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

Zone 1 Brow and forehead

Step 1
I broke off Abubis's ears. A good grip, and then *snap*. While at it I also chopped off his nose.

Step 2
Anubis withouth ears, and then also withouth nose. he is looking more and more wonky every day.


It's almost 2 in the morning here, and I am running a nunofelting-course tomorrow, so the re-sculpting has to wait until tomorrow evening.

Patl It's a creepy and erie place at best. I suppose it would be cool if I could get my heart down from my throat when I visit. The Mütter Museum does not sound half as scary to me, and it looks nice and brightly lit in the pictures.

armeleia I think it is just me being creeped out by all the stuffed animals lurking around each corner. I have the same thing going on with the polarbearhead at the top of the stairs in Uranienborg - Roald Amundsens Home. I work as a photographer at Follo Museum and every time I go to take pictures at Uranienborg that head freaks me out. Mind you, this is mostly in the off-season and I am usually all alone in the house. The little polarbear, Marie, in Amundsens study does not freak me out at all, but the penguin does. I really do not want to touch any of them though, and I think I'll bring my assistant the day I have to take photos of the stuffed animals.

 

Skumring, you can get really nice taxidermy glass eyes from a place in Wales. Their website is glasseyes.com.. its a lot easier to navigate than VanDykes too.

 

oh wow --- i cut off oni's horns and ears and his head is massively lopsided!!!

back to the clay...

 

<grin>

must have been universal - would be nice to just have skipped last week, over all...

ok, i've started my zone 1 work and can finish it tonight - so movng on to zone 2 tomorrow sounds like a good plan.

 

Universal creativity-shutdown has affected Norway too, but after tomorrow the Easterholidays are setting in, and I plan to lock myself in my workroom for the entire holiday. I want to finish this Anubis-head.

 

Armeleia --- she is getting really sweet --- the really bigger eyes will make her more in line with the abjd criteria for this forum...

i got side tracked by nurf again --- will spend time this weekend on oni.

 

armeleia No. You are not the only one. I am just so slow to take pictures. I did some this morning when I thought I had the brows right, and it turned out they were not even after all, so consequently, the eyes are not even either. Bugger. I'll put some pictures up after dinner.

 

You arent the only one I have been working along myself with my Elf girl head. Actually broke a scraping tool and had to get a new one yesterday but... so far, she is doing well. Here are my before and after pics.

Before baking (extremely soft here kept trying to freeze her to keep working)


After baking a small bit (still soft enough to use scrapers, easier to carve out without collapse) Right now her head is a size 8 and her eyes take a 16mm eye.

Also here I was carving down the cheek a bit., did some more work on the nose... havent touched the lips yet here.

 

I've still been working too... sort of. I've been playing around off and on, but I just haven't posted any pics. I never went to the store for paperclay, so I'm still playing around with the same little lump of Super Sculpey. >_< I've just been working on certain facial features one at a time without working on a full head. I haven't really come up with anything that I felt deserved further refining. I don't think I'm quite up to the "whole head" challenge yet, but I've been getting a lot of practice work in.

 

I'm so sorry Armeleia!!!

everytime i sit down to work on Oni, Nurf uses those big puppy dog eyes on me, and i work on her instead.....






she is just so blamed pathetic! (on so many different levels..... <grin>)

this is a big part of my failure as an artist ---- i love just dashing into the moment of excitement - that time when the idea hits and you focus on trying to capture it. I'm lousy at then sitting there and perfecting that image to make it be more than a sketch. so for me its hard to resist the lure of trying to figure out the joints on Nurf and instead perfect the nose on Oni. but that is what i need to learn to do better...

I will try to resist nurf and catch up on Oni tonight....

 

omg.. nurf is so cute! I can see why its hard to keep her out of the limelight.

 

armeleia she is coming along, must have been hard taking the eyes out. I know I struggled, and the eyes I used were of glass.

patl Nurf is looking good. What a body! I adore the small door on the belly, very fitting. And I totally understand you falling for the patethic big-sad-eyes trick.

Here is a picture of the straightening of brows process. It has gotten even better after these pictures, but needs to dry until tomorrow before I fiddle any more.

 

Now this is just incredible, LOL, I love it!

Understand, I know she/he needs refinement, but to even come UP with the design is incredible! I love it! This one MUST be completed!

Ingie

 

here are the pictures of Oni right after I cut off his ears and horns, before I started cleanup work on him :







then i spent several hours working on his forhead, evening out the sides of his head, and correcting the shape of his skull. I worked on his eyes, but the clay is so soft, i may not be able to really fix them until i bake the head or do a junk cast.

I added back on the ears to help me figure out the shape of his skull - and worked on his nose





its interesting, when i put the horns back on he looks much older and more mature.

i'm keeping the non-human shape of his face/muzzle because he is intended to be goat-like a bit... but he may need more chin... when i put his head on the body - something isn't quite like i want it to be...



I am SO late for work!!!

will try to come back and look at everyone else's later....

 

armeleia I love that big nose. The head looks very good now.

patl On it's own Oni looks very nice now, but I agree that something is off when I see him on that body. It may be the bulge on his forehead or the height of his head or that his eyes and brows look skewed from that angle. Or it may simply be the slightly up the nose angle playing me a trick.

 

Pat..I can see why Nurf keeps distracting you...he/she is so cool! I really hope you finish this one and cast Nurf!!! The open belly is the perfect touch!!

armeleia...I really hope you finish your fawn as well..it will be great to see such different dolls being cast!!

 

Ok well I did some work on the nose and well she is coming along... and I will admit the more I work with MSD size the more respect i have for those who work with tinys! Jeeze I can barely get my tools or my fingers to get the details I would like.

But heres the befores and afters

Start shot. Her bridge of her nose is really big and overshadows the eyes.


Work on the nose, shaping the nostrils finetuning. carving down the connection between the eyes and the bridge of the nose.


Ok on the nose I narrowed the bridge. Smoothed the connection of the nose to the mouth. Did add some depth to the nostrils. I really like the way the nose looks from the sides but not so sure from the front...





Forgive the grit, the super sculpty just scrapes to white powder when fine tuning.

 

armeleia: Thanks for that, I couldnt see what was off with it. I was too close to it to see problems . Also... what are you using to sculpt with? I was curious cause being able to cut stuff and move it around on the face would be so much easier. S Sculpty after baked even a little bit is really rough to alter excepting addons.

Personally I love your lips on her. so nice and full.

patl: that fawn head is just so unique with the lil teeth. I agree that a different bod might help with the overall look, but the nose is really nice.

 

I am in Sweden now, and will be in Finland the next week, therefore I will not be able to work on Anubis for a while. I did not have time to take pictures before I left this morning, but will do so when I get back. I had to chop off the whole snout because it was way too crooked. Good luck working on your heads. I hope I can catch up when I get back.

 

Sorry its been so long in my posting. but here are the updated nose work on my girl.

Start pic. here is her starting point. needs better blending with the mouth.



Her finished pic.. I have added better groves under the nose.. made the blend to the upper lip fuller. I really like the difference... unfortunately I now need to make the lower lip fuller..



I have also added the neck and "s" hook hole in the head so i can put her on my MSD body now. I unfortunately nicked one of the ears when sanding so I have to redo it. but who knows maybe it'll be better.

 

oh wow... nurf is just..... *love*

 

Wow. I wish I had stumbled across this thread back when it was starting. Everyone's work is just so lovely and inspiring. Is it too late to try to join in, and if so, when's the next one starting? I'm really loving this!

 

I jumped in late myself. The first task they did was a head a day just to stretch the imagination. I missed that challenge.. but I jumped in on this one and just caught up recently. Feel free to join in. ^_^

 

Thanks! I've got a head I've been working on, and could definitely put this challenge to good use! She's really just about finished, but I'm curious how attempting this will improve her.

 

She's getting really gorgeous... she's visited so many stops along the way and tried on so many looks, but I can start to see her now and imagine her with the ears back on and the horns.

 

oh armeleia ---- she is exquisite.

she has really changed.... but is really beautiful.

i love the sepia pic with those gorgeous eyes - you've created a wonderful person.

can't wait to see her with the ears and horns too.....

 

Wow, Fawn's looking really lovely. I'm looking forward to seeing her with ears and horns again.

I have a non head-a-day head I've been fussing with... might post that later.

 

Funny you should mention it...

Starting pics
Here you can see I have removed the ears even before starting the mouth. Found that after I chipped one of them its just easier to remake them (wasnt too happy with them anyway).



Ok and skipping all the inbetween images... heres were I ended up. I narrowed the sides of the head... rounded the chin, plumped out the lower lip making the connection between the upper and lower smoother. I also took this opportunity to add lids to the eyes and give her more of a forehead. (I was a busy beaver )

Edit: frontal shot was better on the desk so I changed out that photo

 

Armeleia.....I'm really liking what you're doing to Fawn. Her profile is lovely...can't wait to see her done!

 

Armeleia I really love her profile now. She looks much nicer balanced in the nose lips department. You seem to have much better luck in getting your girl to be nice and rounded (just love the lips) than i do.

My girl still has much work to be done in her head and face, but am making sure that I put my best foot forward

 

Will there be another HAD happening this summer? I could not participate due to university... But I see this as an awesome way to work on my sculpting chops!! I'll post another HAD if noone else is going to.

 

I understand what you mean. Looking at her from top down I can really see what you mean. lol!

I did want to mention since I started this I have seen marked improvement in my girl and its due to the motivation of this thread and all the comments assisting me. I am glad I took her ears off, I can see more problems with them off than when they were on.

 

hey psychaDurmont - trying to catch up with the thread --- really like your head! those are truly beautiful lips.

I agree with armeleia - i think if you curve the surface of the face more, so the features aren't quite so much all on one plane - that it will feel even better --- and i think you are going to want even more forehead... its really hard to get your fingers inside the head to work with the s-hook and such, so the more room you can give yourself the better - and having "more head" above the eyes will also make her look younger.

really looking forward to seeing more of her!

 

hey skumring! any new pics yet?

 

Hey Patl! Going to do pics for you tomorrow. I'm trying to practise on that quirky smile. And I really have to get my hands on Anubis again too, the poor sod has been neglected while I have been away in Finland having fun and playing with my friends.

 

w00t!

look forward to seeing the pics... and especially the smile!

what is the weather like in Finland right now? i've always wanted to go there... may be part of my family from up there somewhere ....

 

Ok I took the suggestions and ran with them

I really like her with the fuller cheeks and larger forehead.. the changes arent baked in at this point... wanted to make sure that I was heading (no pun intended) in the right direction.

Front


Side


3/4


and an image just for fun - to show the head and neck together...head is darker cause it is unbaked And well the torseu is my junk one since it cracked but it does give the general idea

 

Patl I have sent you a pm with a link to the pictures. Finland was nice, it was lovely walking through the streets at night, almost like summer. Here in Norway it is dreary and rainy though, but soon I am off to sunny Spain. Too much traveling this spring. I hope I'll get more time for sculpting during summer.

PsychaDurmont She is coming along fine. Those last refinements really made a big difference. I do think she looks a bit flat in the straight on pictures though. Not really sure why, I really can't figure it out, so I cannot give you any advice, sorry about that.

armeleia Fawn really has improved a lot, she looks much more even now, and really, really sweet. Her expression has become much more relaxed. You have done some great work on her so far, I look forward to seeing her with ears and horns back on.

 

skumring: Thanks for the comments. I believe the problem straight on is that I still dont have her head curved in the right spots. But I think this shows marked improvement. This will be my final spam shot of this zone...(I feel like im flooding the thread with my pale gal )

Before


After: You can really see the difference here. I think she is starting to become a gal I can be proud of.


(I just looked at where this head started and where she is now... all I can say is Thank you guys alot for your imput it has seriously helped as all my images show!)
http://s272.photobucket.com/albums/jj168/PsychaDurmont/Elf%20Head%20project/?start=all

 

I really like her profile in the second row of pictures... and she seems like a really good shape and size on the torso.... do you think you might give a little more width to the back of her head? the temple seems to usually be narrower, with the widest part of the skull back behind the ears... hers might be like that but not showing that way due to distortion from the photo process...

do you sand the apoxy sculpt smooth or will you cast her and clean up the junk cast?

 

armeleia I love the before and after pics. She has come a long way!
Her profile is lovely.

I find myself so impatient to finish my girl I have to slap myself to slow down . Better to be slow and careful. I just am really excited to see a doll that I am making actually come to life! It is such a cool experience!

I do think though i have started the next zone already the chin cheeks and jaw.. ^_^
It was where my girl needs the most work now... rounding features