Head-a-Day Continuation: Zone 5 (Chin and Cheeks ) (#120)

ok - I'm in! off to brood, sort, and photograph....

 

line up for me : 5 heads in 7 days.

found it very hard to actually rank them - there were things i liked about each... finally ended up ranking them in terms of interest to me.



the top ranked head was the one that feels the most alive and vibrant to me. the 2nd ranked one is the one whose body i'm having the most fun trying to visualize. 3rd ranked could be fun - 4th ranked is an ok head that might be rather handsome - better in profile than in front. 5th ranked one was from a day when i didn't feel good, had some sad things going on, it is rather unformed, eyes are terrible - nose is nice though....


I think i'm going to go forward with trying to finish up the top 3, but will focus on the top 2 for this thread.

best and worst :



I really think its the difference in energy between them that is the biggest difference. the worst head just kind of drains me looking at it. there is no form to the chin or the face, the lips have no expression , the eyes are spaced poorly and the lids are bulky and awkward.

the best head definitely needs work on the shape of the head and the ears, but i like the open mouth/teeth. the eyes will need work, they are too deep close to the nose - when i grind out the eyeholes, they will be too thin... the horns should be removed and made detachable - it could wear a wig because the ears are set so low, if the horns remove...


will come back later to post about other's layouts....

 

Armeleia, Pat, nice lineups -- I agree with your rankings, and I'm definitely looking forward to seeing more of your top picks. Ungulates and cuteness!

The lineup (excuse the crappy photo... as usual, best of a bad lot. I really need to get a better camera. Or better photography skills, maybe.):


Best and worst (excuse the picspam, was trying to figure out WHY?!?!?! after fighting with that awful open mouth head for so long...):






Day 1 is definitely my most "ABJD aesthetic" sculpt. It has some issues, but I think the proportions are generally quite good (relative to my current skill level, at least ). Looking at it makes me happy.

Looking at Day 7... makes me want to squish it. So what went wrong? After comparing it to Day 1, I think the problem is mostly the skull. There isn't enough of it. The eyeline is above the half-way mark, which is never a good idea (in "cute" sculpts, at least). The mouth is also a problem -- the teeth I made were too big, so they look funky and they make the smile too flat. A real smile draws the lips back more. Also, the top lip should be more straight across, instead of curving up. I think the smile is disproportionately problematic, because we've hard-wired not only to "read" smiles, but to read fake smiles. And we don't like them. :P

As to why things went the way they did... on Day 1, I'd set time aside for sculpting, was looking forward to it, etc. Once I read the challenge, I had a general sense of what I wanted to do, and the sculpt came together relatively easily.

On Day 7 (well, more like 10 by the time I got to it) I was short on time, stressed about other things, and just wanted to get the sculpt done. I was also doing something I'd never done before (with the prebaked teeth). So I was distracted by trying to get them in and working, and trying to sculpt fast, and I didn't pay enough attention to the overall proportions of the sculpt ... hence the lack of skull. I also didn't bother to look up reference, even though I'd never sculpted an open-mouthed smile before.

In short, I got the results I set myself up for... and you know, I don't think I even would have realized that without this exercise. So, thank you again, Armeleia. I'm definitely going to be paying more attention to my "state of mind" when I sculpt.

 

I'll be writting more while at work (can't upload nor see pics there)

Best to Worst



The Ranking is 1 is best to 7 worst.

1 is the Door Mouse from Day 2 challenge for noses.
2 is the Pixie from Day 7 challenge for open mouths.
3 is the Pouty Budda from Day 5 challenge for pouty lips.
4 is the Happy Budda from Day 6 challenge for ears.
5 is the troubled man from Day 3 challenge for sleep eyes.
6 is the Garden Gnome from Day 1 challenge for lush lips.
7 is the Shocked Moon from Day 4 challenge for Anime.

I improved with bone structure as the week progressed. The Buddas, Pixie and Door Mouse are the ones that I would like to make full bodied for myself.

Best



Door Mouse.
I was please at how this head came out. The shape is very 3d, no flat spots and very cute. While all of my sculpts need smothing, this head seams to rise above the medium used to sculpt. I am thinking about starting this head over again with better matterial.

Worst



Shocked Moon. (Anime)

The face has no real structure to it. While the expression is amusing it really has no sculpting value. I do not think this is a style suited for me at this time.

I have found that I see more while looking at the photos of a sculpt rather than looking at the actual sculpt. I can see the rough areas and the uneveness. Unforturnately due to the newness of it all I am not a very good critic. I either see all flaws or merits depending on how close it came to an inner vision that I had when creating.

 

hey guys ---

Armeleia, I think i would have ranked your heads a little differently - I would have put day 2's head first, then day 6th, followed by day3/day5 ....

Day 2's head is somehow both pleasing and compelling. I like the enigmatic smile.... kind of like that modern dancer doing his imitation of martha graham doing her imitation of the mona lisa ---- but I also think he follows in the more adult boy tradition of Volks - and is very appropriate.... day 6th is just awesome --- i hope you might work on both of them.....


Logodae --- i kind of want to swap your day 4 to your best, and day 1 to second....

I would really love to see the bjd that day 4 will be --- day 1 is lovely too, but not as unique as day 4....

Bloodlath - I agree with your rankings... can't wait to see either #1 or #2 as a full sculpt......

 

Pat..I really think you should finish a body for the last head. It's amazing and I would love to see it finished and cast!!

 

Wow! Everyone's heads turned out great! Will there be another one of these challenges?

Right now, i have midterms so that's why I didn't have time to work on anything. So much studying

Spring break is coming up so maybe I'll have time then

 

hey Dianna, its already been squashed. but i think i'd like to try the sad expression again.....

 

Hi Pat....I meant the last head you did for the challange....the best one woth the horns..I sure hope you didn't squash THAT head!!

 

<grin>
Dianna -
nope - that one is still here....I'm glad you meant the oni one ---- i like it too! but I kind of dread the idea of doing the whole body for it....

i've got an idea for a very sleek male android body ---- (and that Basil Rathbone head for my daughter that i've been promising her....) and dressing it in Victorian gentleman --- steam punk stuff.....

 

This is my lineup, but since I only did 2 heads this week I am cheating a little and putting in 2 older heads in my lineup too. They also belong to the Egyptian pantheon.


Best to worst
1. Anubis. I am rather satisfied with him, seeing as he is a very rough sculpt. Although his snout is too long and flat and looks more like a crocodile and his ears are really rough and unfinished, I think he has potential. He is also a little uneven and lopsided, but that can be fixed.
2. Bast is my first head, and I have been working on her on and off for a long while. I included her here so you can see my development. Her snout is crooked and eyes a bit uneven and the ears are uneven too. I did not make the characteristic Egyptian eyes on her, so I might resculpt her to fit in better with the guys. That might give me a chance to make her better.
3. Horus is too small, but the sculpt itself is ok. I think I need to resculpt him larger so he fits better with Anubis and Bast. Beak and eyes came out rather well I think. back of head is 'orrible.
4. Mouse, horrible, nasty, totally failed. Talk about bulging eyes. Right in the bin you go my friend. No more minis for me. Mouse was probably not that important to the ancient Egyptians anyways. So why should she be to me?

Best vs worst
Anubis is best because he has the right size, shows a lot of potential and has interesting features going on.
Mouse is worst because I could not create what I wanted to, and because I did not give up in time but tried to amend a failed sculpt until there was no more to work with. Attacking it with a carving-knife didn't make it any better. I also had no picture reference when doing this head, and that does not work for me.

Comments
armeleia I think day4 head is your worst head because it is so wonky and that day5 head should be upped because he is very cool regardless if you have any use for him or not, he has character.
Patl I agree on the best head, but disagree that Day3 head is the worst. I actually find day3 head rather appealing, bulging eyes and all.
Logodae and BloodLath agreeing with your lineups.

 

Day 2 - excision :

"Post which head (or heads) you junked. Write a post with your thoughts on the junking process and with letting go - is it a relief, are you sad?"

squished the sad head.

Years ago I was squishing clay in the back of a life drawing class where the teacher told the people they should trash all their sketches for the next month....so I started squishing all my clay gestures for that month.... it felt so good, i continued on until the teacher came over and told me if i didn't stop it he was going to start yelling at me <grin>

its like a relief --- once the irritating head is deleted, you aren't compelled to try to fix it - you don't have to admit to folk you did it in the first place, you are no longer responsible for it being good or bad. there is less weight to the whole decision to sit down and sculpt a head ---- it is very freeing to just squish it and say -- ah well, i kind of like that one's nose --- but overall ---- nope, not interesting. and then just start the next one.

I also used to go to artists' retreats with polymer clay artist Victoria Hughes. One time she told us a story about a pottery teacher who ran an experiment one semester. He divided the class in half and told the students on the left that they would be graded on the very best pot they produced..... while the students on the right were told they would be judged by the number of pots they created - the more pots, the better grade.

at the end of the semester they stood back and looked at the pots the students had created, and realized that the best work was done by the students who were being judged on sheer numbers. Instead of brooding and futzing and working a piece over and over --- they just did a piece and moved on quickly to the next one. and their work was both more fluid and better.

 

BloodLath: I like Happy Buddha better than Pouty Buddha, but that's probably just because I like happy sculpts. Otherwise, I agree with your lineup.

Armeleia: Ranking my sculpts on their technical merits, I think your analysis is correct. My ranking was more... personal preference.

I also don't think that a defined brow ridge is automatically a good thing. It seems like a mature/masculine feature -- not something I'd want on a sculpt like Day 1. I could be wrong, though... I'll have to look up some reference.


Patl: Thanks! I actually kinda feel the same way about your #1 and #2 -- well, your #1 is pretty unique, and nicely done. But #2 is just so unique and adorable.

I'm definitely continuing with both my top 2, and I hope you do as well.

Skumring: Nice lineup! I would maybe switch #2 and #3. Bast is much more finished, but I think Horus has better structure. I do look forward to seeing a Bast resculpt at your current skill level, though. Anubis is awesome.

Patl: Great story. I'd be curious to know if the "quantity" student's best work was also their later work. I can see possible benefits to "loosening up" when sculpting, but I can definitely see benefits to sculpting a lot and therefore learning a lot. (And sculpting multiple pieces is somehow "counts" more than than spending the same amount of time fussing over one -- I've definitely learned that first-hand.)

Armeleia: You might be interested in this article: The Advantages of Closing a Few Doors. Though I think it actually doesn't cover the primary advantage: reducing mental "clutter." It's just like the "I might need this someday!" physical clutter -- when you come across it, you need to stop and think about it, getting distracted from whatever you actually want to be doing, and spending the mental resources to decide (yet again) what to do about the thing.

Better to let things go... even the anthropomorphic things. Their spirits will reincarnate into newer, better sculpts.

So yeah. My heads are squished. (Day 7 and Day 5... decided to keep Day 3 around for profile reference.) No regrets, really... I didn't like the sculpts enough to get attached. Don't have time to take photos of the good ones, but hopefully tomorrow.

 

Sorry for my lateness... life intrudes.

Logodae: I think the shape of day 4 is the most appealing. I understand on ranking on personal interest, it is sometimes hard to sort our personal reflections from our work.

skumring: Your line-up is so impressive. I would have to say if you where going to cast them the scale difference between the different sculpts are a little off.

Patl: I like your sad face then I am drawn to sadder or poutier heads. It does have less energy then your oni head which I love.

armeleia: I think I would switch day 2 & 4 , and 7 & 5.

I have squashed my Shocked Moon. I was sad to strike my work, but could have cared less about going on with this head. I think at times I am sadder about not being able to create something worth keeping, more than trashing the actual work.

 

hey Bloodlath,

I think that absorbing that it is ok to not be perfect in every head - frees you up - you don't have to worry about failing yourself (or the internal editor in your head - in my case i'm afraid of hearing my mom's voice telling me i failed again) ---

but i have to watch out, i've gone a bit too far the other way, when i blithely toss heads away, i don't have to take responsibility for them not being really good, i don't have to worry about failing if i were to try to finish them ... we have to somehow find the path that negotiates between the 2 extremes ---


hey Armeleia --- can you post a little more explanation about the posting of the pics of the head(s) we are going to be working on? should each view be a separate pic or do you want them photoshopped together?

 

Day 2 excision

Part 1
I threw away the mouse. It made me feel like I do after cleaning house and everything smells nice and looks shiny. Accomplished may be the correct word. I have come to the conclusion that I do not need to hang on to failed sculpts in order to remember the lessons I learn from them.

In a sculpt I value attention to detail, originality and beauty.
The weaknesses of my sculpts are the lack of symmetry, and the fact that I often do not finish a project unless I have a deadline.

Part 2


Logodae Taking a second look at my heads, I am inclined to agree that Bast and Horus should change places. I suppose I have gotten a little attached to Bast as I have worked with her the most. I have decided to resculpt Bast in the same style as Horus and Anubis.

BloodLath I agree, the heads should be made more even in size.

 

Day 3 analysis

1.
Pictures taken.

2.
My head is called Anubis.

3.
I would like heavy-duty-critique. I want to push my own limits, and I want you to help me do it. So be honest and tell me what you think about my work. Critique might make me brood over it for a while, but I won't get hurt.

4.
Pictures in previous post. The one seen here is before the modifications on the snout.


5.
1. Forehead is ok, brow needs to be adjusted in order for him to be less bug eyed.
2. Eyes are uneven, needs to be adjusted. More definition and detail is required. Might need 1-2 mm bigger eyes. The lines need to be more horizontal.
3. Nose is all wrong, need to redo. Snout is too long.
4. Mouth is more or less right, need to redo with more snarl in the lips.
5. Cheeks needs more detail and more feel, too saggy now.
6. Jaw needs more definition and also a bit more sharpness.
7. Ears needs to be evened out and detailed.
General comments on the sculpt
Only half of his face is in any way mapped out with details. The snout looks like it belongs on an antelope, it needs to be broader and more canine. Snarl and teeth might be an option, but might also make him too menacing. A little menacing wouldn't be so bad though. I have also modified him a little already. I have made his snout straighter, added more cheek and have started building up his upper lip. This is why he looks a little strange in the picture in the previous post. I stopped myself from chopping off his snout because it would look too strange for photos, but that is my next step.

6.
Symmetry is non-existing. I did both a flip, flop and a mirroring.


armeleia Could those of us working from a reference-picture put these up also? And are we allowed to continue work on our sculpts during this week? Or is it solely devoted to evaluation?

My reference picture

 

...I somehow managed to lose my entire post.

Sigh. Here's the photos, again:









Flip:


I apologize for the photo quality. I think my camera is getting senile. I usually blame my shaky hands, because I usually get a mix of tolerable-to-completely-blurry shots... but this entire shoot was slightly out-of-focus.

Commentary, somewhat abbreviated on account of it being the second time I've written it out:

1. Brow: Took Armeleia's advice; increased brow definition. It's subtle, but I think it helps. Maybe more would help more? I'll have to experiment once I've got the Sculpey version going.

2. Eyes: Like 'em, mostly. May need eyelids.

3. Nose: Needs detail. Wasn't going to attempt that in plasticine.

4. Mouth: Middle line isn't centered. Otherwise good.

5. Cheeks: Some asymmetry near the mouth.

6. Jaw: Looks long in the side views, but it's just the neck placement. I moved it forward and tilted the head down, and it looks fine now.

7. Ears: Rougher, and asymmetrical but headed in the right direction, I think. Will be interchangeable anyway, so I can experiment.

Symmetry: I think I might finally be developing a better eye for this. The right eye is a little high, but I spotted that before I flipped it. Am I missing anything?

Working title: Kit, short for Kitpandy, short for Kitten-Panda-Bunny.
Degree of critique: Please be as critical and nit-picky as possible. It helps me improve both the sculpt and my skills.

Crits for others in separate posts, so I don't accidentally erase an hour's typing again...

 

day 3 analysis :

1. pics taken.
2. head one name = Oni, head two name = Nerf.
3. please feel free to give in depth critique --- I need to improve.

4. pics for oni :















5 critique for Oni :

obvious flaws : missing back of head, bumpy detail on horns is not complete, overall needs smoothing , missing neck hole

ears : left ear is missing the connective channel to the head, both ears are too fat, need refinement. from above its obvious that they aren't at the same angle on the head, and one is further forward than the other

jawline : not distinct - especially on each side - needs to be defined

forehead : from the top - its larger on right, brow more protruding on right

horns : need to be refined, not quite mirror images

I don't like the first profile as much as the last one... what is different????


if I flip oni :


whew! not as bad as I was afraid it would be --- makes the nose off/middleness more obvious and the jaw is more obviously uneven.
also the horns are more obviously wonky....

 

whoops - more than 15 images!

now for Nerf :
















<grin> its funny that her head from above and her head from below are almost interchangeable!!!

critique :

obvious ---- all the detail lines need to be crisp and mechanical looking, no "ears" yet, need more mechanical details like screws etc. no neckhole yet.... need to finish defining the lines around the headcap and around her head overall

eyes : not perfectly round, from above and below its obvious that they aren't even on the same planes!!!

mouth : needs to be perfectly identical from both sides

nose : needs sanding as does the rest of her face.

if i flip her pic :




it looks like her head is wonky, eyes aren't at quite the same level (or the bottom of the head isn't level - one or the other) --- needs more head on the lower side, and the detail seems off, lower on the lower side.

 

Anubis:

1. Brow: I actually like the way the brow comes up over the eyes. There's something about it that seems very natural. I'm not sure exactly what you're planning to change, so hopefully that aspect will be preserved.

I'm wondering if the brow might be too "short" -- if the eyes are too close to the ears in the side view, in other words. I think that might be worth experimenting with, either in Photoshop or maybe sketching on paper.

2. Eyes: The (character's) left eye is definitely a good start. The right needs more work, obviously.

3. Nose: I kinda like the "crocodile" effect, but I can see why you'd want to change it for a more realistic look.

4. Mouth: The mouth works. I'm not sure if it's the same for canines, but you might try adding a deeper indent at the corner of the mouth. I've found that's almost always a good idea on human sculpts.

5. Cheeks: I agree that they're too jowly -- you'll need to slim them down towards the bottom... and maybe build up cheekbones? Again, I don't really know canine anatomy.

6. Jaw: Looks pretty good to me, but I'll be curious to see the more defined/sharper version.

7. Ears: As you probably already know, both ears are leaning to the character's right. I think I like the inward curve of the (character's) left ear better, but either would work.

8: Symmetry: It's a little hard to tell, because your front view isn't exactly straight-on to the camera. It looks like the muzzle is tilted left, though. Also, the character's right eye seems to be closer to the ear in the side view -- I'm not sure if it's the ear positioning, the eye positioning, or both.

All in all, I think this is a good start, and I'm definitely looking forward to a more refined version.


Edit: Okay, too tired to be coherent. Will edit with more feedback for folks tomorrow.

 

Anubis : I love this head!

(I know that you've already mentioned most of this yourself.....)

1. comparing to golden retriever (as closest canine comparison available
Max the golden has an indent down the middle of his face, rather than a raised ridge. I don't know if this is a difference between the Egyptian dog that Anubis is based on and modern goldens.

2. comparing to feral street mutt Toby ---
the right eye with the bulge and the eyelid coming up over it is really good... Toby has a similar long bare muzzle and you have the chin back from the end of the muzzle which is just like his. Toby's eyes are much larger relatively speaking, but this size eye gives a much fierce appearance which might be appropriate for the subject.

3. The details you've started to put in on the right side are extremely effective - need to be echoed on the left

4. stylized ear on right is not echoed on left --- you might play with some different textures for the detail inside. The lines you have now are interesting, but don't feel as accomplised as the smooth face -- they don't meld into the sculpt as well as i think you can do.

5. the head is intended to be viewed from the side. what can be done to make the front view as interesting as the sides? also the eyes on dogs actually face more to the front, they aren't so strictly on the sides is it the same for jackals?. the nose is lovely but needs to be straightened out. I bet if you play with the definition of the ears, and the way they curve to join the head, it could add a lot to the front view. Looking at Max from above, the top of his muzzle is a defined plane that then slopes distinctly down to his mouth --- that could add more interest to the front view

4. really like the detail of the back of the jaw on the right, but think you might want to decrease the bulge at the front right behind the mouth.


can't wait to see more photos as you work on him.....

 

critique : Kit

isn't it awesome that we got so many neat heads out of the head a day challenge? hey Armeleia, maybe you should consider starting one once a month....


I love her profile... she looks kind of anxious/wistful from the side --- which is a contrast to in front, but very cool

looking from below, there is more head on her right side than on her left... from above you can see a difference in the curves behind her ears. also making both cheeks equal in curves...

i like her without eyelids -- how big is she? sometimes eyelids detract from the eyes on tinies.... but there is something about her eyes... i wonder how she would look with a little more rounded upper eyelids --- (rounded out to the front) so her eyes are defined as balls in her head a little more...

I like the way her profile is so very human, without seeing her ears, you don't realize she is a cat --- probably makes her a perfect Anthro doll...

love the expression of her mouth. slight difference in the pads above her mouth.

look forward to seeing her nose - are you going to define that in your resin cast?

 

Wow, Armeleia! I loooove your fawn so far! I really hope that you continue and complete a whole doll. I would love to own a doll like this! Great job so far!

 

Fawn :

love the slope of her nose and the curve of her forehead. her profile is awesome. her face slopes a bit to the left as you look at her (agreed upon sign of all great sculptors)

really like her slightly startled deer-like expression --- stronger in 3/4 views than straight on.

love her lips in 3/4 view - but not as much from straight on or from below. her lower lip is out to same level as upper lip, think i might have liked her mouth from below more if the lower lip had been recessed slightly. but that is such a beautiful soft lower lip it would be sad to lose it. there is a slight "pursed" lip thing going on which may have been intentional. (Angelina Jolie mouth) if not, you might want to carve back into her cheeks a little at each corner of her mouth --- (take a mold first, and carve in one of your casts to see if you like it) to pull her mouth into her face a little. or experiment with trimming back the edges of the lower lip to round it back into the face a little. this is just a matter of what your vision of her is...

in the picture from above, the forehead on the right has a lovely slight curve that tells you about the skull under it, on the left side of that picture, the forehead is flat --- think i like the curved line better.

i like her ears a lot - are you going to make them magnetic or detachable? they are low enough so she can wear a wig if you leave them attached.

one eye feels like it is somehow different than the other -- the line from her nose up and over her left eye is about 45 degrees, while the one up over her right eye appears sharper up and over to the side --- don't know if that is a figment of the photograph - but when you flipped the photo horizontal it shows strongly there too...

jawline needs to be defined

again - incredibly beautiful head - looking forward to seeing it in resin.

 

thinking about approach to sculpting..

talked with my shrink yesterday - and mentioned the challenge and what it had made me really realize about my sculpting habits (ie - tossing out heads so i don't have to feel guilty about not finishing them or afraid that i can't make them perfect)

she pointed out that i sculpt just for the love of it. and that i love the initial "capture the idea" phase -- so she thinks its logical that i lose interest before i complete things. but if i'm honest with myself - i think its more the fear of failure that is kicking in, than the short attention span thing.

So Armeleia --- i'm going to try to force myself to stick with the sculpts and finish more. bug and the pocket goddess are major accomplishments in that i finished them to the point of them pretty much being complete in sculpy --- and their heads are even in rough resin at this point --- so i'm seeing improvement.

but i have all these strange insectoid bjds in my head that i've never even tried to start... maybe my next challenge to myself will be to do one of them. ( i understand that they probably won't fit the rules for this forum --- but maybe i can somehow do the challenge to myself without the dread of public humiliation to push me to finish....)

thank you for your insight and input. i really appreciate all your help.....

 

Have any of you reflected on the fact that none of us are making just an ordinary person? We are all doing some kind of animal/fantasy creature.

armeleias Fawn
From the side she looks a little like the elephantmans unknown sister. This is due to the bulging forhead and would probably be fixed when you add some more head and neck to her. Are you planning on defining her ears more, with details on the inside? Might I suggest looking up referencepictures or take a trip to your local zoo or zoological museum to have a look. Don't forget to bring your camera, and a little clay so you can sculpt on spot in the same way artstudents make drawings of famous pictures.

Logodaes kit
Do you have a macro function on your camera? It looks to me that you are too close to your subject in these pictures and that your camera simply cannot focus on something this close. If you usually have shaky hands I think you would benefit greatly if you invest in a tripod or even if you make yourself a beanbag to put your camera on to keep it steady. I really do not have much critique that you have not noted yourself. The only thing I would like to comment on is that I think the forhead is a bit on the big side and that the ears are very small. If you are going to play around with the ears I would like to see them bigger. I very much like the little smile she has going on.

patls Oni
The back of Onis head needs some work, but you have already mentioned this. Regarding the ears I would do some research on how ears are attached to heads, something seems a bit off, but I cannot pinpoint exactly what. Even though this is a fantasycreature, it is always good to base the sculpt on something real. I guess I would do some research on how horns grow too.
What is different with the profiles?

The first profile is smoother, the ear looks better, the face is not so stickyout. The last profile has a bulky ear, the mouth is not appealing, the cheek is poofy and bulky and does not flow as well with the nose, mouth and chin.

patls Nerf
Not much to say about this one, you pretty much summed it up yourself. Funny little thing though.

 

huh!

you mean fawn, and anubis, and kit and oni and nerf aren't human?

need to get my glasses checked....

<smirk>

actually, i disagree a bit with skumring in that i very much like fawn's forehead - but i think my imagination is filling in the head cap --- i notice that there are differences in skulls - and the rounded forehead she has makes me think of some subsets of Celtic which is really appropriate for her ...

or perhaps its just that some young girls have that forehead :

http://www.theins.org/thefrontpage/uploads/Image/rihanna1.jpg

(<grin> and then i love to give lovely rounded foreheads to my sculpts too....)

 

armeleia Glad it made you laugh and not cry. Jointed ears! Had to come from Twigling. I am really looking forward to seeing that in action though. And to answer your question about Anubis. I'll cast him if he looks good in the end, but only if he looks really good.

patl Insectoid bjds sounds very interesting. It might not be allowed on the main forum, but I do think we are more lenient here in the artist corner. I do believe my imagination is running in a very different direction than yours, as I still see the elephantine streak in the first picture of Fawn rather than the lovely model forehead that you showed us.

I think doing this head a day and evaluation weeks are the best thing that I have ever experienced on this forum. I do prefer this to having a single thread for each head. And I would like to continue this in some fashion in the future. Not necessarily once a month, and not necessarily in the exact same way as I assume that we'll develop new tactics in the course of this project. I really do enjoy working with all of you, and it is a joy to have so many eyes looking at my sculpts and telling me things I might not see myself. It is always good to have more than one set of eyes looking at a piece of work.

 

<grin>

hey skumring, do you see her head more like this?
http://web.missouri.edu/~umcellislibraryoms/Graphics/pics/Ganesh/GANESH11.jpg

I guess i can kind of see that too -- but my imagination is definitely seeing more like the first one..

i love that we all see things so differently...

 

So, my computer is randomly bluescreening / rebooting / claiming that it can't find a bootable drive. (A second reboot works fine, but still. Unnerving). I've killed most of the evening on diagnostics (All tests passed! Helpful.) and I don't know how long it's going to keep running this time, so I'm just going to do some quick critiques.

Fawn: Armeleia, I love this design, but boy... you've got some symmetry issues here. I'm not sure how well you can "see" it, and I know I've definitely "corrected" asymmetry on sculpts only to realize I've gone about half as far as I had to... so I did some quick Photoshopping:



And another one:



What I would do is get the nose and mouth vertical, and then adjust the skull, cheeks, and chin based on that. Keep a mirror handy while you're doing this. Once you've got the overall head symmetry lined up with the mouth, pick an eye to keep, and carve out the other one. You're definitely going to need to reposition the placeholder eyeball.

Another possibility would be to cut the sculpt in half between the eyes and the nose, make another cut to get them both on a matching horizontal, and meld it back together.

And a third possibility is to start a new sculpt using this as a model. You've been talking about sanding, which makes me think this is hardened... honestly, it might be easier. It obviously depends on how you'd feel about starting over -- if it feels more like getting a clean slate, or backtracking and redoing work.

Whatever you do, I think you need to fix the misalignment of the eyes and the nose/lips before you do anything else, or you'll end up regretting it later.

 

Oni: This is a really nice sculpt. There's a level of realism and aliveness to your work that, frankly, I don't see in most commercial ABJDs. What you don't have as much of -- and I don't know if maybe these things are incompatible -- is the big-eyed anime-esque stylization that gives most BJDs their appeal. I'd be very curious to see what happened if you went a little bit more in that direction, on some future sculpt.

For Oni herself, I think the only crit I've got that hasn't been covered is the sculpt's right eye. The shape is different from the left... on the upper lid, going from the inner corner to the middle of the lid is a shallower curve. It's almost an "angry eye" shape.

Nerf: So adorable. I don't envy you the cleanup work, if you try to get everything to a mechanical level of perfection, but I'd love to see her finished. You mentioned that you liked the worried/lost look, and it occurred to me that you could emphasize that by adding to her "eyebrow" lines:



You could go the other way and do "angry Nerf" just as easily... hmm. Maybe what you really need is stick-on eyebrows... then you could change her expression whenever you wanted. Moody Nerf!

 

Hey patl! Wrong elephantman, I don't see Ganesha, but you might remember this guy, Joseph Merrick. http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Joseph_Merrick from the movie The Elephant Man by D. Lynch. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080678/

 

Finally (And hey! My computer's still running!), thank you to everyone who commented on Kit. She's about in proportion to a slim mini -- which is to say, proportionately smaller such that she could be a child in a 1/4 scale world. Basically, not so tiny that I have an excuse not to do eyelids.

And my camera does have a macro function, but it's automatic. I can't override and tell it to go into macro mode. I'll try backing off next time, though -- if it's just the macro function that isn't working, maybe that'll work. Thanks for pointing that out!

I want to see Clockwork Boy. And insectoid BJDs! One of my favorite sculptures is this humanoid praying mantis... *goes to find link* ...err, right. That would be Waiting. (Folks, check out the link in Pat's sig, if you haven't yet!)

Pat... I understand perfectionism, I do, I do. And it's not like it's all bad, either. The ability to distinguish between "what is" and "what should be," and the impulse to redo and fuss and not be satisfied until the former becomes the later, until the real becomes the ideal... that's what makes people artists. But I think it's also what stops artists from finishing things, because the real never does become the ideal.

It doesn't have to, though. People will still see it... that's how art works, I think. It alludes to an ideal, and our minds make the leap. Your work does that. And I'd love to see you finish more of it... but as long as you keep posting pics of your "unfinished" work, I won't complain too much.

Anyway, back to battle plans... well, mine is going to be a bit different, by necessity. Kit is plasticine, so I've got to resculpt her from scratch in Sculpey. I'm also going to be doing overtime at work, so I'm not sure if I'll be able to keep up... I'll definitely be following you folks' progress, though.

 

stunning.

ok, you've set the bar so high - i'll go do something more in depth than i had been thinking for my project plan.

and i've been playing with casting the goddess's head in castilene medium and cleaning that up to make a better cast from. you might want to consider it - i can see the learning curve being long, and i think i may want to get some castilene firm but i rather like the wax like properties. now i need to figure out how to smooth the surface - they suggest possibly a lemon oil based solvent - we happen to have some orange oil based solvent (actually organic ant repellent - which doesn't really work) so i'm going to try that to see what happens.

(ps - hey logodae - thank you for your kind remembrance of waiting... she was one of the first jointed pieces i ever tried to do - and the joints were so bad i had to freeze them so she could stand. i've wanted to redo her correctly ever since.....)

 

hey Armeleia --- castilene is a wax based modeling and casting clay - available thru The Complete Sculptor :

http://www.sculpt.com/catalog_98/Wax/Castilene.htm

I was looking for a modeling wax --- don't like this for original modeling, but it shows some promise for rough casts and cleaning up....

I think the next one i'm going to try is the J.f. McCoughin modeling wax ---- i think i may have used this one years ago and liked it....

http://www.sculpturedepot.net/html/wax.htm



on to my heads ::::::

first to look at symmetry :



checking horizontally - he is pretty even. vertically there are some issues, his teeth are just a smidge too far to his left....

now to see what happens when i make him perfectly symmetrical :
first both left sides :



and then both right sides :




weird!!! i don't like either of them! funny how i like the head but don't like its parts... but it makes it apparent that his right side expands out to the right more than it should, while the left side doesn't expand out as much as it should.

hmmm - ok, battle plan :

1. cut off horns - i need to refine them and make them connect with square posts I think. they are kind of large for magnets.

2. move the teeth just a touch over to his right.

3. round out the nostrils of the nose, making them even, build out the smaller one to match the larger side.

4. I like the brow on the left, so build out the brow, forehead on the right, shave the sides of the head just a bit on the left.

5. look for pictures of deer/cow type ears and work on those - since in my mind - his ears are not set like human ears, but a little pendulous --- need to get a better idea of what i was thinking and make them symmetrical.




and i decided to look at the head i've cast in resin to see what needs to be fixed on it ....



then I followed Armeleia's lead and checked for symmetry and to try to decide which features to work with





interesting process....

 

Day 4 Battle plan

To do list
1. Smooth out the forehead, make a nice back-head and adjust the brows in order to get them even.
2. Even out the eyes, get them in the same position, detail the lines and creases around the eyes. Do more research on the stylizion on egyptian eyes and how this correspond to the fact that the lover eyeridge does not create a ring on canines.
3. Chop off the muzzle, resculpt a more canine snout. Eliminate the crookedness.
4. Give the lips a little snarl and smirk. Maybe show off some teeth in the front and all the way in back if I make a snarl big enough for this. Check out reference on Golden Jackal, Canis aureus, teeth, I do believe they differ from Wolf, Canis lupus.
5. Make the chin sharper and with a nice dip in front that corresponds to the snarl. Set the jaw and fill out the cheeks a tad.
6. Chop off the ears and sculpt them by themselves, then put them back on. Check out some reference picks on jackal ears.

I have decided to base Anubis on the Goden Jackal, Canis aureus, because that is the species that is believed to be the basis for Anubis. I have dug out my reference picktures on Canis Lupus from when I did a series of latex/fur wolf-masks for a LARP, but I need to find cranium references for Canis aureus, in regards to teeth, jawline and eyeplacement. Also need to find reference pictures of ears, eyes and fur, and maybe contact a taxidermist to get some nice eyes. Teddybear eyes only go that far. I probably should take a trip to the zoological museum, but I dread this as I have always found it so utterly scary there, so I'll opt for the library this round. Internet was a no-go as far as digging up reference on jaws and the pictures are far too small. Also have to look for Egypt-shops if I can find one to check out statues.

armeleia I think fixing up a zone a day sounds really good.

patl It is not strange at all that you like the head itself but not the mirrored images of it. No human or animal head is perfectly symmetrical. The perfect symmetry is probably what puts you off.

If anyone stumbles over some nice reference pictures, please tell me.

 

i'm open to how ever you would like...

 

What about this way:
1. Chop off the things that you want off like horns, ears and such.
2. Begin with #1 on the To Do List and work ourselves downward.

 

I like skumring's idea... i was kind of thinking top down made sense...

 

I have been calling taxidermists today looking for eyes, and have found that I must visit the dreaded Zoological Museum at Tøyen and talk with the head of department there. I'll wait until tomorrow to call him, it's too late today anyways, thankfully. I hope this guy has a nice, modern office with not too many moth-eaten stuffed animals. And I hope I won't have to traipse through the dark, scary exhibition to get to his office, nor walk underneath the whale that is suspended from the ceiling or edge myself past the huge stuffed bisonhead in the stairs. The Zoological Museum is such a scary place, but I need new eyes before Zone 2, so I'll just have to go there.

Enough of the ranting, I'll go chop off some ears now. In itself a pretty scary business too, what if I'm not able to remake them. What if they turn out even wonkier than they are now?

 

skumring,
do you know Van Dyke Taxidermy?
http://www.vandykestaxidermy.com/category/1/

nice eyes, reasonable delivery and great prices...

also Tohickon glass eyes :

http://www.tohickonglasseyes.com/mammal.htm

 

Patl Thanks for the links, I stumbled upon Van Dyke Taxidermy yesterday. Tohickon has some really nice eyes, I might go for that If I cannot get some at the museum later this week. But facing ones fears is also a way of pushing limits, so I'll get myself an appointment at The Zoological Museum tomorrow.

 

hey skumring,

actually - the museum sounds awesome.... I hope it turns out to be a really good experience afterall.... I have to admit, when i was in Philadelphia, I chickened out and didn't make it to the Mutter Museum...
and i've regretted it every since - but I just couldn't face that it...

http://www.collphyphil.org/mutter.asp