Not the first time I’ve sculpted James Bond, but this time I sculpted him digitally. As before, I was envisioning Bond as described in Ian Fleming’s novels.
Digitally sculpted and rendered with Nomad Sculpt for the iPad Pro.
007
Reply
Author Archives: Mister Farrell
DRAGON-MAN Digital Sculpture
Digital sculpture of my childhood superhero, Dragon-Man, sculpted with Nomad Sculpt for the iPad Pro.
I used to make this guy out of plasticine, now I’m making him out of ones and zeroes.
DOCTORS WHO?
My friend Dave Marshall did a fan comic based on the long-running BBC Sci-Fi series DOCTOR WHO in which an aging Doctor (modeled on Helen Mirren) ultimately regenerates into a new Doctor (modeled on Sam Cooke). In his early drawings, Dave hadn’t settled on those specific likenesses, and I used those earlier versions as my template for these 3D versions. In a nod to Cooke, I did make the Doctor’s trademark sonic screwdriver resemble a 1960s-style pencil microphone (and like his predecessor Doctor’s mechanical right hand, it’s made of brass, like the workings of a clock).
The Doctors are 1/10th scale, sculpted in Super Sculpey and Apoxie over aluminum armatures. The TARDIS is made with cut sheet styrene and has working lights.
BATMAN ’89
The comic book incarnation of BATMAN ‘89, as designed by Joe Quinones (from the comic book drawn by Quinones and written by Sam Hamm, screenwriter of the 1989 Tim Burton film) which I digitally sculpted with Nomad Sculpt for the iPad Pro.
Taking advantage of the layering abilities of a digital sculpture, I was also able to sculpt a complete Bruce Wayne face under the mask. The comic book version does not, by design, strictly resemble actor Michael Keaton, who played him in the film, but is instantly recognizable as BRUCE WAYNE.
Prior to this, I’d also sculpted a version that hewed more closely to the movie:
Bram Stoker’s DRACULA Digital Sculpture
“Enter Freely, Go safely, And leave something of the happiness you bring.”
Count Dracula as described in Bram Stoker’s novel, seen here as he welcomes poor unsuspecting Jonathan Harker to his castle. Digitally sculpted in Nomad Sculpt for the iPad Pro.
Mignola’s HELLBOY Digital Sculpture
Mike Mignola’s HELLBOY, digitally sculpted on the iPad Pro with Nomad Sculpt.
I’m having a lot of fun digitally sculpting and learning a lot as I go. I’m self-taught, so I don’t know if I’m doing things the ”right” way, or even if some of these pieces will be printable with a 3D printer, but right now I’m having a blast and enjoying how these are coming out.
Plus I like sitting on the couch and sculpting without having to unpack or clean up any tools. That said, I feel like working this way is whetting my appetite and giving me ideas for my next traditionally sculpted project.
DIGITAL SCULPTING
This month I decided to finally try and teach myself digital sculpting. There are a lot of things I think I could be doing, like sculpting at a smaller scale, or making props that would be more difficult to accomplish traditionally. I was curious about Zbrush (expensive, but a free trial is available), Blender (free!), and NomadSculpt, which I’d already loaded onto my iPad. After asking Twitter, I decided I was going to try Blender and got through about three Youtube tutorials before I recognized some of the controls as being similar to NomadSculpt. Between the ease of use and the sensitivity of the Apple Pencil, I just gravitated toward NomadSculpt.
Someone once told me a traditional sculptor learning digital sculpting is like a pianist learning the saxophone: same notes, different instrument. I’ve been at three weeks now and I have been having a blast. Here are some of the things I’ve worked on. Expect to see more soon.
DR. THADDEUS S. “RUSTY” VENTURE Minibust
“You can’t collect scientists and not have a Rusty Venture on your mantel.”
From Adult Swim’s THE VENTURE BROS.: the underachieving son of legendary super scientist Jonas Venture and father of Hank and Dean, the Venture Bros. themselves, here’s 5” of screamin’ hot Rusty. The Venture Bros. were created by Jackson Public, and the series was written by Publick and Doc Hammer.
This Rusty Venture was sculpted in Super Sculpey over an aluminum and apoxie armature, molded with Smooth-On Equinox 40 and cast with Smooth-Cast 325. The glasses were fabricated with tiny wooden and styrene rods, then molded and cast separately (and were in incredible pain). The base is a wooded blocked, sanded and distressed, and it was all painted with acrylics and finishes with a Lazertran decal. It stands 5” tall.
SGT. ROCK Minibust
DC Comics’ World War II hero SGT. ROCK, created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert in OUR ARMY AT WAR #83 (1959). This piece is based on a drawing of Rock by Kubert.
This minibust was sculpted with Sculpey Firm, Apoxie, and Cosclay, and is about 7″ tall.
Richard Stark’s PARKER (in the style of Darwyn Cooke) Minibust (Second Face)
Cartoonist Darwyn Cooke adapted four of Richard Stark’s violent PARKER books (THE HUNTER, THE OUTFIT, THE SCORE and SLAYGROUND, all published by IDW) into graphic novels before Cooke’s untimely death in 2016. Sad that we’d never get any more of the adaptations, I started reading the original novels, which I’ve been enjoying. I’ve sculpted Cooke’s version of Parker before, but only as he appeared in the first book THE HUNTER, after which Parker had extensive plastic surgery because he’d run afoul of he underworld. Cooke’s second version of Parker is less conventionally handsome, more chiseled, and just meaner looking, and I wanted to sculpt that version, too.
This 1/6th scale minibust is about 3” high, sculpted in Sculpey Firm over an aluminum wire and foil armature, and accented with black cel vinyl.
Cooke PARKER fans: can you tell which specific panel from which Cooke adaptation this was based on?
JFsculpts 