I've posted pictures of my ghost rider maquette before, but never gave it the full treatment (as I did with Steve Rogers, for example). I needed a single picture of "Super Skull P" for the Spectrum 17 poster, so taking a few more wasn't a big deal.
The skull itself is roughly 1.25" tall — that is, of course, with its jaw closed. It's made from Super Sculpey, which I then painted a flat gray, using Holbein Acryla Gouache. The armature is a thin, galvanized steel wire that serves as both structure and base.
I sculpted the mandible last, but had planned ahead with a hinged wire to indicate placement and allow for future articulation.
Finally, I'd like to share the rather cheap "photo studio" set-up I use to photograph my maquettes. The background is a piece of black paper from those plastic portfolio sleeves. It's attached to my drawing board by magnets to create a curved, seamless backdrop. My light is the same clamp lamp under which I paint, powered by a compact fluorescent daylight bulb. Instead of using 2 lights, I just use my small plexi-glass mirror to reflect the primary light from an opposing angle.
That's actually a pretty ingenious idea, using a mirror to bounce the light off to create two sources. Does it create any sort of anomalies or hotspots though?
ReplyDeleteI would actually like to see more explanation regarding constructing the mandible. It looks like it's removable, so did you design to have the jaw be able to snap in out of place with ease, or is it my imagination that it's removable?
Drew, as long as the subject is small enough in relation to the mirror, then the light will be just fine.
ReplyDeleteAs for the mandible, it actually isn't removable. It's just a separate piece of wire that I baked in place, then sculpted around.
Thats brilliant . I can't tell you how much this info has helped my paintings !
ReplyDeleteThanks, Ray. Do you ever make maquettes to paint from?
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