AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.4

LAND HO!  We be headin' fer home soon! 

I'm sorry it's taken me over a month to get back to this little project.  Fortunately, I had a vacation day today, and made some good time on this guy.  In my last post, I said I would have the pirate's beard and jacket ready to show.  However, it dawned on me that I need to make sure all the mechanical bits on this thing work, before I start with the final details. Happily...everything actually went according to plan!

So, I started painting the rest of the base.  Above and below, you can see the color scheme.  I tried to make the "deck" look all "distressed" with multiple colors and textures.  Below you can see that front of the box for the wheel has not been glued on yet.  I need to keep all the parts removable so I can work on them a bit more.

Here's a little detail of the front...I added just a touch of "ocean blues" just to give it a little accent. I also have gold on the beaded molding strips that go around the top of the base.  I found the nice detailed molding at Michael's Crafts store...they have some cool stuff in there, if you look around a bit.

Time to show you the steps of this phase of construction.  Here are all the little "hook eyes" that I run the fishing line through and connect to the three levers.

As the lever is pushed down...it pulls the string to make the action happen.

This is a close up of under the pirate's jaw.  The string goes through a hole in the neck, then runs down a little groove that I cut into the back.  There's a hole at the base of the waistline that goes to the hook eyes.

And here are the ways the Pirate will move when you push each lever.  The one on the right makes the wheel turn, and the arm goes up with the rotation.

The middle lever makes the mouth open.

The left lever raises the "hook arm" with a salute!

And here's what happens when you push all three levers at the same time!  
SHIVER ME TIMBERS!!!  
See ya next time, as I put the finishing touches on this puppet!

SKETCHBOOK: "Another trip to El Dorado"

Yesterday, I returned home after a wonderful trip to my hometown, El Dorado, Arkansas.  I got to visit with my Mom, my brother, Kris, and his wife, Debra.  As is the new tradition, Mom and I spent as much time as we could going sketching. There's always more to draw than the time to draw it!

Above is a rusted out old hot rod that was in the yard of "Howlin' At The Moon: Antiques and More" in Smackover, AR ( a town near El Do).  Below is another rusted out bucket of bolts...my brother Kris.  Unfortunately, he had a sinus infection and needed to sleep it off.  Fortunately for my sketchbook...he needed to sleep it off.  I told him not to worry...he's more interesting to sketch than to talk to.  (I'm a mean big brother.  But I love that dude!)

Below are the really cool columns at the Union County Courthouse.  A little sign on the column says "Quiet Please.  Court is in session."  I was not...and it was not. (Is a lying sign a proper thing to have in the halls of justice?!!)

This is a train.  It is a yellow and blue train. It is a Union Pacific train. It is a nice train.

Apparently there was some remodeling being done in some offices off of the main square downtown.  They had to take the window out to move a bunch of sheet-rock panels in through the opening, since they could not fit them into the stairs.  This is at the end of the day, when they're puttying up the replaced glass panel.  The windows are a lot more complicated looking in real life...I was tired.

Here's a little angel face on the wall between some shops.  I discovered that, unfortunately, the pencil I was using was water soluble.  It smeared all the pencil work when I added washes.  I went back into the drawing with pen...not so happy with the outcome.

Finally...here is a sketch of a very ornate coat hook that my Mom has on an old wooden trunk in the den.  I wasn't sure it was wise to attempt the sketch of it, but I like how it turned out.

(Thanks for all the sketch and talk time, Mom!  Thanks for the dinner and ice cream, K and D!!  I had another great trip!!)

AUTOMATA - "Pirate Puppet" Pt.3

AHOY, ME HEARTIES! Weigh anchor and hoist the mizzen!

Time to show you the next stages of my little project.  As you can see, I managed to finish the rest of the sculpting, and have moved on to painting the pirate.  Below is how I made the HAT.  I started with an aluminum baking pan to create some support inside the Sculpy.  I cut a circle about the size I needed...folded up the sides, and cut slices in the middle of the metal to measure on the pirate head.  I made the hat brim a bit smaller, then flattened out some Sculpy.  I baked the brim first, then trimmed out the aluminum bits in the center with an exacto blade.

Next I sculpted a bandana on the pirate's head.  I made sure I could separate it from the skull after baking it with a heat gun.  I then put the bandana and brim together, patching up the gaps, then rounded off the top of the hat with more clay.

I then sculpted the torso.  I only needed to see the front and part of the sides of his chest and belt.  The rest will be covered up by the coat made of fabric. Also, this allows me to get to all the mechanical bits, to connect my strings that will be hidden underneath the coat.

Here are all the basic parts, after I gave the whole thing a base coat of acrylic paint.

Now on to painting the details.  I usually start out with darker tones...dry-brush on the highlights...glaze with a very watered down wash of darker browns...then add more highlights.  This process goes back and forth until I find a good balance.  I prefer the rougher hand-made look to everything.

Here is the face...and a good example of what I described above.  The color on the far left is darker than the final tone...I was building up layers, to bring out the details.  I gave him a fancy GOLD TOOTH, as well.

Now all the basic components have color.  I can start the final stages of the Pirate's clothes, then add some hair and a beard!

Make sure ya come back for more, or you'll be SWABBIN' THE DECKS....ARRRRRR!!!!!