Ztholtan WIP 12-18-07(*UPDATED 4-17-2008 (Finito!!)*)

[Artastic]

My confidence in my abilities has been lacking, but I decided to try my hand at sculpting again, and here's what I have so far. This is a Work in Progress at very early stages thus far. Would love to hear feedback, critiques, motivational speeches, hehe...

Meet Ztholtan...

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1125.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1135.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1144.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1140.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1146.jpg

Thanks you.

[Artastic]

Well, been working on this guy off an on, a bit here, a bit there. This is what I have so far. I'm not sure what else to do to him before attempting to bake and paint. Ready to try something different. But I like to finish things I start.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1272.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1281.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1277.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1275.jpg

[Artastic]

*Casts line..."Zzzzzzzzzzzzz...."Ker Plunk""*.....

Not that anyone's even looking at this thread, or cares...but here is another update. I started my futile attempt at painting. What's that saying? "You can paint a turd gold, but it's still just a turd" ? Fitting I think... :(

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1757.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1762.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1763.jpg

[troyboy]

First things first. Don't get so down on yourself dude. There's a million reasons
why threads don't get a lot of feedback, and it's not always because people don't
care or don't like the sculpt. Just like the movie says, "sculpt it and they will come".

Or something like that.

Anyway, he's a neat little character and I like the way the paint job is looking.
You might consider some black wash (watered-down black) in the crevices and
valleys just to make the folds and bulges a little more apparent. The best advice
I can give you is to finish this guy up asap and get started on the next. Then the
next. Then the next, and so on and so forth. Repetition and quantity is going to
help you more than anything else. Overall though, you did a really nice job on this
guy. Fun concept and good execution. :)

[Artastic]

Thank you Troyboy, I definitely appreciate the feedback. I still have alot of touch-up to do before finalizing the paint job, so I will definitely take your advice on the black wash in the crevices.
I've followed your thread for quite awhile, and your work is unbelievable. I aspire to be as good as you some day. My problem is lack of motivation/inspiration. Also, I have trouble finding armature wire. Are there any places on the net where you can order spools cheap? Right now, I am using some soft aluminum wire that I pulled out of some powerline wire. lol. I didn't steal it.

[Yrat]

i like him. very cool.

i agree with troyboy about the paint. it looks muddy and you need some dark tones in the crevices. give him some highlights around the ridges too. keep us updated.

[troyboy]

Also, I have trouble finding armature wire. Are there any places
on the net where you can order spools cheap? Right now, I am
using some soft aluminum wire that I pulled out of some powerline
wire. lol. I didn't steal it.

Nope, I think that's about the cheapest you're going to find it.
I've been going to Lowes or Home Depot and buying a few yards
of the power cables they have there on the big spools and stripping
it out just as you are. Works great for me and it's a helluva
lot cheaper. :)

[Artastic]

Thank you Yrat. I'm going to work on some contrasting on him tomorrow. As I too agree, the colors are muddied up a bit. I think I might try some stuff with the airbrush and see what happens. Worse comes to worse, I'll just have to repaint him. lol.

Troyboy, funny thing...I never even thought of that with Home Depot or Lowes. My Mom found that wire and gave it to me. lol. I didn't even think to think that they'd actually be carrying something like that. Wow...
But now that I know, I'll be going and picking some up.

[CastorFiber]

I think the sculpt is looking good, I like the folds, scales and thorns. A veritable collision between cute and scary. :)

About the paintjob: I think it looks real good but a bit misplaced, it looks more like hard marble than something organic. Then again, that could be the look you were aiming for?

Perhaps a layer of "slime" would make it look more gooey?

The eyes, the white paint have spilled over into the sockets, thats ok but you should revisit the area around the eyes and remove the white around the eyes.

Great job, I look forward to more sculpts from you!

[Artastic]

Castorfiber, thank you for the comments. I plan on using a gloss modge podge on the parts where slime is needed, and then spray fixing everything with a matte acrylic sealer. As for the eyes, I have yet to decide what to do with them. They're so small, I"m afraid to try to do anything to detailed, so I guess I'm trying to decide what color they should be before I touch everything up in those areas.

[Aseyngel]

Sorry - must have missed the december start of the thread.
Nice concept - a funny and different character. You seem to posses the skill of actually ending up with what you had in mind.
I recommend buying an airbrush - makes it soooo much easier to paint (now that was an opinion - not an actual fact).
Just wanted to say: GO ON!!!!

[Artastic]

I got the airbrush out today, and after spilling red paint all over my carpet, pants, and shoes, here's what I got...I still don't think it looks right. Still haven't figured out what to do with the eyes either. And I need to touch up the red on the armor flaps. Especially in the front where I got some of it on his skin.

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1780.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1775.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1779.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1778.jpg

[Deconstructed]

hey thats looking pretty cool man, I like how it's all armored and stuff. Like others have said though the paint job could use a little work. Maybe have the middle of the body dark almost solid green color, then splotch and lighten it as you get to the edges. other than that, looks fine :)

[Artastic]

Thank you Deconstructed. I will give that a shot tomorrow for sure. Thank you for the input. :D

[Artastic]

Touched the paint up some, did the eyes, and glistened him up a bit for the slime effect. Gonna seal him with a matte lacquer spray after he dries up some. Let me know what you think, and how I can improve. I value every single bit of input I get. Thank you for looking :D

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1781.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1783.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1787.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1784.jpg

http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y207/mlrosier/IMG_1786.jpg