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...

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.

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

The next few steps of my Fawkes build...

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.

The Perfect Hogwarts Acceptance Letter…

I’ve been on a bit of a Harry Potter bender of late, making everything from wands and snitches to chocolate frog boxes and even a Fawkes puppet. One of the first things I made was a Hogwarts Acceptance letter, a project which I recently decided to revisit for a blog entry. It only took a little research to realised how far short my first attempt had fallen, and how much work was still ahead of me…

How to make a Ministry of Magic Memo

I visited the WB Studio Tour recently and was inspired to have a go at recreating some Harry Potter props. The graphic designers who worked on the movie did a fantastic job populating the world with beautiful, believable designs. Working in print myself I was immediately drawn to these items. For my first project I thought I would look at the flying memos from the Ministry of Magic. 

I was rather surprised given the general enthusiasm of the fan base that the resources to recreate one were not already available, but not to worry, I picked up some excellent reference on my visit to the Studios. 

The Interdepartmental Memos on display at the Warner Bros Studio Tour