Wednesday 2 March 2011

90 minute movie sculpture challenge: The Dark Crystal

Its time for this weeks 90 minute drawing challenge. This week its the 1982 film: The Dark Crystal which runs for 1 hour 28 minutes. In this weeks challenge I'm doing  clay sculpture. This could go so wrong, I've got less time than the last few weeks and I'm using a medium that you don't want to rush. 
So before I get into the results lets go over the rules: 
  1.   Choose a film
  2. Choose a character or theme for a pic
  3. You have from the opening scene to the closing credit of said movie to attempt to finish this picture related to said movie
  4.  Sketches and layout is allowed but are included in the drawing time. The more you sketch, the less time you have to draw your final piece.
  5. Once the movie is finished (pencils or whatever medium you are using) down.
I thought I might go over the tools I used in this challenge:
This this photo I have:
  •  flat modeling tools
  • Clay cutting tools
  • Improvised tool (Which is actually a divet fixing tool from pitch and putt)
Not pictured:
  •  Bowl of water
  • Assorted Chux cloths
  • Apron
  • Work board
  • Old kitchen cutting board
  • 2kg of clay
  • Pocket knife
  • Wire
  • Wire Cutters

A thousand years ago, this land was green and good

Quick, VERY quick sketch of a skeksis although....kind of looks more like Bird Bird (but as they are both Hensen characters that could explain it)


But today...the ritual gives no comfort

When you are doing a teracotta clay scultpture you need to create a wire armature. This is so that you can apply preasure.


I CHALLENGE!!!

The creation of a clay sculpture is about adding and subtracting clay until the right result is achieved.


Follow the greater sun for a day



Oh no...right in the mud (Kind of meta right???)

Here's where I realised that the beak was probably too long. However looking at the skeksis' on screen they had long beaked and short beaked versions.


What about the prophecy?

Apologies for the out of focus shot here. I was really pushing it for time right here.


Wait! They won't find us here!

Here is where I used the improvised tool of the golf divet tool. This was a great tool for this fiddly job and adding detail as I found I had a lot of control.


It won't hurt. We just want to drain your living essence.

Adding the ridges and smile as well as working on the vulture like beak. As you can see I'm beginning to add texture with the wire tool (And with the pocket knife- Yes I'm MacGyver)


No! First we take her essence THEN we kill!

Pretty much done. Just need to get rid of the excess clay from underneith.


To restore the great power of the crystal

Now to put it outside to dry. This is air drying teracotta so firing is not required (I also do not own a kilm) 


End of end credits



And now for the obligatory youtube timelapse movie. I've also taken into account some feedback from last week and included some pictures of the final piece.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1k8H4NcEh5Y
What I learned from this challenge:
  1.   Sketches gets your head into the game, but also use it to get the concept down pat. I don't think the final piece fit with what the original sketch was depicting. That is not always a bad thing, but know what to take to your final piece and what to get rid of.
  2. When you are using a medium you're not familiar with go in with a positive attitude. a negative attitude makes you focus on the wrong things like time management (Its important but don't dwell on it) and making it look like it came from a movie. At the end of the day (I hate that saying) its an interpretation. If you want to see a photo from the screen I could do that, but is that art?

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