Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Dragon Sculpture Process


This was my first attempt at a dragon sculpture, after a lifetime of drawing them.

I mostly wanted to experiment with the hair laying technique, but this guy continued to evolve as my imagination took hold.

I began with a foil armature layered with Premo.


I wasn't even thinking dragon at this point. Just messing around with whimsical animal shapes.


I was going for something more canine at first, so I added dog-like ears, paws and began laying a big, bushy tail.


I began experimenting with different textures, but nothing really seemed to work. It took a long time to create all of this hair, but I scrapped it just the same.


I tried some scales, and hated that even more.

After this point, I was a little stuck. He actually sat on my shelf for a couple of months as I worked on other things.


I finally returned to the project with a fresh perspective and some new ideas.


I began by laying hair along the back and adding hair to the ears.


I then gave him brows, nostrils, chest hair and a beard.


The underbelly scales were little ropes of clay attached and smoothed.

I gave him whiskers, and started adding scale texture to his body using the ball stylus.



I baked it at frequent intervals so I wouldn't mess up my progress.



The final details were the claws and fur lining the backs of the legs.


Time for paint! 

I was originally envisioning a color palette with pearlescent, muted earth tones.

But in the end, I went more bold.


I painted the fur gold,  and layered green and blue over the scales.

A little varnish, and all done!


All dragons need a name, so I dubbed him The River Guardian.


He isn't perfect, but I had so much fun with this piece, and I can't wait to make another one!

The River Guardian is still available for purchase in my Etsy Shop.

HAPPY SCULPTING!

Shared on: Wordless Wednesday


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