Empire Team Treasuries

Here are two treasuries of the artwork of my talented teammates on Etsy: Empire State of Mind by corrnucopia on Etsy Empire Team It's the Joys of the Season by sandyssentiments

Dark Art Horror Sale

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlacknickSculpture I'm having a 30% off sale in my Etsy shop from Dec.11th through Dec.15th on my horror art and dark art sculptures. With free shipping on purchases over $100. So have a look if your searching for an unusual gift for someone.

Dark Art Goblin Tree Ornaments

I recently finished this set of three Goblin tree ornaments and listed them in my Etsy shop.

They are modeled in Apoxie Sculpt clay and polymer clay. Handmade Goblin Dark Art Ornaments by BlacknickSculpture on Etsy

Between Christmas shopping and fishing the last weeks leading up to the close of the striped bass season I haven't had much free time to work on my new sea serpent piece.

I thought I'd share these photos showing the beginning of the armature and adding the tongue and teeth.

After gluing the aluminum wire into the wooden skull I began sorting through my teeth.

I glued the individual teeth in place. And then sculpted Apoxie clay around them to form gums.

Next it will be time to create the eyes and paint the jaws.

Eric Kessler's King Kong Project

The last week in October Eric Kessler visited us on Long Island to pick up a project I had completed for him. It was a set I created for a stop motion film he is at work on.

Kess is an avid fan of the 1933 version of King Kong. In that classic film special effects creator Willis O'Brien brought Kong and the other creatures of Skull Island to life using stop motion animation.

Utilizing elaborate miniature sets and the most gorgeous Kong puppet I've ever seen Kess has set about to create his vision of the Kong story. In this clip on Youtube you can get an idea how labor intensive this process is : YouTube - Kong Spino & T

Here is Kess loading the last piece of the cavern set into his Jeep.

I took some B&W photos of the cavern to see how it would look.

And here are some color photos of the completed cavern.

For a Kong fan like myself it was a privilege creating this for Kess. I mean think of it -- Kong is going to be strutting his stuff through something I made! How cool is that? The icing on the cake was Kess was kind enough to give me a sneak peek of some footage he had recently completed!

Black Friday to Cyber Monday Dark Art Sale

I'll be having a 20% off sale and offering free shipping on sculpture purchases of over $100 from 11/26 - 11/29 : BlacknickSculpture - Etsy On Sale Many of my fellow artists on Etsy's Dark Team are also holding weekend sales. They create a wicked selection of gorgeous dark themed artwork! Be sure to check them out if you have a free moment: Etsy Dark Team: Black Friday to Cyber Monday 2010 EDT Specials!

New Horror Artwork

After going without clay for several days I finally got my shipment! I was one happy camper. Nothing worse then being near completion of a piece and not being able to finish it!

This gnarly looking vampire was fun to make. In the near future we are having an exhibition of artwork by the Etsy Dark Team members. The theme will be non-sparkly vampires and this fellow will be my entry.

I wanted my sculpt to be a depiction of an average joe type of bloodsucker. Like if a groundskeeper or villager were to become one of the undead. I just listed him on my Etsy shop this morning: http: OOAK Dark Art Clay Vampire Figure by BlacknickSculpture on Etsy

Speaking of the Etsy Dark Team a number of our members are having great Black Friday sales. Some running through to Cyber Monday. If your looking for the perfect dark gift pop over to check it out: http://etsysdarksideteam.blogspot.com/2010/11/black-friday-to-cyber-monday-2010-edt.html

Horror of horrors!

I ran out of Apoxie clay in the middle of a horror figure I'm sculpting. A sculptor without clay is a sad sight. A sculptor that fishes without clay and who is unable to fish is an even sadder sight. I'm watching out for the UPS man today and hoping my clay order arrives!

The ocean has been kicking up something awful the last week. This photo gives you an idea of the size of the wave compared to the surfer. Also notice the surge of water pushing back seaward in the left of the picture. It is colliding with the incoming water and erupting straight up.

There was also water flooding over the rock jetty to my left adding to the washing machine action of the water. I scratched fishing for another day and decided to snap some pictures of my feathered friend Wally.

He ( or she ) is a black backed seagull. My wife named him Wally after we came across him one afternoon with his legs tangled in braided fishing line. He could just barely stand.

She took to feeding him daily which was hard because even small seagulls were able to dominate him and steal his food. As I came to know him I realized besides being ensnared he was also blind in one eye.

Some how over the weeks the line came free. Then Wally went through his limping phase for about a week till he regained full use of his legs.

Now he is a living terror!

Blackback seagulls are aggressive by nature but Wally has raised it to an art form.

He savages any seagull that even comes near him on the beach. And forget it if he sees one of his own species! Sometimes he'll chase them 1/4 mile down the beach before circling back.

I'm thinking someone threw something at Wally to blind his eye. The reason I say that is if he sees you holding anything large he wigs out.

The picture of him lifting off is right after he spied the camera. Otherwise he is fairly trusting of me. Even walking alongside me when I go to the waters edge to check on conditions.