The paintings are gone, and now for the sculpture...
With the four pieces ready to go, I packed them up and sent them off. After putting so much effort and time into them, I was a little surprised at how unceremonious the shipping process was. Not that I expected fanfare, but the clerk didn't even look over my form... I wasn't left with a whole lot of confidence in it's safe delivery. I guess I am a little paranoid, but I had a cover painting snapped in half by UPS before. As you can imagine, I made a fairly durable box for these paintings.
Here's one more look, one last scan of each before the shipping:
I am happy to report that the artwork arrived quickly and safely. They seemed very pleased with what I had sent them. *PHEW!!!*
My promo savvy friends have encouraged me to write a press release. Evidently, there are places where these can be submitted where others can pick them up and use for related publications (magazines, papers, websites, and so forth). It's free content for them, and great advertising for me. If you're curious, you can see it here. If you have any ideas or suggestions for where I should submit it, I'd very much appreciate it.
Along a similar vein, the museum asked me to write a small bio, I suppose for the exhibit, catalog and site. They wanted short, as they felt people were more likely to read them:
Paul Carrick was born and raised on the small island of Martha's Vineyard, located off the coast of Massachusetts in the United States. His parents, Donald and Carol Carrick, were an artist/author team for many children's books, some of which included Paul as a character, based on his actual childhood adventures. Paul eagerly took to art at an early age, and would entertain himself for hours by creating terrible monsters on the page, and not much has changed. Another favorite pastime was role playing games, and a favorite was Call of Cthulhu, based on Lovecraft's universe. After High School, Paul attended the Rhode Island School of Design in Providence, earning a BFA with a major in illustration. While in Providence, Paul became more familiar with Lovecraft's writings, and it had an added level of interest to know that many of the tales took place only blocks from where he read them. Since art school, Paul has created hundreds of illustrations for games, music and fantasy publications as well as some children's books of his own.
After a slight break, I realized it was time to return to the Cthulhu statue. Here's a few shots of the progress so far:
I created a rough armature out of armature wire (a fairly soft thick wire, I assume it has aluminum in it) and aluminum foil to comprise the main bulk. After this, I cover the armature with a thin layer of 'Super Sculpey' (a fairly common polymer clay that bakes to harden). The third step is building up more of the actual form. I expect to be in this phase for a few more steps.... carving away and adding bulk until I get it where I want. I haven't been baking it all the way, because multiple full bakings can result in burning the clay. I just want to slightly harden it to keep it in place. When it is where I like it, I will thin it down a bit and then cover it with it's final 'skin', this is where all the details will happen. Then, the final bake.
OK, I guess that's all for now!
~Paul
The sculpture is starting out nicely. It definitely jives with your earlier sketch.
Your bio doesn't mention you being a "dead 'ard git wot eats babies".
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Thanks! Though I am trying to capture the "s" like curves in my sketch, don't be surprised if I take some departures here and there. It's been a while since I designed this, and I want to keep things fresh and fun- as it will show in the end product if I've been enjoying myself or not. One of the downsides to illustration is being too bound to a sketch, the finish can often feel too much like a redundant chore.
They wanted me to keep the bio brief. The dead 'ard part is subjective, I guess, but the baby eatin' part is implied, I thought.
~Paul
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Glad to hear that the paintings got there safely! I've heard far too many horror stories about the US Postal Service recently. Now let's see you finish the sculpture to the same level of quality as the paintings.
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Quite a relief, indeed! This was FedEx, and I've had pretty good luck with them.
Though I am fairly comfortable building and kitbashing, I am considerably less experienced with actual sculpting (clay, carving, etc.). But, I keep thinking about an elephant joke I heard when I was young:
How do you carve an elephant?
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Take a block of stone and remove anything that doesn't look like elephant.
With that in mind, I can't fail as long as I remove everything that isn't evil.
~Paul
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The wide shot of all four paintings is very nice. Gives me a better sense of the real-life colors because of the comparison amongst them. They look stunning together. My favorite is still Lavinia, but that's probably just because it involves a naked lady.
Ol' Tentaclehead looks pretty good. But , as they say, the devil is in the details, so there's not much to comment on yet. I shall be watching attentively (and mewling in the dark).
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Well, Cthulhu is naked in the sculpture (OK, partially nude), so I have a feeling you're gonna love this one.
I agree, there's not too much to comment on at this stage, but I thought some might like to see how it's built from the ground-up.
~Paul
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Yeah, that would be me. I have just recently discovered that I really enjoy sculpting. While I am no artist, I am still looking to raise my skill level so I am watching this closely. I hope you will get lots of WIP pictures as you get into the detail stages.
Thanks much for blogging the whole process. I've already banked the partial baking tip. I've managed to burn sculpey in the past, so thanks for that one.
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I'm happy to share the steps, as the more value and use everyone can get out of the blog, the better.
Don't be down on yourself about being an 'artist' or not, that's a very subjective term. Some people refer to themselves as artists when it comes to just about everything, but I have had a hard time coming to allow myself to describe myself as such (and it still feels weird at times). But, you have to start somewhere, we we all less skilled at some point. I don't know where your technical levels lie, but you definitely have a critical eye and know what you like. The thinking part is the hard, the technical stuff anyone can pick up.
~Paul
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I am really impressed. Your work in general is great, but watching these pieces come together has been amazing. Thanks for bringing us along for the ride.
I also can't wait to see the end result of the sculpture with all the little details. Truth be told I think the initial shapes you have are excellent.
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Hi Jack,
Glad you've joined us! The blog has been of more value than I could have expected, and I am truly grateful to have been able to share it. It made me try harder and think more critically about my choices.
~Paul
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