Jenny Greenteeth

[Nephron]

I've done a bit of work with pottery and ceramics, but this forum has really inspired me to try out some different mediums. Jenny Greenteeth is a with from English and (I think) Irish folklore, who lives in stagnant ponds and lakes.

Here's the armature I used. I made a huge mistake in not securing it properly lol
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/b2813e2c.jpg

I got to this point, and wasn't very happy with the face or the arms, so I decided to do them again. Unfortunately, by this pont I did not know about mixing the black and white sculpey
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0198.jpg

Here it is as it stands now. I think I might add some seaweed or fish or something behind her.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0246.jpg



As you may have gathered, this is my first time using Sculpey, and I'm wondering about a few things, the foremost of which is what it's like once it's baked. Is it possible to bake something, and add more sculpey to it afterwards? and can it be craved once it's baked?

Thanks to those who stop by, and please gimme any crits/comments you have.http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0246.jpghttp://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0247.jpghttp://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0237.jpg

[Nephron]

PS
sorry about the bad photos. My camera was having a bad day =/

[Fax]

Very nice! As for your questions, sculpey becomes somewhat hard and brittle once its baked, but I believe you can carve it a little, just you have to be very careful, and avoid trying to carve any thin parts. Also, once it is baked you can use a bit of petroleum jelly (vasaline) to temporarily soften areas to add more unbaked sculpey (Also, when baking instead of using the recomended temperature from the box, bake it at about 200 F for a bit longer and the restuls should be better) One last thing is if you want the sculpey to be smooth, try picking up some turpenoid (its supposed to be very effective) and some 90% Isopropyl alcohol (for areas where you want to maintain details but get rid of things like fingerprints) Smellybug's tutorials are really helpful to check out as well.

/edit/ One other usefull thing is to use a solid color backdrop when taking the photos, so that the sculpture is more prominent and there are fewer distractions

Cant wait to see it finished!

[quizmo]

Great! I love stringy muscle things.
Working with the photos here -- I know it's a fantasy creature, but it is a biped and as you know we all share the same basic muscle sets. A viewer looks for those, at least unconciously if they don't know them explicitly. So, I'd review the believability of some of your musculature. For example the right arm: the deltiod needs to slip between. If that middle bulge is some kind of brachialis, it's too prominent. At that spot make your delt slip between a tricep and bicep mass. Also -- looks like two sets of long muscles down the humerus. That would be weird and if its what you want then make it believable by passing them between each other as they pass, not butt ending into each other. If you mean to show successive bulges in single long muscles, then it's too extreme smooth it out even though she has a negative body fat. The radial stuff you have in the forearm looks good. I would bulk up the brachioradialis thing and let it cross above the next lower mass -- BR is a great muscle to emphasize. On and on ...
I don't know, I just think clarifying a musculature is like clarifying anything -- lines, shadows, masses, color etc -- makes your work stronger.
Wish I could see the head better -- looks to be really nice.
Great gesture -- seems like drapery and hair are working well for you, again wish I could see better.
Good Looking!
Cheers

[Nephron]

Fax-Thanks for the Info. I've been wondering about how I could smooth it out. Cheers

Quizmo-You're right, and I'd like to get working on proper anatomy. I keep meaning to get myself a good reference book for that kind of thing, but between school and work, I never seem to get around to it.

I haven't done a great deal with it at the moment, but here are some better pictures at any rate.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0253.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0252.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0249.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0250.jpg

On a side note, this is something I put together in my spare time at work, and I was wondering if anyone had some criticisms for it.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0259.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0258.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0261.jpg

[archipelago]

Great to see you got a CA account man :D update it often ftw
These are looking good, and they definently have your style in them which is important to keep :)
As quizmo said though, definently do anatomy studies, Its what you need to work on the most imo. Do lots and lots of them, ask Hal if you can photocopy some of his refs or if he can give you any tips, draw the refs over and over again and note the shape, form and place of the muscles, where they connect (very important) and also remembering the names will help you out.

Try not to overwhelm yourself at the begining though, be patient and look at the very basics first, like in the forarm for example, that thing nearly killed me because I tried to learn it in a stupid way and jumped straight into it. Instead, note how one muscle group (flexors) can be simplified by a bulge connecting from the inner ellbow to the palm of your hand, and another group (extensors) that connect from the outer elbow to the back of the hand. Only when you grasp the basics should you jump into the individual muscles...

After you have a fairly good understanding of the muscles in the human body in terms of shape and form (should take 1 or 2 months if you do it properly and work hard) start shaping the muscles in 3D using your refs, hopefully youll be able to see them in a whole new light, maybe even sculpt a whole body in muscle form using refs, building a simplified skeleton first and adding the muscles where they connect to the bones.

Anyway, that last sculpture is real cool, it has a good feeling of mass and weight. The only crit I could give you would is that the expression is a bit bland, making the mouth larger and with heavier lines coming from the top of the nostrils down to the sides of the mouth (look angrily in a mirror to see what i mean lol) will make it look more angry if thats what you want to achieve.
Also, expressions dont lie just in the face, hands are extremely important, the hand expressions in the first one are excellent for example :D One thing that I find boost the expression of the hand alot is grouping fingers together, as in like the index and middle finger are pressed up next to eachother while the other fingers are pointing away from eachother (I suck at explaining things but I hope you get me)

So yeah, work on that anatomy, and also, try taking some better photos, I think you have the camera way too close to the sculpture, try standing a bit further away and zoom in instead :)

KEEP IT UP BIATCH

[Spade]

hell yeah dude, post some of your other stuff so people can see where your at! im pwned by archi's comment atm but yeah anatomy and also i want to see many mad updates, im exited by where you can take this to.

[sjxs2008]

http://img486.photo.163.com/sjxs_5251/57655947/__scale__1_1540359661.jpghttp://img410.photo.163.com/sjxs_5251/50644423/__scale__1_1342833388.jpg:yawn:

[Nephron]

Thanks for the comments. I definately wanna start some hardcore studies of anatomy, and I'm sure I'll get my act together before too long.

Haven't had a lot of time today (got school essays :'( ) but I did somme work on the fat dude. I'm getting a bit frustrated with Jenny at the moment, but I'll get back to her soon enough.

I decided to give him some jewelery and whattnot. Still a lot to add, but I'm pretty pleased so far. Eventually I wanna have him dressed like an Aztec high preist, with a Jaguar skin, ect...Though I made his right arm way big, so I reckon I'll do it again.

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0267.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0268.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0269.jpg

[Nephron]

I had a look at some anatomy stuff, and started going over Jenny Greenteeth. Still a lot to do, but it's a start. I did the hands again as well, anmd I'm pretty happy with them this time.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0274.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0276.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0278.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0284.jpg

Also did a bit of work with this guy. I think I need to bulk up his legs.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0300.jpg

[Spade]

hey, cool stuff! only thing id say is reduce the size of some of those photos -they are too big :P

[Nephron]

Did some work on the legs today.
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0310.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0309.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0312.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k171/Nephron_2006/IMG_0315.jpg