Sea Serpent Sculpt Finished!

I finished the sea serpent sculpture I've been working on this Thursday and got it listed in my Etsy shop :http://www.etsy.com/listing/68901992/sea-serpent-and-doryman I thought I'd share some wip photos with you. First I finished sculpting the clay waves over the wood base.

Then I mixed together Liquitex Blue acrylic paint with transparent green polytranspar paint to make a thin wash.

I applied the wash over the clay waves in thin coats.

After several coats of the blue/green wash I dry brushed in some white caps.

When my painted sea dried I gave it several coats of water based clear varnish to seal the finish.

While the varnish was setting I mixed up a small batch of EnviroTex Clear resin.

I wanted to do a test mixture of the Envirotex, sand and broken bits of shell to be sure it cured properly. The next morning I saw it had set fine - clear and hard!

So I mixed up a second batch and poured it into the bottom of the listing boat letting it settle to the side. I've never seen the floor of a work boat yet that didn't have some sea water slogging back and forth. The EnviroTex captured this look perfectly!

Here are some photos of the finished piece. Click on them if you'd like a larger view:

If I've piqued your curiosity about sea serpents you may enjoy these links:

The UnMuseum - Sea Serpent of Gloucester

The Shadowlands Sea Serpent page

This book by J.P. O'Neill sounds right up my alley! Amazon.com: The Great New England Sea Serpent: An Account of Unknown Creatures Sighted by Many Respectable Persons Between 16...

I'm Craving Clam Chowder!

I love making chowders especially New England Clam Chowder! I got the craving this weekend and went to the supermarket to pick up some of the ingredients I'd need.

The price for the little package of salt pork was ridiculous! But what they were asking for a quart of fat free Half n Half made the salt pork look reasonably priced!

So I switched gears and decided to pick up the fixings for making Manhattan Clam Chowder. After the supermarket my wife and I headed to Point Lookout to the The Doxsee Sea Clam Co . Doxsee has been at its present location since 1933!

Here is a photo of my wife Diane standing in front of the Doxsee "building".

It is a one room operation consisting of a freezer and some canned goods.

Their products and prices are posted on the wall.

You help yourself to the freezer full of clam products. This trip we got a bag of surf clams and large can of clam juice for the chowder. I couldn't pass up grabbing a bag of the breaded clam strips. And since I wouldn't be making my chowder till midweek Diane suggested I get a container of the Doxsee N.E. Clam Chowder to hold me over. Good thinking!

After you bag your food you stuff your money into the cash box mounted on the wall.

Afterwards we decided to take a walk around Point Lookout. When we got to the inlet there were quite a few ducks near the sandbar.

It was windy which was causing the inlet to kick up. I climbed out on the rocks to try and get a few shots of the waves as they were breaking.

Sea Serpent WIP Update

I haven't had much chance to work on the sea serpent piece due to the rotten weather we've been having! I'm painting the serpent in acrylic washes and I need to protect the finish with clear lacquer before progressing to the next step.

We finally had a decent day here and I was able to get outside and spray the serpent so I could finish the painting. The serpent is now done, the fisherman and boat are 99% completed. All that remains to do is create the waves washing over the base.

On past projects I've sculpted the waves in clay, made a mold, and cast the waves in resin. It is a time consuming process but provides a dramatic effect! Here is a post with photos of my sculpture of The Old Man And The Sea for a look at resin water : http://blacknick-sculpture.blogspot.com/search?q=resin+water

On this piece I'm going to use Apoxie Sculpt two part clay to create the water. The first step is marking off the direction I want the waves to flow using a marker.

Next I begin using foil to form my waves. The core of foil will save on weight and material. This weekend I hope to have the foil waves set in place so I can begin my wave sculpting.

Detailing The Miniature Fisherman's Boat

It has gotten cold here. When I see saltwater freezing on the jetties I know the real winter has arrived!

In the 5 minutes it took to snap a few pictures and feed the gulls some scraps we had for them I could barely feel my fingers.

The frigid weather was a good excuse to stay indoors and catch up on my fisherman project.

One of the things I feel detracts from a miniature is if it looks too perfect. This is especially true for boats.

So after all the careful sanding and painting it came time to beat up the boat a bit. The first thing I did was use a strand of line to rub the gunwale in several places.

Before gluing the seats in place I sanded the paint off here and there and nicked them up with my Xacto knife.

Next I used chalks and a cotton swab to create aged drip marks under the thole pins and at the locations of the bow and transom lines.

Many times fishing boats will have blood splattered about from the thrashing of landed fish. To replicate this I used thinned down dark red paint and a stipple brush. It created a nice pattern of paint at the location where the fisherman would be seated.

The next thing I did was antique the oars and the trawl tub. When the tub was done I packed aluminum foil inside it and topped it off with Apoxie Sculpt clay. Then I took the line which I had aged in brewed tea and coiled it in the tub tacking it in place with Zap a Gap glue.

Next up will be gluing the boat gear and fisherman in place. Then on to creating the water around the dory.

Sea Serpent WIP Photos

On Saturday I worked on the sea serpent piece. I reinforced the neck area by wrapping it in wire mesh and masking tape.

Next up I inserted the eyes I had sculpted and painted earlier.

For the sculpting I was using Apoxie Sculpt clay Apoxie® Sculpt which is a two part medium that you knead together to activate.

The trick is too only mix up as much as you can use before it begins to set up. I prefer using small batches and mixing more as I need it.

Once I begin sculpting I like to try and complete the piece in one sitting. I find that by doing so the newly mixed clay blends into the setting clay already on the piece more seamlessly.

Here is a few photos of the finished pose.

Monster Wonderful Monster

Tarayvonne my teammate on Etsy Dark Team has assembled a wonderful collection of monster themed artwork in this treasury: Monster Wonderful Monster by tarayvonne on Etsy

I'm honored that she selected one of my monsters for inclusion in her unique treasury!

If you have a minute you should pop into Tarayvonne's Etsy shop for a treat. She has a wonderful assortment of shadow boxes and other miniature creations: :19th Day Miniatures bids you welcome by tarayvonne on Etsy

WIP Photos

> The weatherman is calling for snow Tues into Wed this week. I thought I better take the opportunity to get into my garage and do some work before I need to shovel my way in there.

I wanted to cut and route a piece of plywood to use as a base for my fisherman. The alternative would be to sculpt the clay swells up to the boats waterline.

Besides being a waste of sculpting medium it would add quite a bit of weight to the piece.

By routing a depression into the wood the boat can sit lower in the base. Then considerably less material will be needed to build a sea around the dory.

I also cut a block of wood to add as an anchor point to my sea serpent sculpture. I've got the jaw sections put together and mounted the head to the neck.

Next up will be painting and detailing the dory.