Random crap with Uno.

[Unorthodox]

Well, I've done the halloween for business in the past.  It really becomes a drain around Christmas (as you're rushing your new designs for the Transworld show in March), so maybe when the kids move out I'll go back to that, until then I need the Christmas season as hassle free as possible. 


Anyhow...my parents have called a family meeting.  It's either to discuss my 'problems' or Grandma's dying. 

[Buster's Uncle]

They don't believe in giving a sucker an even break, do they?  Not gonna let up until you fire them.  [shakes head]

[Unorthodox]

Well, I have a problem now. 

Plan was to make my bas reliefs using Ovencraft clay.  It bakes at 350, but otherwise acts like a cone 5 clay.  It's how I made the skull a few years back. 

Well, it's no longer available locally, and clay is rather pricey to ship. 

Polymer clays (sculpey) and I don't mix. 

I wanted the ovencraft to make a rock hard original I could make molds of into the future in case I decide to make more of these, or people decide they want to buy the bas relief for their own project.

I could paper mache right on the tomb, but that kinda defeats the purpose of the whole mold idea.  I could use my plasticine clay but it would either limit my ability to make undercuts on the model (to use a plaster mold) or bite the bullet and get some $ilicone molding compound. 

Any air-dry clays you can recommend?  Most the ones I know suck. 

[Buster's Uncle]

I DO mix with Sculpey, though it's far more expensive than I would use for something that big.

If it was me, I guess I'd rough out an original in plaster over wadded newpaper, carve/detail it into what I wanted, then make the mold of latex with a substantial plaster gauze backing.  You'll have a better idea of what materials to work in than I, but the master mold original thingy doesn't have to be durable, as long as you get a good strong mold off it.  If you want more in the future, you can always go through a second generation - and maybe customize those while you're at it.  You might want to keep a first generation foam impression squirreled away where it wouldn't take wear from handling, then, or even cast a really solid impression out of that dense plaster you have, for future use.

An advantage of not even trying to keep the original is storage; the molds ought to nest into each other a bit, while the original or positive castings would take up a lot more space.

...

I've been thinking about the Tomb of Rassilon from The Five Doctors ever since I mentioned it; you MUST put a timelord on your tomb - the skullcap and big round space collar would make a mighty fine wizard...

[Unorthodox]

The what from the where, has a who on it? 

 


Google tells me it's Dr Who...and has some crappy images of an undersized recumbent effigy (or the tomb was just made way too big, hard to tell, but it's out of scale) on a tomb with some non-descript bas relief (which is also out of scale). 

These obelisk things might fit into the area, however.  http://media.photobucket.com/image/Tomb%20of%20Rassilon/overlord_awc/Dr%20Who/Tower06.jpg

[Buster's Uncle]

I'm surprized you don't know your Dr. Who better-



Check those four busts on the side; the circular pattern is actually their awesomely cheesy timelord space collars, though the skullcaps don't show much in this shot.  That's definitely a fan-built model with a doll on top, I'd say.

Just a whim, anyway - but one I'd indulge if it was my project.  It would be a thrill for those as recognized what it was, and still look cool for those who don't.  Just one little Time Lord, not the whole thing, mind you.

Those obelisk thingies do look great for you purposes.

[Unorthodox]

Wow, that's not even bas relief, it's a table with a doll on top and a printed skirt. 


I'm still going over what exactly I want to do to the bas relief on the thing.  I still like the concept of various symbols of death through history the best. 

Basically because Medusa was awful fun on Alec-zander, and certainly fits.

Medusa's head is both a mirror and a mask. It is the mirror of collective violence which leaves the Devil's mark on the individual, as well as being the image of death for those who look at it. Both these themes -- violence rendered sacred and death by petrifaction

However, I just can't come up with enough that interest me at present. 

I could very well fall into my standard of making sigils as an inside joke, and probably will SOMEWHERE on the thing. 

[Buster's Uncle]

A medusa sounds like a fitting image, though I imagine it'd be hard to sculpt and much harder to remove from cast.  Depends on how you handle the snakes.

Wow, that's not even bas relief, it's a table with a doll on top and a printed skirt.

It's a crappy fan model of something that did have bas relief, (I thought, at least) but which doesn't seem to have any decent pictures on the webs.  The concept, man; focus on the concept.

[Unorthodox]

Looks like a bad Ming knockoff to be honest.  Which was probably the point.  Merlin from Excalibur also shares the general idea, however.  I see your point.   

The seal of rassilon, however, would fit well if I go the sigil route. 

[Buster's Uncle]

It was a cheesy early-60s knockoff design for a low-buget children's show with, no doubt, not a lot of thought put to it - but that's exactly what I find so very charming about it.  Doubles as a wizard and an easter egg for geeks.  I remembered seeing it as bas reliefs on something vaguely along the lines you want, and the idea of the nod to that grew on me.

There's actually a LOT of pretty neat iconology associated with Rassilon, if you wanted to poke around - he must have been the Donald [Sleezebag] of Time Lords, because everything but the Kitchen Sink of Rassilon seems to be floating around, and lots of it had nice sigils attached, ISTR.



More seriously, there's probably lots of death-themed african masks out there, and I'm sure Aztec "gargoyles" were one of the first things you thought about - as perhaps, were european gargoyles.

[Unorthodox]

Hm.  Africa. 







The trouble with African death masks is it almost requires a commitment to doing the whole thing in that style.  Not that that is a bad thing. 

A whole area dedicated to that, bring back my garden of skulls full force, appropriate surroundings...



And, yes, bringing back my Aztec inspired stella to serve as corner pieces on this was among my first thoughts. 



I liked them, am sad they got destroyed prior to use, still want to do that spiderwoman theme, and would make this an easy piece to transition into that.



HOWEVER.  My end game on this project started different than my normal.  I was specifically doing this as mainstream as possible.  The further I get, the more I want to fight that idea.  I don't do cemeteries, this thing is for my kids according to their more mainstream desires, plus it will sell better.  I wasn't planning on keeping it after this year/doing it again.  But the further we get, the more it grows on me.   

Frankly, the easy route is rather tempting. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Easy is good - I think you can make a fine tomb without turning the creepy up to 11.  I assume you're thinking score some Catholic backyard-type figures about knee-high and make half-casts?  That would totally work.

[Unorthodox]

That's precisely the thought. 


However, searching for such statues hooked me on the tomb of Phillip the Bold, and figures known as Les Pleurant. 



"The mourners". 

Not only were they customary on such tombs (in France anyway), but they were often faceless, and something I can do in my sleep with a little monster mud. 

[Buster's Uncle]

Something fairly traditional, either free-form or that French tableu style, if you want to be more ambitious, strikes me as something beautiful and resonant with the general public that would be worth doing.

[Buster's Uncle]

Here's a rather busy one, but it's tough to find anything good among all the pictures of Petra and Laura Croft...