Tuesday, September 25, 2012

#33 The Big Bad Wolf

So I already have a Dragon head trophy....
what I really needed then was a Werewolf !





Now let me state... this is from my mind!


So no pretty twilight werewolves here.......



Just a lot of teeth!




So like my Dragon http://mizerella.blogspot.com/2011/06/24-dragons-and-distractions.html I used the method created by Dan Reeder. 

Again I'm not going to go into to detail here, but instead supply a link to the master of the technique himself! Just promise you won't click on it yet. Because you'll never be back after seeing what he does! Seriously... he is amazing! http://www.gourmetpapermache.com








So again I started by making a bunch of paper mache balls and ovals. But before I do that, I always sketch a little rough design. Just to give me an idea how many balls I need and about what sizes. 

A lot of the balls are cut in half. For example the ears are ovals cut in half and bent. Same with the cheeks, nostrils. brows etc. Anyway, this gives me a rough idea. I always make a few extra balls too just incase. You can never have too many balls, I always say!





The wolf was very similar to the dragon. I actually think it could have become a dragon at any point! Funny thing about canine/dragon similarities... my drawings of dragons I noticed, seem to resemble my dog.

Anyway, with Dans technique you always do the jaws first. The polymer clay teeth, cloth mache, paint etc all done before assembling. This is much easier than the frustration of fiddling to try and get paint down inside the mouth later. The outside is built up around the finished jaws with the rest of the balls and a lot of masking tape.


Next the outside gets the cloth mache skin. Just ripped up old bed sheets dipped straight into elmers glue and applied over the whole thing. This is where you add all the wrinkles, the lips, eye lids etc.

Then a coat of latex house paint and a black wash.

 I got a large piece of black fur from the fabric store (about a yard). When you cut fur you want to make sure and part it with a brush at the cut points so you don't loose too much hair.


I started at the base and worked my way up. 
I used hot glue to adhere it.

Make sure your hair is all growing in the same direction too.
 Around the face I was very careful applying. 
If you want(and have the tools) you can implant the hair. 
I am not going for detailed realism with these paper mache props so hot glued hair works for me.

He gets a brush


At this point I decided the shiny black fur looked too new and nice for my wolf, so I very lightly misted the fur with a little ivory spray paint.
Be sure to do this at a distance, moving the can as you spray.
You just want paint it lightly catching the top hairs highlighting

I probably should have done this before applying the fur. 
See much better with the spray paint! More wild and wiry.



I decided to make him darker so I went over the entire thing with watered down black paint. Letting the thin paint fall in all the deep recesses and wrinkles.

 I lightly wiped some of it off the the raised areas, again letting  it stay in the creases.


 Next I took a dry brush and dipped it in a little Raw Sienna acrylic paint. I then blotted it the excess paint on a paper towel.




 I lightly brushed the raised areas with the dry paint. 
This dry brush highlighting really adds depth and shows off all the great wrinkles. 
I did this to inside of his mouth as well before assembling.

Next I took some high gloss varnish and made all the wet parts nice and glossy! 
Like the inside of the mouth, the eyeballs...


The nose!

It really makes him look like he is salivating!



His eyes already had a coat of yellow paint (they are polymer clay). I added a little red paint around the corners and while it was still wet I blended it out with more yellow. I did a light coat of glow in the dark paint on top because who knows.... glowing eyes can't hurt. I may want them later.


Here's Fluffy!



 Thanks for stopping by!












17 comments:

  1. I am very much in love with your work. It's amazing that you come up with all of these things by yourself and craft them all by yourself. I think my favorite project I've seen of yours is the Hocus Pocus book... amazingly wonderful!!

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    1. Thank you very much! Oh if you like the hocus pocus book ...you should check out the commission I just did! I put some pix up on my Facebook page... https://www.facebook.com/Mizerella

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  2. Fluffy, eh? :) This is so amazing. I can imagine being scared to walk through the house at night if this was on my wall. Especially with those glow in the dark eyes! Way to add those perfect details, like the wetness in his nose and mouth. I'm really impressed!

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  3. That is SCARY :| Amazing work, Fluffy looks really real and therefore even more creepy.

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  4. That is wonderful. I have always wanted to make a werewolf prop. I was thinking about a bear skin rug type thing. lol

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  5. Woah. I love Dan Reeder's work, but you are right on his heels with the quality of this piece. Bravo!

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  6. Very impressive work. I agree with Jayson. You have taken what you've learned from Dan and made it your own. I love the wolf and the dragon is very impressive too. I too am a student of Dan's work and love the cloth mache process. The problem with his methods is there are no limits to what you can accomplish with paper and cloth mache. I've been afraid to work with fur but your techniques have opened my eyes to even more possibilities. Right now I'm making zombies but there are so many more monsters in my mind waiting to be born. Thanks for sharing your wolf and these other great projects.

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    1. Hey i'd love to see your Zombies Jeremy! Do you have a page?

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    2. Sorry to take so long to reply. Your question stopped me in my tracks because I didn’t have all of my work in one place. I still don’t but it can be accessed through www.grimweasel.com. From there you can find me on FB, Etsy and my blog. Thanks for the interest. I hope your making wicked things. Thanks, Jeremy

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  7. Thanks everyone so much for all the compliments! It really keeps me going.

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  8. I really, really, really love Fluffy.
    I couldn't believe how real looking it is.AWESOME!

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  9. awesome darling! I found your blog !!! I love it!

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  10. Beautiful, meticulous, macabre, interesting, and creative. Thank you for sharing your work. I just stumbled upon your blog and am now a fan. Thank you.

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  11. What a great trophy Mizerella! Fantastic job! Thank you for the plug. I'm very flattered. Keep up the great work!

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  12. OMGoshhhhh .... he is amazing!!!! love love love him!!!!

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  13. Do you have a tutorial video anywhere of how to make the teeth? Even better, do you have some for sale?

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  14. Bloody amazing..thanks so much for the tutorial.
    Cheers Kaz 😆

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