About two months ago I decided to push my art to the limit and create something really impressive. So I began making this dragon bust. I started with a plank of wood and a tall screw and bolt, then wrapped wire around that and formed an armature (wire skeleton) which I then covered with tin foil and paper tape. After that I began adding clay, I used Super Sculpey 'Living Doll' polymer clay, and added it gradually in little finger-pad-sized amounts, building the structure of the sculpt. To be honest this process is more accurate to how most sculptors make "sketch" sculpts, which are purely concepts for the finished pieces- not finished pieces themselves. However this is my first attempt at making something more detailed than my other work, and I both enjoyed the process and am very pleased with the outcome. Which is more than I can say for some of my other experimental projects.
I debated on painting the baked sculpture for a while, I supposed I was worried of ruining it, but in the end I took the plunge and painted it in greens and gold. I covered nearly the whole thing in a pale mint green but intentionally left the horns as the fleshy transparent colour, so that when I added the minimal layer of gold they still had a bone-like quality to them when light shone through.
I attempted a splatter effect to add texture to the scales/skin? But it didn't really work and I ended up simply hand painting little specks and dots to resemble scales.
The only work I want to do now is give the wooden base a bit of a polish up, glue some felt to the underneath and paint a boarder on it to match with the paint on the dragon.
I can't wait to make more sculptures like this in the near future, I find them very rewarding and fun to share :)
You can see some more pictures of this sculpt on my instagram: @theartofcertibbs