Nakiami Sculpture

[heribertovalle]

Hello there Fellows!

I'm getting into sculpting with polymer clay. So far I've done three little busts, one big cat, and I wanted to try my hand at something resembling a human.

Well, there's this animated series I'm completely enamorated with. Bonen No Xamdou / Xam'd of the lost memory. So I decided to sculpt nakiami.

http://img2.imageshack.us/img2/1947/nakiamiwip.png

After a session of work, this is what i've got. So far so good. I need to add the hands, add the already modeled staff to her hands, and finish her hair and face.

HOWEVER. As always, Crit is king, and I would like to know your opinion, your critics, and your recommendations. I'm new to this. and I can definitely see this can be improved before finishing. (I think one arm and the head can change, but I can't quite place it.)

Can you help me out with your opinions? I thank you in advance for any tips, crits, and corrections you're kind enough to make.

And I hope you have a great day people.

[Darkwulf's Talon]

Looking excellent for a first session! especially the folds in the clothing. I do get a sense of movement from them which is good.

Comparing your sculpt and the pictures above though I notice that your sculpt has slighlty more muscle in the arms (esp. shoulder) and the boobs are a bit bigger.

If these are effects that you are after then I apologise for noting them. Keep it going as this stands out already. :-)

[Darkwulf's Talon]

Looking excellent for a first session! especially the folds in the clothing. I do get a sense of movement from them which is good.

Comparing your sculpt and the pictures above though I notice that your sculpt has slighlty more muscle in the arms (esp. shoulder) and the boobs are a bit bigger.

If these are effects that you are after then I apologise for noting them. Keep it going as this stands out already. :-)

[heribertovalle]

Ok. Sand down the breasts, and Yup. you're right on those arms. Gotta correct. anything else someone else noticed? I'm going to get working on her today.

[Morgan_R]

Good start, but her mouth & nose look too high (i.e., too much chin) and while I can't tell exactly where you're going with the eyes, I suspect they're going to end up too high, too. A line through both eyes should divide the head in half.

Also, her right arm looks like it might be longer than the left.

[heribertovalle]

Thanks for your comments! I took another shot this last weekend, and produced some changes. I still think something is off (My take is the breasts and there is something about the arms that bothers me). May I ask again for your help?

http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/745/nakiamisculpt2.jpg

Thanks in advance.

[Darkwulf's Talon]

Looking very good, well done on the improvements. She looks more like her counterpart now, however I would still try a little but more with the shoulders.

The cartoon suggests a shape like a coat hanger, with the hook section being where the neck is. Your model still has rather more broad shoulders.

That said though you could make her into a full blown sculpture now and without the reference pictures I would not have a clue. I honestly believe you have done what you set out to do and anything we suggest will just be nit-picking :-)

[Homicidal Bunny]

Very nice, are you using Super Sculpey? As far as your concern about the arms I'd say the width of the biceps and the size of the shoulders should be a little more subtle (with respect to the refrence materials). Otherwise I'd say it looks great. I'm working with Super Sculpey for the first time right now and I hope my project comes out as good as yours.

[felixdasilva]

beautiful work :D

[heribertovalle]

beautiful work :D

That means a lot seeing how amazing are the things on your page!

Homicidal bunny - I'm using Premo, but it's very similar I believe.

I worked the shoulders a bit.

Now this should be my last update before completion. Any comments before a final bake? Anybody's got tips on modelling hands? I'm thinking about baking her and carving the hands, the clay is a bit too flimsy because I completely forgot to make an armature for the hands (won't happen again). I will probably paste her staff on the clenched hand as a last step.

http://img694.imageshack.us/img694/3867/nakiami.jpg

Since I'm almost done with this sculpt, and I finished another one (A cat) I think I'm going to make a hobby outta this. Here's my next project, I just finished her Fennel stalk. Anybody's got tips to sculpt this in a way I can make a resin reproduction later?

http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/6518/adel.jpg