STITCH (Experiment 626)

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I recently rewatched the wonderful LILO AND STITCH with its lovable, anarchic alien lead.

Initially I wanted to try a more realistic approach to Stitch, that kind of anatomical reality that Terryl Whitatch applies to fantasy creatures. I’ve also been looking at the terrific work of Emily Coleman, who excels at these kind of creatures (and has a book out now!)

In the end, with only a few nods to realism, including Pug-like rolls of fat and plaque, I stuck pretty close to Stitch’s creator Chris Sanders‘ design.

If it ain’t broke… Well, Stitch will probably break it.

HOWARD THE DUCK

Another piece done for the Relay for Life charity.

For those unfamiliar with the character, or worse, familiar only with the film version*, Howard the Duck is a funny animal, “trapped in a world he never made,” here on Earth with us “talking apes.” Created in the 1970s by the late Steve Gerber and artist Val Mayerick, my sculpture of Howard is taken from a drawing by Gene Colan, principle artist on the series. Colan masterfully blended the cartoonish Howard with realistic humans and environments, perfectly complementing Gerber’s absurd-but-grounded satire.

Howard was also my favorite character of Mighty Marvel May.

*I love the HTD movie soundtrack; where else will you find Thomas Dolby, George Clinton, Stevie Wonder and James Bond film score composer John Barry on one album?

SPIDER-MAN (Not the Spider-man You’re Thinking Of)

A while back I was asked to sculpt a beautiful hairless cat named Spider-Man. Although I didn’t get to meet the model in person, his owners sent me some pictures of the handsome boy. I hope I did him justice.

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Every time I sculpt animals I think I should do it more often.

MARVEL BOY Mini-Bust

The Marvel Boy is an older sculpture in honor of today’s release of YOUNG AVENGERS by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie (whose two PHONOGRAM miniseries I would highly recommend). Originating in the Marvel Miniseries by Grant Morrison and J.G. Jones, Marvel Boy was really Noh-Varr, a misanthropic, teenage alien, angry at the world and ready to conquer it for our own good. He’s mellowed some, but we’ll see how much of his old brand of “Zen Facism” will appear in this new series.

This piece was also designed by my friend Dann Lundie, who shared my love of the series (Dann also designed the Robin Node and Shaun of the Dead sculptures). He provided the sketches below:

I’m not sure why I didn’t incorporate either of Dann’s neat designs for the base. Hm.

Ending 2012 with a Question

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Just about finished Rene Montoya as the Question (based on artist Cully Hamner’s version). As always, more work to be done.

Happy New Year! I hope 2013 is good for everyone.

The 4th Annual DARK KNIGHT ON A DARK NIGHT Art Show

Every year near the Winter Solstice,  Hub Comics in Somerville, Massachusetts  holds an exhibition of Batman art by local artists. My 12 Days of the Batman mini-busts were on display, as well as numerous other works by some great artists.

Photos of the event, taken by shop owner Tim Finn, can be seen here. 

I was interviewed about the event by the Boston Herald, and you can read the article here.

Can’t wait to do it again next year, same Bat-Time…