to see if a slight rolling effect might help.
The first piece included in this certainly isn't enough to constitute a proper update, so I decided to include some more practice material (something like my little greens update).
I tried a few different rocks in several different putty mixes to see what came of it. Unfortunately, I placed them in an aesthetically pleasing manner rather than chronologically, so the writeup will be out of order.
The first rock was the green one on the far right, which was sculpted in green stuff (with more yellow than blue in the mix). I shaped it into a rough pyramid, then cut in striations with my saber tool, each set moving diagonally up towards the left face. (Each face repeats this pattern.) It made for a reasonably satisfying fantasy rock -- something that probably doesn't look like anything natural, but that would be fun to paint.
The next attempt is the second-to-last rock, which was sculpted out of brown stuff (or brown with a bit of green in it). I made a sort of lumpy pile, then cut in texture with the saber tool. I tried for a little more dramatic effect than on the forest altar; the effect was reasonably good but still not quite what I was looking for. Still, I felt as though I were making progress.
Next came the rock pictured at the left. It was made from a 50/50 mix of brown and green stuff, and I was happiest with how it turned out. I cut in a vague spiral moving up, and made the rock texture a bit bolder than on the previous piece. I like the effect, and I'm going to try this on a base the next chance I get.
Finally came the haystack-style piece that's second in the picture above. It was made from a brown/green mix that was heavy on the green. I like the texture, but was unhappy with the overall shape. I still need some more practice making these things, but at least I've got an idea of what works reasonably well and what doesn't.
Just to err on the side of completeness, I scanned in a few more projects that only marginally fit in with the above. The piece at the left is a claw made out of green stuff -- it's in the first stages of being painted in the above picture. Below is an earlier pic.
It was another leftover putty project -- I'd been wondering if the lined texture could work in a curve. I still need more practice, but I like the overall texture of the piece.
The second piece is an attempt to sculpt detail on coins. I've found that I can't really paint in appropriate detail at this scale (particuarly in metallic paints), so I tried cutting it in.
It turned out rather better than I thought it might -- I'm even happier with the blown-up picture than the life-sized scan. I may continue on with this piece, sculpting on more coins individually to fill the spaces I left.
The third piece is sort of a spiral. I may use it for basing detail. I wrapped a green stuff rope around my awl tool (which tapers down -- that made the piece easy to remove). I cut in texture, tapping a hobby knife on the wet putty first down the lenth of it, then against that grain. This served as good practice for a similar piece of detail on my ViC piece.
The third piece in the above pic is another bowl, this one with a smooth inner surface meant to represent liquid, an eye floating in that liquid, and an escaping tentacle. Probably basing detail again, or I might start making 28mm tables filled with stuff. . . .
The last piece is an attempt at dragonscale texture. I don't know if I achieved that aim, but I certainly found some more techniques for a grassy surface.
Finally, a scale shot.
This update is meant to serve as a sort of preview of things to come, as well as a look back. I hope it serves as a tutorial of sorts for other amateur sculptors, small projects to try that don't take much time.
Back to week 29 (26 Jan - 1 Feb 2003)