Hey,

This sculpt along thing, it’s taking off! many participants, reports on a number of websites, and all, it’s quite exciting.  Well now it’s gotten even bigger, I’ve been asked to appear on Sanitorium, a radio station dedicated to computer games, and the hobby.  About six weeks into the new year I’ll be doing a phone in on sculpting, and the sculpt along, so if you’re someone that is doing this and we haven’t spoken, then you can call in via some internety cleverness with skype or some such magic, and we can chat.  Wonderful! anyway, more information on that as I find out details.  In the mean time, allow me to present the third of my three preparation posts (here are the first and second if you missed out).

We now have the pleasure of the hardest job of  all, getting a concept.  being inspired.  Of course you can just go with mine, and I’ll detail it below, or if you so choose you can come up with your very own.  Before I start to talk about my ‘Mad Hatter’ concept though, a word of advice – if you’ve never sculpted before and you are wanting to follow my sculptalong through, but don’t want to go with my concept, then of course that’s fine, but I would recommend you pick something humanoid, preferably human, so that it is easy to apply the lessons from my project to your own.  Anyway, onwards to the project proper…

I spent literally months coming up with the concept for my ‘Mad Hatter’, and as ever, it’s hit me rather suddenly.  I had started by wanting him to be an african-carribean guy with dreadlocks and a samauri sword.  So, I began to sculpt him (you can see the progress and results here and here and here), but then realised that he wouldn’t look any good with a hat on.  So, waste not want not, he’ll  become one of my ‘queen of hearts’ enforcers, one of her playing card army.  Now I have a blank slate again.  I get the best ideas when I have a solid idea, so I went back to that.  Wonderland is an asylum around the time of the fall of communism in the USSR.  There is some question over who are guards and who are inmates (watch out for a game to go alongside the minis, it’s in production…), and I need a prison psychiatrist figure/mad scientist figure to keep the mad march hare in check.  Now we’re cooking…  He needs a top hat, but I reckon I’ll put one of those light things on it like surgeons wear in pictures, it’ll look cool   He needs a white coat, and to make him look crazy enough, he’ll need something to give him a touch of the mad scientist.  How does a canonical flask emitting smoke sound?  good?  marvellous!  Of course a mad scientist isn’t scary, but what if he was carrying a cleaver?  that’d do it right?  Excellent.  maybe he could be a suicide bomber too?  step too far? ok, so maybe I’ll dial that idea back a bit.  This is just how I come up with my concepts, and i’m leaving it all in warts an’ all

So, the next step is to get online and find a bunch of pictures that could inspire the pose, the clothes, and other assorted inspiration.  So then, here are a selection of the pictures I’ve drawn from as I’ve started collecting ideas for the project:

How perfect is this one?  I love his expression, and he’s holding a flask! ok, so it’s not a canonical one, but beggars can’t be choosers!  Now I need a shot of his entire body, to help with trousers/shoes etc.:

That one works, even though it’s not ‘live action’, I love the pressed trousers idea, I fancy sculpting some chinos.  Let’s keep this down to earth though, he also has to hark back to the classic image of the hatter.  This one does that:

Mainly it would seem that he’ll b e recognised as the hatter because of the hat, although I think he’ll need quite a small one.

Here’s a view of the back of a lab coat, it’s always good to get plenty of source material for cloth and the way it sits.  That’ll be useful later on.

Finally, this one has some great movement.  I know that a classical fresco of the Archangel versus the Devil isn’t exactly where one might think to go for inspiration, but I like Gabriel’s movement.  It’s also a great example of a good torso twist, something I am keen to include to give some movement.  I think I like the mad scientist picture, but I’d like to include some real movement in my piece, maybe he could be winding up to throw the concoction, that would be fun.

So, with these pictures, and I’m sure many others over the course of the project, I’m off.  This is the point at which some people would draw their concept in painstaking detail.  Sadly I can’t draw to save my wife, but I do have a good mental image of what he’ll look like.  If you’re going with my project and feel like drawing what you’re imagining him to look like then feel free, and scan me a copy, I’d love to see how you interpret all this.

Anyway, because that can’t happen, next up is the making the armature.  Make sure you have your cork or whatever to mount your sculpt into for then, and you’ll also need some putty, some wire, your chosen flavour of putty, a metal sculpting tool, silver foil (if you’re using polymer clay), superglue, lubricant and a large clay shaper.  See you then!  In the mean time, if I can help at all, feel free to message me, call me if you have my number, or find me on a forum.  I’m going to have free time over xmas somewhat, so if you need to contact me then now is the time if you want my full and undivided attention

James

ps.  See you when we actually start pushing some putty!