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When working on a larger sculpture I like to bounce around a lot by not spending too much time one a particular section. I’ve found that the overall sculpting seems to flow better when you move around the various forms.  Also, since I usually spend anywhere form 100-200 hours on  my larger pieces I’m able to keep the sculpture more interesting by investing a limited amount of time on each section.  The other advantage for moving around is that it is easier to make the overall sculpture more symmetrical.

I have to admit though that at times I tend to become too fixated on one section.  For example, I’ve been guilty on many occasions for putting too much work on one side of the body while ignoring the other half (which is unfortunately happening on this piece).  This mistake can create a huge headache when I try to blend the two forms together.  However the mistake is easy to make because sometimes you just want to really flesh out one section of a sculpture to see if you like the design enough to carry through the entire piece.

I’ve spent quite a bit of time on the demon half of this sculpture and have decided to revisit the logo on the sculpture so that I can break up the monotony a little bit.  The logo falls under where the wings join together and really merges the angel and demon halves of the ashtray together.  I’ve included a few pics below on my progress and will take more pictures once I come closer to completion.

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In the attached pics I’ve done a little cleanup work on the wings and the demon’s face.  I still have a very long ways to go with this piece but everything is starting to take shape now.  The cleanup is pretty easy, it just takes a bit of time and patience to work through it.

1. Instead of using a brush with rubbing alcohol, which is used to smooth out Super Sculpey, is use Orderless Mineral Spirits when working with wax.
2. The key is to let the Mineral Spirits dry before moving onto the next stage.  The wax will dull a bit and also tends to get a little tacky.
3. Once dry I come back with my brush and warm water.  The water will bead up on the wax and I can use quite a bit of pressure to clean the forms.
4. If necessary I’ll also use a very smooth cloth that is soaked in warm water.  The cloth is more ideal for larger areas and you can really adjust the pressure when smoothing out the forms.

These are the steps I typically take when smoothing out the various forms but there are times when a very fine grained sandpaper is necessary.  Most of my work is textured and I usually use the sandpaper on areas that need to be very smooth.  The following link goes into more detail on the steps I just covered – smoothing wax.

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Now that I have the angel underway the next step is to start sculpting the demon.  My goal here was to create a figure that was very contrasting to the angel.  Since the angel is a very muscular male I wanted to create an opposing creature that was not only female but also composed of an unfamiliar form.  Everything is still very rough at this stage but once I start cleaning up the sculpture I think it will all work out well.

** You can also see how the wings will merge together in some of the pics.

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I’ve come to realize that most of my personal sculpting projects will probably never get completed.  One example of this is a warrior angel sculpt that I started some time back.  I really like a lot of things about this sculpture and after closely looking at it again I felt that it would be a great addition to my new cigar ashtray.  The side benefit here is that I’m also able to shorten the amount of time that it will take me to complete this project.

The gallery below shows some progress pics of my angel.  I’m sculpting the wings from scratch since the original ones really didn’t work well with my vase.

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My goal for this tutorial is to show step-by-step how the GoreArtistry cigar ashtrays are created from concept to the final product. The tutorial will be covering the following topics.

1. Basic picture tutorial for the sculpting of the ashtray
2. Creating the mold
3. Pouring a cold-cast bronze
4. Sanding and polishing the cold-cast bronze
5. Final product

The first step in any project is coming up with a design. Great sculpting on top of a poor design will in most cases result in a mediocre product.  However, I’ve seen projects that have great designs with average sculpting skills create something that really is interesting to look at.  My goal is to hopefully strive for the best of both worlds with a product that results from above average sculpting skills and a great design (we shall see if I’m able to pull it off). Read the rest of this entry »

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For those of you out there that enjoy cigars, or know someone else that enjoys cigars, we are holding a Facebook contest where you could win one 0f the GoreArtistry cigar tools or ashtrays for free.  The contest rules are as follows.

One lucky winner will win any one item of their choice (set of nubber & draw tool, or an ashtray) from the cigar tool line up (all items can be viewed at www.GoreArtistry.com).

The way this contest will work is as follows:
- Once there are 200 likes on the GoreArtistry Cigar Tools Facebook fan page I will place paper numbers from 1 to 200 in a bucket and draw one number at random.
- Which ever number is drawn the person with the same like number will win. Example say you were the 50th person to like the fan page and the number 50 is drawn then you will be the winner. I am setting the contest up this way so the people that have already liked the page will have a chance to win also.

- The link for the fan page is: http://www.facebook.com/pages/GoreArtistry-Cigar-Tools/171704929580799

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I still have some work to do on my Minotaur’s head, body, etc but I wanted to go ahead an attach him to a base to get an overall idea on how the sculpture is going to look.  Adding the base is a pretty easy task with wax since there really is no need for a support system (armature) for it to be able to hold up the sculpture.  Also, another huge advantage for using wax is that I was able to create wax cast from some of my other skull sculptures.  This allowed me to add a few of my already previously sculpted skulls to the base verse having to spend a lot of time sculpting each individual piece.  I have so many projects going on right now shortcuts like the wax cast really help me move the piece along.  I’m also able to sculpt the pieces together in a way in which they look unique, so the sculpture is not “cheapened” by this process. Read the rest of this entry »

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I sculpted a bust of a Minotaur a few years back and although I still like a good percentage of the design, there are a few areas that really bug me.  Most of the problems that I have with this sculpture are with the hands, Minotaur’s face, the hair along the back and the horns. I rushed completing this piece and as a result the hands and horns ended up not being my best quality of work.  I have also been working hard trying to improve my skills over the years so an older sculpt is always subject to a very critical eye. Read the rest of this entry »

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It has been too long since I’ve shown any updates on my Soul Collector redesign so I thought I would include a few pics here.  My designs have a tendency to evolve as I sculpt, so for fun I’ve included a few pictures in the gallery to show how the Soul Collector’s skirt has changed over time. I also included a picture where I’m melting the original Soul Collector statue.   In all honesty it was hard watching over 100 hours of work melt away but the experience gained will in the end benefit the new sculpture.

The sculpture will eventually be released as a cold cast bronze and additional details can be found at http://www.goreartistry.com/works-in-progress/soul-collector.htm

My images are below (click the image for a larger view).

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For the most part I live a very healthy lifestyle, I’m in the gym six to seven days a week, eat very clean (except for Saturdays) and rarely drink.  I’m not oblivious to the fact that most people will probably find me to be a pretty boring person but hey I am what I am.  However, that being said one of the vices in my life is that I like to smoke cigars.  I don’t get to smoke them often, at best only a couple times a week, but they are something I’ve come to really enjoy over the years.

I enjoy collecting different cigar accessories, for example lighters and cutters, however one of the key accessories that was missing from my collection was a cigar ashtray.  There are quite a few cigar ashtrays out there that have a good design but I have yet to find one that really grabs my attention.  One of the key advantages of being an artist is that if I’m unable to find what I’m looking for in the commercial market I can always create it myself.  I wanted an ashtray consisting of skulls and skulls so it was off to the workshop to begin my project. Read the rest of this entry »

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