Revisiting the Crown of Bethmora

Five years ago I produced a copy of the Crown of Bethmora (from Hellboy 2). In fact, it was the first original project I'd produced using my 3D Printer. In the Autumn of last year I was contacted with a commission to produce another crown. Since my first attempt I've picked up a few tricks, (and also the Art of Hellboy 2 book) so I was pretty sure I could produce something really amazing this time around, but this particular project was not all plain sailing...

The Cross of Coronado

It belongs in a Museum!

Next on my hit list of Indiana Jones props was the Cross of Coronado, the crucifix seen at the beginning of the third Indie movie. I've seen some awesome recreations of this prop that are as wonderful as they are outside my budget so I thought I'd have a go at making one for myself.

Perspective for your art (Part 1)

I'm involved with a few artist communities now and I'm seeing many of the same problems cropping up again and again. Rather than try to reply to everyone's queries individually I thought I would write some blog entries detailing one or two of the common issues artists face and how to overcome them.

To start with I thought we would tackle... PERSPECTIVE!

Creating a pirate treasure map...

In one of my previous blog entries I looked at the many techniques used in ageing paper, in this one I will look at applying them in the production of a realistic looking treasure map. If you want some tips on how to create a convincing pirate treasure map then read on…

Goonies never… write an original newspaper article

So here’s something I didn’t know, since the 50’s the same newspaper has been appearing in various shows and movies. Turns out I’m far from being the first person to notice this, it’s been common knowledge across the internet for some years now but I thought I would draw the so-called “recurring newspaper” to your attention for the reason below… 

What did you break this time Chunk? 

Golden Army Manuscript

Sometimes it feels like barely a day goes by where I haven't recreated something from Hellboy. Recently I stumbled across a photograph from the At Home with Monsters exhibition by Guilermo Del Toro showing one of the books created for Hellboy: The Golden Army, and I thought to myself: I could make one of those...

Copper Bones, Westward foams, triple stones...

Something that I'm sure I have in common with many of you is that Goonies holds a special place in my heart. The kids, the bad guys, pirates, traps, gadgets and eventually the treasure... it's the perfect adventure and certainly a movie that I keep coming back to. As a quick side project to test some techniques I thought I'd sculpt up a version of the Copperbones...

What's on my workbench? July 2017

Things have been a bit hectic lately so some of my more involved projects have been sidelined for a bit. Despite this I have managed to make a little progress on a few small odds and ends...

Linoprinting - Sammael, the Desolate One...

... Hound of the Resurrection

I’m a huge Guillermo Del Toro fan and had been tinkering with a recreation of the Sammael artwork for a while. I’d not really put much thought into what I was going to do with it but when I started looking at woodblock printing for another project it seemed like the stars had aligned. As a gentle introduction to the intimidating and technical art of woodblock carving I thought I would put my Sammael artwork to good use and cut some lino...

Basilisk Tooth

For when you really want that Horcrux dead...

I've been tinkering with a few projects recently but I managed to find time the other evening for a very quick project I've been meaning to tackle for some time: a recreation of the basilisk tooth from Harry Potter: The Chamber of Secrets. To find out how I created this and how to make your own, read on...

Can't Stop Painting

I can’t remember whether I’ve mentioned this before but I have, in the dim and distant past, worked as a professional artist and illustrator. Recently in an effort to relive my youth (and fund some of my more extravagant projects) I’ve accepted a few commissions and thought I’d take a little space on my blog to show you some of the artwork I’ve completed and how I go about putting it together.

Techniques for Ageing Paper

... or how to make my treasure map look old

As I mentioned in a previous blog entry, I've been working on some pirate related projects recently, and have had to produce a number of documents that had to appear appropriately aged. As a result I've been investigating how to make paper look and feel old. This entry is going to cover the techniques and processes you can use for convincing effect.

Cold Casting Pirate Coins...

...or How to Make Money

I've been involved in a pirate based project lately and I found myself needing a ready supply of Spanish Doubloons. It is possible to acquire replicas at a fairly reasonable price, but seeing as I didn't know how many I'd need I thought it might be fun to produce my own. I had to make them durable with a finish that wouldn't rub off so it seemed that cold casting was probably the best option... 

Arc Reactor - 3D Print

"That could run your heart for 50 lifetimes!"... "Yeah. Or something big for 15 minutes"

One of the first things I printed out when I got my Flashforge was Tony Stark's Arc Reactor (modelled by the extremely talented Skimbal). It's projects like this, with complex industrial shapes, where 3D printers really shine. Anyway, I've had the parts sitting around for a while now and when I found  I was at a lose end over the weekend I thought I'd finally put them together...

The Royal Crown of Bethmoora

“Now for our next item. The Royal Crown of Bethmoora... A piece from a long lost culture.”

The Making of My "Fawkes the Phoenix" Puppet - Part 2

The next few steps of my Fawkes build...

Faking Vigo The Carpathian - Research update

Quick update on the Vigo project, including materials I'll be using, ageing wood and craquelure techniques.

One of my experiments...

The Making of My "Fawkes the Phoenix" Puppet - Part 1

or My Feathery Descent into Insanity...

I recently became aware of the phenomenon of shoulder puppets. I was impressed with the lifelike results achievable using a simple bike cable mechanism and it set me thinking… what could I make that capitalises on this? Having not long visited the Harry Potter tour at Warner Bros Studios it was a fairly safe bet that my simple man-brain would take me in a wizardy direction, and true to form I soon became obsessed with the idea of building my own Fawkes the Phoenix.

Faking Vigo the Carpathian (aka Vigo the Butch)

I'd been seeing a lot of inspirational prop work by extremely skilled people and it made me wonder: what can I recreate that showcases the skills I have? Most of my experience is as an illustrator, but the prop community is pretty sharp when it comes to making items that require only a high resolution JPEG and an inkjet, which meant I had to find an item that relied on a hand painted finish for its authenticity. Basically I needed a famous movie painting, something immediately recognisable and unique...

Which led me to Vigo Von Homburg Deutschendorf, Scourge of Carpathia, Sorrow of Moldavia... and star of Ghostbusters 2!

Mini Groot

As I may have mentioned in a previous blog post I was lucky enough to catch Guardians of the Galaxy at the cinema. Along with the overwhelming urge to steal false legs I was left feeling there was a Groot shaped hole in my life. I decided to fill this hole with clay and paint :D