Nightserpent.com blog- Fantasy art of Paul Carrick
the Charnel God
Hello All!
A new first for me, illustrations for sheet music! James Gruetzmacher has created several piano scores based on Lovecraft's work, and my artwork will be featured on the cover and table of contents. I particularly love illustrating for music, but this opportunity was one I had never contemplated. The cover is inspired by Clark Ashton Smith's the Charnel God
9-1/2 x 12" acrylic on illustration board.
Smith wrote within Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu Mythos', so I have depicted the ghouls to bear similar features. In the story, the ghouls are the true identity behind the mysterious priests that cart off the city's dead to the depth's of a temple... for what reason, I don't want to spoil.
The visual concept behind the piece was to accentuate how mysterious and inky-black the underground temple is. After the viewer's eyes move away from the blindingly bright light and adjust to the darkness, the forms of the ghouls emerge. Much like a classic Lovecraftian tale, the story slowly unfolds over time.
Along a similar vein, I recently saw a special 'Pirate Special' on the Discovery Channel's 'Mythbusters' show. In it, they addressed the rumor that pirates didn't necessarily wear patches because of eye wounds, but sometimes to keep one eye continually adjusted to darkness. That way, if they needed to quickly go from a bright area to a dark one (from upper deck to lower, or inside to out at night), they wouldn't need time to wait to see clearly. During skirmishes, this could be particularly advantageous. From the show's tests, the concept was deemed quite plausible. A friend told me that he worked as a ghoul in a Halloween haunted house, and he said it took him about 30 minutes for his eyes to fully acclimate. Quite a coincidence, eh? There's nothing like talking to an actual ghoul to get my facts straight!
Cheers!
~Paul
A new first for me, illustrations for sheet music! James Gruetzmacher has created several piano scores based on Lovecraft's work, and my artwork will be featured on the cover and table of contents. I particularly love illustrating for music, but this opportunity was one I had never contemplated. The cover is inspired by Clark Ashton Smith's the Charnel God
9-1/2 x 12" acrylic on illustration board.
Smith wrote within Lovecraft's 'Cthulhu Mythos', so I have depicted the ghouls to bear similar features. In the story, the ghouls are the true identity behind the mysterious priests that cart off the city's dead to the depth's of a temple... for what reason, I don't want to spoil.
The visual concept behind the piece was to accentuate how mysterious and inky-black the underground temple is. After the viewer's eyes move away from the blindingly bright light and adjust to the darkness, the forms of the ghouls emerge. Much like a classic Lovecraftian tale, the story slowly unfolds over time.
Along a similar vein, I recently saw a special 'Pirate Special' on the Discovery Channel's 'Mythbusters' show. In it, they addressed the rumor that pirates didn't necessarily wear patches because of eye wounds, but sometimes to keep one eye continually adjusted to darkness. That way, if they needed to quickly go from a bright area to a dark one (from upper deck to lower, or inside to out at night), they wouldn't need time to wait to see clearly. During skirmishes, this could be particularly advantageous. From the show's tests, the concept was deemed quite plausible. A friend told me that he worked as a ghoul in a Halloween haunted house, and he said it took him about 30 minutes for his eyes to fully acclimate. Quite a coincidence, eh? There's nothing like talking to an actual ghoul to get my facts straight!
Cheers!
~Paul
Cthulhulith uncovered!
Hey Gang!
Plenty of new stuff to share, so let's get to it....
Fellow Mythos artist, Zombiequadrille ( and Ebay ) commissioned me to create a painting for him. Not only do I enjoy these kinds of jobs, but creating for another artist adds an extra level of enjoyment for me, especially considering how loosely the reins were held. His only request is that it had a Cthulhu statue in it (possibly because both of us have sculpted them) and cultists, beyond that it was entirely up to me. I normally don't get this degree of freedom with illustration jobs, so I took full advantage of the situation. Typically an art director is going to want to see some sketches beforehand, so that can put a bit of a damper on my ability to be spontaneous during the actual painting phase. Though I know why they'd want this, it eliminates the surpise factor (for me and them), but this way I can cater to my artistic impulses... often producing better results.
Cthulhulith 12x16" acrylic :
Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), the preorders for the latest Cthulhu resin statues have already been shipped off to their respective owners. I've been getting some wonderful feedback from the recipients, which has been very fueling... thanks, guys! I took some better shots of the finished product:
There are currently only three of this series left for sale, one is about to end on Ebay, if you're interested: +Ebay Page+
Because of the recent show I had for my children's book art, I have discovered a reliable source for larger prints and posters. Though I may consider some of my older images, I'd like to create some more new work as well. I have some ideas brewing, but I would really love to hear what everyone would like to see in a print. Maybe it's of a Mythos creature or other entity, maybe a scene from a favorite story or a "what if" scenario. I'm open and interested, so tell me what you'd enjoy seeing.
While you're pondering that, perhaps you'd enjoy some nice refreshing Mi-Go and bread??
For those less familiar with Lovecraft's creations, the Mi-Go are these odd insectoid creatures which are more related to fungus than anything else. I'm guessing it'd be something like a portobello mushroom with a nice crunchy shell.
Thanks for reading!
~Paul
Plenty of new stuff to share, so let's get to it....
Fellow Mythos artist, Zombiequadrille ( and Ebay ) commissioned me to create a painting for him. Not only do I enjoy these kinds of jobs, but creating for another artist adds an extra level of enjoyment for me, especially considering how loosely the reins were held. His only request is that it had a Cthulhu statue in it (possibly because both of us have sculpted them) and cultists, beyond that it was entirely up to me. I normally don't get this degree of freedom with illustration jobs, so I took full advantage of the situation. Typically an art director is going to want to see some sketches beforehand, so that can put a bit of a damper on my ability to be spontaneous during the actual painting phase. Though I know why they'd want this, it eliminates the surpise factor (for me and them), but this way I can cater to my artistic impulses... often producing better results.
Cthulhulith 12x16" acrylic :
Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), the preorders for the latest Cthulhu resin statues have already been shipped off to their respective owners. I've been getting some wonderful feedback from the recipients, which has been very fueling... thanks, guys! I took some better shots of the finished product:
Because of the recent show I had for my children's book art, I have discovered a reliable source for larger prints and posters. Though I may consider some of my older images, I'd like to create some more new work as well. I have some ideas brewing, but I would really love to hear what everyone would like to see in a print. Maybe it's of a Mythos creature or other entity, maybe a scene from a favorite story or a "what if" scenario. I'm open and interested, so tell me what you'd enjoy seeing.
While you're pondering that, perhaps you'd enjoy some nice refreshing Mi-Go and bread??
For those less familiar with Lovecraft's creations, the Mi-Go are these odd insectoid creatures which are more related to fungus than anything else. I'm guessing it'd be something like a portobello mushroom with a nice crunchy shell.
Thanks for reading!
~Paul
Up from the depths....
Hello!
I am very excited to announce that I am finally ready to take pre-orders for the new batch of Cthulhu statues. The Red Cthulhu statue got a lot of great feedback, and I very much like the way that sort of coloration and treatment brings out all the detail. So, a little more in line with Lovecraft's story, I've gone with green. Here's my faithful stunt Cthulhu demonstrating the new scheme (it took over a week of multiple repaints to settle on one I liked):
a few detail photos:
When I typically paint miniatures and models, the idea is to make the paint job as matte/flat as possible, but I simply could not resist using a good deal of gloss to accentuate the wet look, it was too appropriate to pass up! If you look closely at the base, I have even used some tinted clear resin. As with the first batch, roman numerals depicting the statue number (it's a series of 30) will be painted on one of the base skulls.
Here's the next batch, waiting for clean up and painting:
The last batch was 2/3 sold in pre-order before the first statue was even shipped out, so keep that in mind if you're considering one. To keep me sane and to get them out earlier, I will be painting them in batches of ten. This will allow me to ship out pieces earlier (they'll be shipped first come first serve). This paint scheme is considerably more involved, so I'm thinking smaller batches will help me see the light at the end of the tunnel. As with the first batch, the statues will come with a custom cut pentagonal felt pad on the base and some sort of certificate/mini art print (design TBA). Oh, for those new to this statue, it's painted resin, roughly 8-1/4" high. If you wander back to the beginning of this blog ('07), you can watch the design, sculpting, mold making and casting process.
Though I am learning to never say never, I do not expect to release another batch of these sculptures. I'm eager to apply what I have learned here on new designs and move forward.
PRE-ORDERS:
North America: International Orders:Prices include shipping this time.
____________________________________________________________________________
Some of you may recall that I asked people who own the Cthulhu statues to send me photos of them in interesting locations, be it where it will be displayed, or elsewhere. I've gotten some neat shots:
Skipton Castle in the UK:
With Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu:
Th extensive collection of Joe Broers, Mythos sculptor extraordinaire:
Jonas Frickmann's collection, note some similar characters as in the above photo:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
OK, that's it for now! One last bit... many thanks to everyone who came out to see me at the reading/signing last weekend, it was great to see some familiar faces there to show support.
~Paul
I am very excited to announce that I am finally ready to take pre-orders for the new batch of Cthulhu statues. The Red Cthulhu statue got a lot of great feedback, and I very much like the way that sort of coloration and treatment brings out all the detail. So, a little more in line with Lovecraft's story, I've gone with green. Here's my faithful stunt Cthulhu demonstrating the new scheme (it took over a week of multiple repaints to settle on one I liked):
a few detail photos:
Here's the next batch, waiting for clean up and painting:
Though I am learning to never say never, I do not expect to release another batch of these sculptures. I'm eager to apply what I have learned here on new designs and move forward.
PRE-ORDERS:
North America: International Orders:Prices include shipping this time.
____________________________________________________________________________
Some of you may recall that I asked people who own the Cthulhu statues to send me photos of them in interesting locations, be it where it will be displayed, or elsewhere. I've gotten some neat shots:
Skipton Castle in the UK:
With Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu:
Th extensive collection of Joe Broers, Mythos sculptor extraordinaire:
Jonas Frickmann's collection, note some similar characters as in the above photo:
__________________________________________________________________________________________
OK, that's it for now! One last bit... many thanks to everyone who came out to see me at the reading/signing last weekend, it was great to see some familiar faces there to show support.
~Paul
Wolfgang has arrived!
Hello!
I'm happy to announce that my first illustrated and written children's book, Watch Out For Wolfgang has finally hit the shelves. Five years ago I started drafting out the story,it's hard to believe it's here. "Spring of '09" sounded like a time so far in the future that it might never come. Good thing I was wrong!
This coming Saturday (Feb 14th), I will be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge Mass from 10AM-12PM to sign copies and read Wolfgang. I don't think I've ever read my writing in public outside of English class, so this will be a new experience for me. I'll be joined by several other children's book creators, so if you'll be in the area please come by! More details here.
Watch Out for Wolfgang on Amazon.com
Just last Friday I hung 9 original children's book illustrations for viewing and sale at Harvard Street Dental just outside Central Square in Cambridge, Mass. Currently hanging are pieces from my first three books: Mothers Are Like That; Dinosaur Parents, Dinosaur Young and The Polar Bears Are Hungry. If you're in the area, please come take a look... no dental exams necessary! Many thanks to Dr. Foley for giving me this opportunity to share my art with the public, he's been very supportive.
Looking to the future, I will be having a full show for art from Wolfgang and other books on April 5th at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Martha's Vineyard. There's something especially nice and poetic about having my first children's book art show where I spent much of my own childhood. I'm very excited about this!
Speaking of shows, the Lovecraftian paintings I had in the Switzerland show have returned with a nice surprise... they were also shown in France! If you can read French (or have a good translator), take a look: Festival "les Utopiales" in Nantes, France It appears to be a Science Fiction convention.
Now that the originals are back, I am considering releasing a fine art print of one or more of the images. If anyone has interest or a vote, I'd lovce to know what people would like to see. I think Azathoth is a good candidate.
Last, but far from least, I have begun a new batch of Cthulhu statues. The red version received a lot of nice feedback, so I am going to do the green equivalent, more of a realistic depiction as described in the story. I have a good feeling about this one!
Untill the next update....
~Paul
I'm happy to announce that my first illustrated and written children's book, Watch Out For Wolfgang has finally hit the shelves. Five years ago I started drafting out the story,it's hard to believe it's here. "Spring of '09" sounded like a time so far in the future that it might never come. Good thing I was wrong!
This coming Saturday (Feb 14th), I will be at Porter Square Books in Cambridge Mass from 10AM-12PM to sign copies and read Wolfgang. I don't think I've ever read my writing in public outside of English class, so this will be a new experience for me. I'll be joined by several other children's book creators, so if you'll be in the area please come by! More details here.
Watch Out for Wolfgang on Amazon.com
Just last Friday I hung 9 original children's book illustrations for viewing and sale at Harvard Street Dental just outside Central Square in Cambridge, Mass. Currently hanging are pieces from my first three books: Mothers Are Like That; Dinosaur Parents, Dinosaur Young and The Polar Bears Are Hungry. If you're in the area, please come take a look... no dental exams necessary! Many thanks to Dr. Foley for giving me this opportunity to share my art with the public, he's been very supportive.
Looking to the future, I will be having a full show for art from Wolfgang and other books on April 5th at Featherstone Center for the Arts on Martha's Vineyard. There's something especially nice and poetic about having my first children's book art show where I spent much of my own childhood. I'm very excited about this!
Speaking of shows, the Lovecraftian paintings I had in the Switzerland show have returned with a nice surprise... they were also shown in France! If you can read French (or have a good translator), take a look: Festival "les Utopiales" in Nantes, France It appears to be a Science Fiction convention.
Now that the originals are back, I am considering releasing a fine art print of one or more of the images. If anyone has interest or a vote, I'd lovce to know what people would like to see. I think Azathoth is a good candidate.
Last, but far from least, I have begun a new batch of Cthulhu statues. The red version received a lot of nice feedback, so I am going to do the green equivalent, more of a realistic depiction as described in the story. I have a good feeling about this one!
Untill the next update....
~Paul
I'm seeing red!
Hello!
It's been wonderful to receive all the nice email about the Cthulhu statues arriving at their destinations. I greatly underestimated how rewarding this project was, thanks to everyone for the comments, input and support.
Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), I'd like to share this special one-off Cthulhu statue. Some of you might recall the giant red Cthulhu painting commission from this summer? Well, this is the companion piece:
Nifty, eh? You can see more here: http://www.nightserpent.com/lovecraft7.html I'm glad I was asked to do this, as I feel it worked out well.. which might influence the next color scheme for the statue.
What, not enough red? How about this:
This is an album cover for the heavy metal band Denial out of Mexico. I've got to say, these were some of the nicest and most supportive people I have worked with, and that level of enthusiasm greatly affected my work. After listening to (and being influenced by) their music, they let me just cut loose and paint whatever I felt. A very memorable experience, indeed! To top it off, it will also be released on Vinyl, which is a first for me.
Going with the red theme, my children's book Watch out For Wolfgang is now up for preorder on Amazon. I'm not certain when it will be released, I am guessing early-mid winter, but I will post any news I get. If you use Amazon, consider buying it through this blog or on my site:
Looking into the future, I am building momentum to self publish a book of my Lovecraft artwork. I am aware of numerous online print on demand services, though I am uncertain which is best for printing my artwork (as most are likely geared towards text-heavy books).
The challenge seems to be that my art tends to be very dark and subtle, value-wise, so cheap paper and poor printing would pretty much render the project useless. I started dealing with one company called Lulu, but there's little information about the paper (other than weight) and the quality of the reproduction. I can't even convince them to send me a single sheet of paper with a printed image to assure me that the effort of laying out the book will be worth it. I'm envisioning a book of muddy black rectangles, which would be a waste of time and resources. That's enough to discourage me from using them.
It might be around 32pp with a color cover, full bleed pages, square or perfect bound paperback, size around 8-1/2 x 11". Some offer selling services, though I won't require it.Can anyone recommend a decent service? Thanks in advance for any leads.
until next time....
~Paul
It's been wonderful to receive all the nice email about the Cthulhu statues arriving at their destinations. I greatly underestimated how rewarding this project was, thanks to everyone for the comments, input and support.
Speaking of Cthulhu (when am I not??), I'd like to share this special one-off Cthulhu statue. Some of you might recall the giant red Cthulhu painting commission from this summer? Well, this is the companion piece:
Nifty, eh? You can see more here: http://www.nightserpent.com/lovecraft7.html I'm glad I was asked to do this, as I feel it worked out well.. which might influence the next color scheme for the statue.
What, not enough red? How about this:
This is an album cover for the heavy metal band Denial out of Mexico. I've got to say, these were some of the nicest and most supportive people I have worked with, and that level of enthusiasm greatly affected my work. After listening to (and being influenced by) their music, they let me just cut loose and paint whatever I felt. A very memorable experience, indeed! To top it off, it will also be released on Vinyl, which is a first for me.
Going with the red theme, my children's book Watch out For Wolfgang is now up for preorder on Amazon. I'm not certain when it will be released, I am guessing early-mid winter, but I will post any news I get. If you use Amazon, consider buying it through this blog or on my site:
Looking into the future, I am building momentum to self publish a book of my Lovecraft artwork. I am aware of numerous online print on demand services, though I am uncertain which is best for printing my artwork (as most are likely geared towards text-heavy books).
The challenge seems to be that my art tends to be very dark and subtle, value-wise, so cheap paper and poor printing would pretty much render the project useless. I started dealing with one company called Lulu, but there's little information about the paper (other than weight) and the quality of the reproduction. I can't even convince them to send me a single sheet of paper with a printed image to assure me that the effort of laying out the book will be worth it. I'm envisioning a book of muddy black rectangles, which would be a waste of time and resources. That's enough to discourage me from using them.
It might be around 32pp with a color cover, full bleed pages, square or perfect bound paperback, size around 8-1/2 x 11". Some offer selling services, though I won't require it.Can anyone recommend a decent service? Thanks in advance for any leads.
until next time....
~Paul
Cthulhi Take Flight...
It only took a year (well, more actually), but the Cthulhu statues are finished, and the pre-ordered copies are on their way. In one way, it's a nig relief to have it off my shoulders, but my workbench looks rather odd without anything on it and I bet it will take some readjustment without such an omni-present project.
You may notice that the final finish is more bronzey than the dark prototype. After much debate and experimentation, I felt that this look brought out more detail and added more visual interest.
If you look closely at the base detail photos, you will get a glimpse of the felt pads on the pentagonal bottom. A nice spacey purple.
Below you can see the numbering system I used, inspired by ancient Roman graffiti (helps add age and history to the design). There are 30, er "XXX", in total for the Bronze series.
Thanks to everyone that made this possible!
If that weren't enough, I have just been interviewed by Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu. I enjoyed his interesting questions which span from my beginnings in art to illustration to Lovecraft himself:
http://www.eldritch-infernal.com/carrick.html
until next time!
~Paul
You may notice that the final finish is more bronzey than the dark prototype. After much debate and experimentation, I felt that this look brought out more detail and added more visual interest.
If you look closely at the base detail photos, you will get a glimpse of the felt pads on the pentagonal bottom. A nice spacey purple.
Below you can see the numbering system I used, inspired by ancient Roman graffiti (helps add age and history to the design). There are 30, er "XXX", in total for the Bronze series.
Thanks to everyone that made this possible!
If that weren't enough, I have just been interviewed by Venger Satanis of the Cult of Cthulhu. I enjoyed his interesting questions which span from my beginnings in art to illustration to Lovecraft himself:
http://www.eldritch-infernal.com/carrick.html
until next time!
~Paul
the Stars are right...
PLEASE NOTE: PRE-ORDERS ARE NO LONGER AVAILABLE FOR THIS BATCH. FUTURE BATCHES WILL BE ANNOUNCED HERE (hey, so why not subscribe?)
It's been a long time coming, here are some recon shots of a prototype paint scheme:
The statue stands a "cyclopean" 8-1/2 inches tall, hand painted (by myself) resin with felt pad under the base. Faux oxidized bronze finish. I currently have about 30 of these ready for painting, and now that I have figured out the paint scheme I am confident enough to take pre-orders. To reward those who have been following this blog, I am giving the readers a first crack at acquiring statues. After about a week I will broaden the word out to larger circles, assuming any remain. The statues will all be hand numbered, and if these sell well enough to warrant another batch, I will paint more with a different finish. I'm not only thinking of the collector in mind, but also my sanity! Carefully painting 30+ of these guys will make me eager to try out a different scheme.
I will make a new blog post once the first batch are sold, though if you purchase statue(s) before I get to make the announcement, I will honor your order and make sure you get a Bronze version. This will ultimately define the limited number of the first series, which I will announce in future blogs.
The packages will contain some sort of certificate, which is currently in progress.
I have chosen Paypal for payment purposes, it seems the most internationally accepted and convenient form. If this is not convenient for any of you, please email me ( paul at nightserpent dot com)and we can work out some other form of payment.
Many many thanks to everyone who watched and commented along the last.... jeez, nearly a year! Everyone's input and support was vital!
Stay tuned for the next project!
~Paul
It's been a long time coming, here are some recon shots of a prototype paint scheme:
The statue stands a "cyclopean" 8-1/2 inches tall, hand painted (by myself) resin with felt pad under the base. Faux oxidized bronze finish. I currently have about 30 of these ready for painting, and now that I have figured out the paint scheme I am confident enough to take pre-orders. To reward those who have been following this blog, I am giving the readers a first crack at acquiring statues. After about a week I will broaden the word out to larger circles, assuming any remain. The statues will all be hand numbered, and if these sell well enough to warrant another batch, I will paint more with a different finish. I'm not only thinking of the collector in mind, but also my sanity!
Carefully painting 30+ of these guys will make me eager to try out a different scheme.I will make a new blog post once the first batch are sold, though if you purchase statue(s) before I get to make the announcement, I will honor your order and make sure you get a Bronze version. This will ultimately define the limited number of the first series, which I will announce in future blogs.
The packages will contain some sort of certificate, which is currently in progress.
I have chosen Paypal for payment purposes, it seems the most internationally accepted and convenient form. If this is not convenient for any of you, please email me ( paul at nightserpent dot com)and we can work out some other form of payment.
Many many thanks to everyone who watched and commented along the last.... jeez, nearly a year! Everyone's input and support was vital!
Stay tuned for the next project!
~Paul
Let the spawning commence!
Hello All!
Last time we left off, I had a semi-successful test cast, though it wasn't quite what I hoped it'd be. Making the mold was a great learning experience, so I then felt a bit better armed to make a second go at it. My fingers were tightly crossed that the additional investment would pay off. To save on cost, I washed the old mold sections and diced it up:
It needs to be washed clean to remove any release agents that would prevent adhesion with the new silicone. I removed all the sections that never fully cured due to improper mixing. These cubes can be tossed into the new silicone mix before it cures.
The sculpture is fairly delicate, likely because of the multiple bakes and repeated use of alcohol to smoothen out the details (alcohol has the tendency to dry things, which can make them brittle). So, when I removed the master sculpt from the mold, the tenacious grip of the silicone removed some of the sculpture along with it. Bummer! The only way I could see repairing it was with a putty that didn't require any more baking. So, I used some kneadatite (or 'greenstuff')a two part epoxy putty often used by miniature sculptors. I was uncertain how seamless a job I could do, and expected to only know once the new mold was finished.
The new mold:
I was pretty happy with how the mold turned out, and I felt good about giving it a second shot. One hitch, however, the original sculpt was irreparably damaged from the grip of the mold:
Ugh! Nine months of design and sculpting, if the new mold didn't work I'd have to start all over again. The green areas, by the way, is where I had repaired it with the green stuff. The blue is leftover bits of clay from the mold building process. With fingers crossed, I attempted a test run with the new mold:
YESSSS!!! Aside from a few pinholes from small air bubbles under the base (fairly typical), I am quite happy with the results. Better than I expected, by far! You can see a fair amount of flash, but it is paper thin and easily removed with an x-acto blade. I then eyed the remainder of my resin supply.....
Muah-ha-haaaa.... soon my children, ye shall spread amongst the world and do my bidding, which happens to be looking nifty and entertaining. *cough* Sorry about that, but I am pretty psyched, I had huge doubts that this day would come. It's huge relief on numerous levels.
So, what's next? Ordering ten gallons of resin, for starters. Then, cleaning all the flash off the castings, developing a couple paint schemes and crunching the numbers to figure out pricing.
In other news, I have experienced yet another very flattering thing. A couple weeks back I got an email from someone that wanted to use one of my paintings as a tattoo. Both he and his artist wanted to get my blessing, which I appreciated. Here's the state of the tattoo after five hours of work:
Yes, it's the very same image that we saw in airbrush format just a couple weeks back, isn't that an odd coincidence? He's endured another five hours and expects one more session to complete the image. It's turning out to be another faithfully executed reproduction in another completely different medium. It's only just now hitting me what's happening, as obvious as it may seem. The idea that someone appreciates my art enough to permanently affix it to their flesh...how can I not be flattered? Wow!
~Paul
Last time we left off, I had a semi-successful test cast, though it wasn't quite what I hoped it'd be. Making the mold was a great learning experience, so I then felt a bit better armed to make a second go at it. My fingers were tightly crossed that the additional investment would pay off. To save on cost, I washed the old mold sections and diced it up:
It needs to be washed clean to remove any release agents that would prevent adhesion with the new silicone. I removed all the sections that never fully cured due to improper mixing. These cubes can be tossed into the new silicone mix before it cures.
The sculpture is fairly delicate, likely because of the multiple bakes and repeated use of alcohol to smoothen out the details (alcohol has the tendency to dry things, which can make them brittle). So, when I removed the master sculpt from the mold, the tenacious grip of the silicone removed some of the sculpture along with it. Bummer! The only way I could see repairing it was with a putty that didn't require any more baking. So, I used some kneadatite (or 'greenstuff')a two part epoxy putty often used by miniature sculptors. I was uncertain how seamless a job I could do, and expected to only know once the new mold was finished.
The new mold:
I was pretty happy with how the mold turned out, and I felt good about giving it a second shot. One hitch, however, the original sculpt was irreparably damaged from the grip of the mold:
Ugh! Nine months of design and sculpting, if the new mold didn't work I'd have to start all over again. The green areas, by the way, is where I had repaired it with the green stuff. The blue is leftover bits of clay from the mold building process. With fingers crossed, I attempted a test run with the new mold:
YESSSS!!! Aside from a few pinholes from small air bubbles under the base (fairly typical), I am quite happy with the results. Better than I expected, by far! You can see a fair amount of flash, but it is paper thin and easily removed with an x-acto blade. I then eyed the remainder of my resin supply.....
Muah-ha-haaaa.... soon my children, ye shall spread amongst the world and do my bidding, which happens to be looking nifty and entertaining. *cough* Sorry about that, but I am pretty psyched, I had huge doubts that this day would come. It's huge relief on numerous levels.
So, what's next? Ordering ten gallons of resin, for starters. Then, cleaning all the flash off the castings, developing a couple paint schemes and crunching the numbers to figure out pricing.
In other news, I have experienced yet another very flattering thing. A couple weeks back I got an email from someone that wanted to use one of my paintings as a tattoo. Both he and his artist wanted to get my blessing, which I appreciated. Here's the state of the tattoo after five hours of work:
Yes, it's the very same image that we saw in airbrush format just a couple weeks back, isn't that an odd coincidence? He's endured another five hours and expects one more session to complete the image. It's turning out to be another faithfully executed reproduction in another completely different medium. It's only just now hitting me what's happening, as obvious as it may seem. The idea that someone appreciates my art enough to permanently affix it to their flesh...how can I not be flattered? Wow!
~Paul
A creepy light at the end of the tunnel...
Hello Again!
After creating the first section of the mold, I pretty much "rinsed and repeated" three more times, careful to not let the new silicone stick to previous sections. I'd rotate the existing section(s) and the sculpture, then cordon off the new section with clay. Here we see all four sections:
Near the end, I ran out of my silicone supply. Fortunately the art supply show down the street carries the same products, but I had to settle for a different variety that has a longer cure time. Otherwise, it behaves the same way, just a different color. At this point I was starting to feel uncertain about my efforts, especially the mold lines (whether they'd be too obscuring of the sculpture's texture) and whether I'd be able to alleviate the likely air pockets in the resin.
As Dr. Teeth would tell us, "There's nothin' to it but to do it!", I went ahead and did a partial resin pour test to see how the resin would behave. I only poured a partial to save on resin waste, but also because it was the upper part of the sculpture that I was most concerned about....
I can't express how surprised I was to not see a single air bubble, that really lifted my spirits! I had been preparing myself for a much different outcome, yet now it looks like I might not even need any vents! This is even better news because the vents would partially obscure some texture. However, I'm going to re-do the mold. The mold lines themselves are rather crude, and I learned quite a bit in the first process to have a better idea how to do a better job the second time around. Though it will be more costly than I'd like to admit, I think it'll be worth it in the long run. Less clean-up, and a better quality casting in general. I just ordered two more gallons of the goop, and look forward to another shot at it. As I said earlier, silicone loves to stick to silicone, so old molds can be recycled. I'll simply dice up the old sections and drop them in the silicone before it cures. I may need only half the amount of fresh stuff this time around, and that will cut down my costs.
In other news, I just experienced a very flattering thing. We've all heard of songs being covered by other artists, but rarely paintings. I got an email last week from Chad York of Vancouver, he's a musician and artist as well (myspace.com/4necroholocaust). Chad is a big fan of my 'Cthulhu Statue' painting, so much so that he made one for himself... but in airbrush and a heck of a lot bigger (it appears to be similar in size to newest "Red Cthulhu" painting on canvas). Seeing that he painted it from a tiny 72 dpi jpeg, he's truly skilled!
That's an honor I never expected.
~Paul
After creating the first section of the mold, I pretty much "rinsed and repeated" three more times, careful to not let the new silicone stick to previous sections. I'd rotate the existing section(s) and the sculpture, then cordon off the new section with clay. Here we see all four sections:
Near the end, I ran out of my silicone supply. Fortunately the art supply show down the street carries the same products, but I had to settle for a different variety that has a longer cure time. Otherwise, it behaves the same way, just a different color. At this point I was starting to feel uncertain about my efforts, especially the mold lines (whether they'd be too obscuring of the sculpture's texture) and whether I'd be able to alleviate the likely air pockets in the resin.
As Dr. Teeth would tell us, "There's nothin' to it but to do it!", I went ahead and did a partial resin pour test to see how the resin would behave. I only poured a partial to save on resin waste, but also because it was the upper part of the sculpture that I was most concerned about....
I can't express how surprised I was to not see a single air bubble, that really lifted my spirits! I had been preparing myself for a much different outcome, yet now it looks like I might not even need any vents! This is even better news because the vents would partially obscure some texture. However, I'm going to re-do the mold. The mold lines themselves are rather crude, and I learned quite a bit in the first process to have a better idea how to do a better job the second time around. Though it will be more costly than I'd like to admit, I think it'll be worth it in the long run. Less clean-up, and a better quality casting in general. I just ordered two more gallons of the goop, and look forward to another shot at it. As I said earlier, silicone loves to stick to silicone, so old molds can be recycled. I'll simply dice up the old sections and drop them in the silicone before it cures. I may need only half the amount of fresh stuff this time around, and that will cut down my costs.
In other news, I just experienced a very flattering thing. We've all heard of songs being covered by other artists, but rarely paintings. I got an email last week from Chad York of Vancouver, he's a musician and artist as well (myspace.com/4necroholocaust). Chad is a big fan of my 'Cthulhu Statue' painting, so much so that he made one for himself... but in airbrush and a heck of a lot bigger (it appears to be similar in size to newest "Red Cthulhu" painting on canvas). Seeing that he painted it from a tiny 72 dpi jpeg, he's truly skilled!
That's an honor I never expected.
~Paul
It returns! (image intensive)
Hello All!
A little bird told me that it's been some time since my last update. Though I had often contemplated an update, I didn't know if people would prefer an update that said "not much to report" or not. Most of my activity has been of the "behind the scenes" sort, which could be anywhere from planning new work and new projects, or just boring clerical chores.
Though it's not Lovecraftian in nature, I did paint this CD cover art for the band Squanky Kong:
It looks like I may be designing another Lovecraftian Tattoo! This one will be pretty big, I am looking forward to it.
I'm sure some of you may be wondering what is up with the Cthulhu statue. A while back I started to map out the various sections of the mold and started be discouraged. What I imagined might be a five part mold was starting to look like eight or more, which makes things exponentially more complex (five is already quite unusual, two is probably the most common). Is this beyond my means to cast? Could anyone cast it? Trying and failing would be a sad end to this journey, so I think part of me wanted to stall... I don't want to disappoint anyone! But, enough stalling, I need to at least give it a try. And, it might be interesting for people to get a sense of the process.
First up, I am submerging the statue in clay and just exposing the area that will be the first section of the mold. The red lines on the statue are where I was originally intending to map out the sections before I cut down the number to simplify things. It might help to imagine that the sections are kind of like orange slices in the way that they connect around one central axis:
A side view that shows how I am centering the statue in what will be a box. The form is propped up with bits of foamcore and more clay. It needs to be fairly sturdy:
I place a box around the whole thing and seal off the edges to create a complete seal. I then took a sharpie marker and made several divots around the perimeter, often called 'keys'. These will later help align the sections when it's assembled for casting:
I mixed up some silicone rubber (it's parts are mixed 1:1, which makes life easier). I have painted the silicone directly onto the sculpture, this helps get better coverage and eliminates air bubbles:
Then, I poured a bunch more silicone over the whole thing:
After is has cured (a couple of hours), I pulled off the side walls of the containment box:
I then separated the cured rubber from the clay and master.
Here's a detail shot of the mold, you can see the skin texture in negative. It appears to have reproduced quite well! I need to be careful with the resin pour, though, as I can imagine air bubbles hiding in all those nooks:
Last, we see the master put back into the first silicone section. Next step will be to section off another slice:
I'm still quite skeptic to be honest, I see a number of ways in which this won't work, but I am trying to override this with optimism. Tentacles crossed!
In other news, the giant Cthulhu painting is all done. The "client" (for lack of a better and friendlier term), Bill, has been quite patient with me... to the point of being very encouraging to let me enjoy the process as much as I can. It's now waiting to be photographed, the nature of the shiny paint on the canvas texture is creating a lot of glare, which is why I am receiving help from a friend that's far more knowledgeable and experienced with a camera. Why do I want such a quality photo? My hope is to release it as a small poster.
Here's the last in-progress photos, though it's come a long way since then:
See you next aeon,
~Paul
A little bird told me that it's been some time since my last update. Though I had often contemplated an update, I didn't know if people would prefer an update that said "not much to report" or not. Most of my activity has been of the "behind the scenes" sort, which could be anywhere from planning new work and new projects, or just boring clerical chores.
Though it's not Lovecraftian in nature, I did paint this CD cover art for the band Squanky Kong:
It looks like I may be designing another Lovecraftian Tattoo! This one will be pretty big, I am looking forward to it.
I'm sure some of you may be wondering what is up with the Cthulhu statue. A while back I started to map out the various sections of the mold and started be discouraged. What I imagined might be a five part mold was starting to look like eight or more, which makes things exponentially more complex (five is already quite unusual, two is probably the most common). Is this beyond my means to cast? Could anyone cast it? Trying and failing would be a sad end to this journey, so I think part of me wanted to stall... I don't want to disappoint anyone! But, enough stalling, I need to at least give it a try. And, it might be interesting for people to get a sense of the process.
First up, I am submerging the statue in clay and just exposing the area that will be the first section of the mold. The red lines on the statue are where I was originally intending to map out the sections before I cut down the number to simplify things. It might help to imagine that the sections are kind of like orange slices in the way that they connect around one central axis:
A side view that shows how I am centering the statue in what will be a box. The form is propped up with bits of foamcore and more clay. It needs to be fairly sturdy:
I place a box around the whole thing and seal off the edges to create a complete seal. I then took a sharpie marker and made several divots around the perimeter, often called 'keys'. These will later help align the sections when it's assembled for casting:
I mixed up some silicone rubber (it's parts are mixed 1:1, which makes life easier). I have painted the silicone directly onto the sculpture, this helps get better coverage and eliminates air bubbles:
Then, I poured a bunch more silicone over the whole thing:
After is has cured (a couple of hours), I pulled off the side walls of the containment box:
I then separated the cured rubber from the clay and master.
Here's a detail shot of the mold, you can see the skin texture in negative. It appears to have reproduced quite well! I need to be careful with the resin pour, though, as I can imagine air bubbles hiding in all those nooks:
Last, we see the master put back into the first silicone section. Next step will be to section off another slice:
I'm still quite skeptic to be honest, I see a number of ways in which this won't work, but I am trying to override this with optimism. Tentacles crossed!
In other news, the giant Cthulhu painting is all done. The "client" (for lack of a better and friendlier term), Bill, has been quite patient with me... to the point of being very encouraging to let me enjoy the process as much as I can. It's now waiting to be photographed, the nature of the shiny paint on the canvas texture is creating a lot of glare, which is why I am receiving help from a friend that's far more knowledgeable and experienced with a camera. Why do I want such a quality photo? My hope is to release it as a small poster.
Here's the last in-progress photos, though it's come a long way since then:
See you next aeon,
~Paul