Terra Branford (WIP)

My latest project is a commission  piece for a friend; a portrait of Terra Branford from Final Fantasy VI. I'm keeping a step by step account (as best I can) of the progress here, so head past the break to see the progress. I'll update this periodically, so be sure to check back. And I'll put the final piece here before the break when it's complete.

That is one spicy meatball!

New drawing today. Wanted to finally break out the toned paper I bought back in December and attack it with some charcoal. The idea had been in my head since at least then, but I decided to add a splash of color. The dragon's features are inspired from many sources; the dragons of Skyrim, my turtles, and even the Krogan race from Mass Effect. I had been working on a sculpture in Sculpey for months until last night when it cracked in several inexplicable places. So I thought today I'd jump back to a medium more in my expertise.

Hier Kommt Die Sonne

 

Here she is, all completed. Now all I have to do is resist the urge to do a massive dragon so I can do the second half of this project. Read past the break for more haphazard methodology.

"Forged in the fires of Mount Doom..."

 

Last night I decided on a whim to attempt to bake my new sculpture, so I did some research on cooking techniques, and tossed the piece in the oven. I set it for 250 and let it go for about an hour. Seeing no signs of scorching or burning, I turned the heat up a bit and let it go another 20 minutes. I then turned the oven off and left it to finish cooling overnight. I pulled it out this morning and am pleased with the hardness, but there are some parts that need to be reworked a tad. Mostly just the ends of each hair lock, where they are jagged or broken or cracked. Since the whole piece is holding up well from the firing, however, adding to these parts won't be any trouble at all. After that, some sanding and flash removal, which should be minimal since I used clay softener and a brush to smooth it before baking. I guess it's time to start looking for casting materials online.

Seriously, this stuff makes me want a bagel...

Here I've carved out the forms and put more detail on the face. It was tricky getting down into the curves around the face, so I bought some small clay tools today, to supplement the ones I have. Also, I noticed there isn't a whole lot of skull going on in the back, so I'll need to round that out more.

The ear was a little delicate, but surprisingly easy to do. The hardest task I've had is smoothing out the forms, but I saw some clay softener at the store- using that lightly with a brush should do the trick. All that will be left after that is to peg the back for hanging then bake it. Then I will have to find the stuff to make a casting mold.