Week 32 (16 Feb - 22 Feb 2003)
Unfortunate cockatrice
Stipple the halfling, Erodon the elf, and Grum and Grommet the orcs raced down the long stone hallway, dodging the last few magical flame-jet traps, and smashed through the imposing double doors to reveal the inner sanctum of Orbor Fulghrim, the Mad Wizard.
The Mad Wizard himself sat on a tall stool ahead of them, his chin in one hand, the other hand hanging at his side.
Grommet started for him.
"Stop!" shouted Grum. "It's got to be a trap."
Grommet skitted to a halt, his club trembling in his meaty hands. Stipple eyed the wizard nervously from the back of the party.
"You might as well surrender now. You've got no chance against us," he said hopefully.
The Mad Wizard sighed.
"Haul me off," he murmured. "I'm sick of this."
The party eyed one another. The Mad Wizard waved one listless hand towards the corner.
"Look," he said. In the corner stood a floppy wreck of a beast, pecking in what seemed to be a cheerful manner at some corn. After a few moments it stretched itself out to its full height, spread its wings, and gurgled mildly. Then it sidled over to the party and put its head out to be scratched, which Grommet did with little hesitation.
"It's supposed to be a cockatrice. I failed so miserably, I don't even feel like being a mad wizard anymore. Take me to wizard's jail, or whatever it is you're going to do."
"Yes," said Erodon, hurriedly sheathing his sword, "to wizard's jail."
Not my proudest hour this time.
I started this guy a couple months ago as my first more dynamic piece. He got a body and legs and a tail, then languished a while. The beak and crest and wattle came in a burst of activity later, then the wings in small increments, then finally the feet and the fluffy neck thing.
Here are some valuable lessons I learned:
I'm getting better. The tail was one of the first times I tried this sort of detail. Yuck.
Don't try and work on too much detail at once. I fouled up (heh! ehhh. . .) the beak while messing around with the wattle or the crest. (This contradicts last week's experiment, but so it goes.)
Make an armature for details that stick out. Like the beak.
Experiments sometimes lead to new innovations. Sure, the feathers of the body look like ratty fur. I might need to sculpt ratty fur someday.
Feathers are really, really hard to do, even when I figured out a better pattern (as on the wings).
As a beginner, I sometimes learn a lot while doing one wing. Then I can apply those lessons to the other wing, screwing up the symmetry but learning all the while.
Eye sockets. Don't forget the eye sockets. Deep eye sockets.
I really need some references when I start beasts like this. At least a design sketch.
So in the end, I figured out some things. I also ended up with an unfortunate piece, but that's how it goes sometimes. We'll see if he looks better with paint. Maybe.
Here are some in-progress shots, which are of purely historical interest:
Back to week 31 (9 Feb - 15 Feb 2003)