From Death, Life | Halloween swap custom (TW skull, creepy crawlies)

[Griffin]

BlackCurtains was my partner for the Halloween swap and here's what I came up with

Not gory but I'll put the pics under spoiler tags just in case.

Spoiler

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From Death, Life by Haawan, on Flickr

For more pics, please visit my deviantART

The bait arrived to me in a rather sorry state, someone had already cut three big holes into the poor pony. I've had it in my bait box for quite a while and always considered doing a zombie pony one day. I didn't want to go that route for this swap, however. Instead, I was inspired by nature in the autumn: there's decay but it can be beautiful, and new life will spring from the decomposed material. BC described the pony as spooky and elegant and that's precisely what I was going for. She's still very much appropriate for November, as the Finnish name of the month is marraskuu, 'marras' being an archaic word for death.

I used wire covered in washi tape to make the curly plants. All sculpting was done with Apoxie Sculpt. The hair is a combo of natural wool (mane) and cheap synthetic hair from a wig or hair extension - I have good quality black nylon in my stash but it was too glossy and neat for the vibe I needed! Painted in acrylics - I went wild and after the base paint I just splashed some diluted yellowish paint on her, and added some texture using stiff bristles. In my original design sketch her right eye was normal, but in the end I though she needed a milky horror eye. My sketch was not very detailed anyway, instead I wanted to go with the flow and let the pony tell me which direction I needed to take.

[Heart Of Midnight]

Frighteningly beautiful and perfect Halloween pony!

The very first thing I looked at was the pictures and the word marras immediately came to mind! And then I read the text.
I love her colors and hair. The dead plants are incredibly well sculpted!

[BlackCurtains]

She's so cool, I love her!

I urge everyone to check out the pic collage linked, you have to see the details on her! She was actually in an accident when Aster got a hold of her tail and pulled her off my desk - but she's fine! No damage I need to clear a space on my shelf for her.

[Ponybookworm]

She's beautiful!!! And I know BC loves things like this so you did awesome!!!
BC I'm glad she's sturdy enough to survive cat play!!!

[cowboyopossum]

such a beautiful custom! you captured the theme perfectly, and the hair looks so nice!

[shockponie]

I especially like the little poof of hair and wings. Cool custom!

[Griffin]

Thanks everypony!

[ChocolateStarfire]

That's an awesome custom! Congrats to BC for getting it!