Dig it, the thread is back.
well only kinda. This update is only possible because I have a batch of photos waiting since before we went into the hospital.
Beyond that I've only touched the custom twice in the last 2.5 months. And only briefly.
Before we move on, here's a link to the original thread. [size=78%]
http://mlparena.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=276051.html[/size]
Moving on.
If I recall the new additions here are more lace, curly hair and the beginning of a tail. taa daa.
I also decided to go back on the sleeves. I chipped them away and started re-sculptig them to better match the actual dress.
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loginAnd here'e whats been keeping me away from work. Our first born. Mr. Kai.
We've been calling "Apocolypse behbeh" due to the fact that his frist birthday will be 12-21-12. The end of the Mayan calendar.
Also we find it pretty hysterical that two parents (us) of medium brown skin, dark hair and dark eyes pretty much had a white baby. Any basic science lesson about dominate genes will tell you that a double whammy of dark eyes and hair will almost always result in... get this, dark eyes and hair! But our son said "Wait till I get there, I'm gonna trip your S ma n pa!".
And if your thinking the delivery room turned into an episode of Maury, it didn't. We know where the sandy hair, light skin and grey-blue eyes came from. Apparently the genes of Kai's grandmother (on his father side) stepped in and decimated. Kai is gonna have a hell of time convincing his classmates he's half black-ish. Good times will be had.
The result: We look like we adopted or got away with a kidnapping.
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loginIn fact this is the only way I can get any digital work done. that includes this post.
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loginFirst off, thanks for all the great comments about our behbeh! I was mad loling.
on to the custom. I finally finished re-sculpting the sleeves to better reflect the film. one tiny portion of ruffle at a time. The tail is now in place. I think I'll add a few more locks to it. As well as some fly away curls to the mane.
I feel awful that it's taking so SO long. But I only sculpt twice a week now. On the days we drop Mr. Wiggles off by Grandma. that way there's less of a chance he'll accidentally be exposed to any chemicals. My luck he got the same disposition as me to be allergic to em. I do much more than sculpt on these days. they've become my chemical romance days.
did ya catch that? see whut I did there? pff, who needs your lack of a funny bone anyway!
I'll tell ya one thing. Mr. wiggs has taught me to be much faster in most of my works. I've gotten more done (non chemical wise) in the last three months than I have in the last three years. I been steadily chiseling away at so many old (some years old) projects and actually starting get them completed... what a feeling!
For example... the sig at the bottom. yup, I submitted something to Threadless! It would mean the world if you hit the link below it and voted. Pretty to the please!
any way on to some new photos.
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loginWe're getting closer. Here's the completed tail. Next up I try to make the feather that will adorn her hair. this will take a couple tries I know.
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loginSo here we go. The final update for the sculpting stage.
Whats new...Obviously we have a new feather with floral hair details. We have the bulk of the brooch. of which the details will be put in, in the painting stage. um lets see... oh yes. the bottom edge of the lace choker was added. Was gonna leave it as a single edge cause I felt I'd made it too big. and couldn't work in the bottom half. I kelp telling myself "yeah that's passable" Knowing it wasn't. But you see there it managed to work itself out.
And there you have it.
Now painting can begin.
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loginSome good questions were asked so I decided to just add them here. You can thank Miss Creampuf. Mmm Creampuf.
The feather is awesome...is it removable? Did you sculpt it directly on the head or on it's own and then attached it?Sculpted that S separately! With a teeny thin wire running through the center as a "stem" This way different angles could be tried to find the most attractive look. It was then sculpted down to the hair via the flowers. Initially it was meant to be removable but it got anchored down pretty good. more care will have to be put into packing is all.
Do you remove the gems before you paint or paint around them?Paint around em. If you pop em out you'll have to hard a time trying to realign the faceted backs to the proper indentation.
If you get some overlap in the paint its mad easy to just take your brush with a little acetone and clean it right off. Don't be afraid of it. Unless your using plastic gems then forgo the acetone and try using water before the paint begins to dry on your. Acetone will "burn" or corrode the surface of plastic. Your gem will be a hazy mess.
Did you layer pieces of sculpting for the hair or just use one big slap and detail it out?layered. !f you go back to the original thread on the old arena to can see the bulking and layering steps.
How did you figure out how the fabric drapes? Did you use another pony with some actual fabric on it for reference or just kind of winged it?Total wingage. It's Zen like.
Don't try to control the falling drapes with an iron fist. Sure you'll have an idea in mind but don't completely expect to get it. You can guide the drapes somewhat (a little nudge here, a little prop there.) as they settle... but try to go with what they are wanting to do on their own. Don't fight them too hard or something will go wrong. And I can't stress how wrong it'll go. It generally takes me two or three tries with each and every pewny.
Instead be as flexible as a Chinese contortionist and work around whatever happens. This is one area where you almost always get happy accidents and surprises.
Just beware, the more you fight to control it the more it'll fight you back.
It does help to have a basic understanding of how fabric likes to drape on a body or form so you know how to guide it.
Did you pre-cut a semi circle at the ends of the dress then layered it on or did you just tidy up the ends when it cured (ie sanding)?Kinda sorta both. just no sanding. I did cut a roughly estimated semi-circle. More like an oval really. But it's hard to guess how big a circle to use so after its draped I'll adjust the cutting with the Exacto.
How on earth did you do the ruffles on the collar? like one really long piece and then just kind of bunched up when you put it on her?Several shortish pieces. generally an unintentional inch long each. Then bunch em, attach and smooth. The collar managed to be just two pieces.
How long do you wait after mixing the sculpt before you work with it?This can greatly depend on the day. generally anywhere from 15 min to 20 or 30. On thick humid days I don't wait at all. On frigged cold days I don't wait but will take multiple breaks to let the clay cool from the warmth of my fingers. On cold days it seems to take longer to really stiffen.
How do you smooth it out? Pasta roller, rolling pin, coffee mug?
I use this...rolling pin. It came from a curtain rod we had to shorten. Why throw the cut piece out when it can be used for horsin around.visitors can't see pics , please register or login
Painting has begun! And then I realize I forgot to sculpt a tiny part on a bow under the belly. Oh well I can do that almost at any time.
So what you see here is the feather finished. sorry for no stages on it, I forgot to take picture as I was working.
But as you can see No F's were given as I just sloshed the paint around. You can see how uncareful you can be. although some colors like dioxide purple or blue or alizarin reds can stain the pony. basically just be suspicious of any ultra deep dark saturated colors. If you miss wipe it immediately!you can also see that color testing was started for the mid-tone, also known as "local color" of the dress.
and the hair also has most of it's under or mid-tone. Made a bad choice in the particular hue I'm using. well not really the hue per say but the type of paint. and I don't meant the brand. It's taking tones of coats to get even the hint of an opaque application. Why? Cause I grabbed a bottle with a transparent formula. But the color is what I want so rather than trying to find an opaque counter part at the store I'm just pushing through it. Sucks on the curls tho. too many nooks and crannies to get around. it'll just take longer. or maybe ill break down and get a new bottle. If you dont know how to tell if your tone is transparent, semi-transparent or opaque. just search around the bottle. most of em will have a tiny icon to indicate. either a triangle, circle or square. a solid black shape = opaquehalf black half white = semi-transparentall white = transparenttip: most yellows are transparent to semi-transparent.
OH yeah and I finally FINNALLY ordered my sweet sweet air compressor for my eclipse air brush. Got it for the ol Christmas.
I can wait to play with it! Think I'll put off any more painting till I have it.
gotta go! the boogs (short for booger) is waking up.visitors can't see pics , please
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loginSo, I've been playing with my new airbrush Love it to the death! Mah Gawd, base coating is so much faster. It'll be a while before I can get real line control. There's a bit of a disconnect from eye line to actual brush tip direction. I think I'm pointing it straight ahead only to see an angled jet spray. But yah man I'm mad rad digging it!
You can see all the over spray on the legs. That's cause not enough of an F given to try to mask them off.
And lets see... the light blue on the collar lace, that's just a ton test right now. It looks good enough to be the base coat.
em... got the iris in place. I debated giving her a dropped lid but figured meh, she was a young aristocrat so we'll just keep her bright eyed.
In the next update I hope to have all the white lace done and the under tinting of the mane and tail.
I have to remember to attach the pearl to her brooch too.
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loginIt's been a loco ride, eh?
But finally it's over and it's time to get out of the car and stretch your legs. Me... I've been asleep at the wheel the whole time. We're lucky to be alive. I got skills like that.
And just like the cake, the title is a lie. I have one tiny unseeable spot to finish glazing. And I wanna takes a final photo shoot. The pics below are a lie too.
"I knew it! you've been photoshopping this whole thing!" "This custom doesn't even exist."My friend, non of us exist. For we are but the sleep crust in some deity eye. And eventually he's gonna wake up and wipe that crust away before he take his morning pee.
But Whatevs.
As I was saying, dem pics. They be all kinds of not looking right. Her eyes aren't that color at-to-the-all. And there's some brick hard contrasts punching you in the eyes. Even after some adjustments. So I figure i'll just bust out my photo tent and do this proper. Plus I'd like a nice set for myself should any kind future needs pop up. Cause you never know. Maybe some kind of Greek god statue aliens will come down here wanting to step to humanity for being the jerks we are. And I can be like "Wait! you don't wanna snuff me. I make pewnies. See!" *Shows pictures. gets life saved*So probably next Thursday you can expect a solid photo shoot. but for now you have these.
And I wanna say thank you to the commissioner of this piece. Their patience could save the world if it were harnessable as an energy source. I could only work on Miss Marie here once or twice a week, when Grandma would take Mr. Wiggles for the day.Which resulted in this thing drawing out for a solid year. So thank you!Speaking of Mr. Wiggles... We gotta go pick his little baby-A up now.
So, it can be pics times now.visitors can't see pics , please register or login
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Here just for S's and giggles is a pic of my desk while working. There you see each color used. I find if I can see a palette I can learn alot about the artists color thought process.visitors can't see pics , please register or login
And here it is the final shoot. Here the colors are as they should be. You have plenty of turnaround and some detail shots.
And with that, this thread is through.
Oh and there seems to be a size issue. at least that's how it's looking here on my computer... or something. If it seems to be too small head over to my DA.
http://tamisery.deviantart.com/art/Marie-Antoinette-Custom-MLP-309839543?visitors can't see pics , please
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