Tyre Sculptures

Okay, back to business with some more cool sculptures. This time made out of old worn tyres. I like it anyway.

Okay, I have missed a few weeks of top minis (hopefully I have not missed out on anything too wonderful) so here is my pick for the Sunday just gone. As a massive Spiderman fan, it could be none other than this wonderful piece painted by the extremely talented Crackpot.

Click on this one to see it in its full glory of course!!! You visit Crackpots gallery here and I am sure he would appreciate votes and comments. Crackpot's Gallery

dfb

Tyre Sculptures

Okay, back to business with some more cool sculptures. This time made out of old worn tyres.

Whoa Long Time No Post!!!

Well, it seems like it was a while since I was last here. Brushes out cobwebs. Anyway,I  had some browser issues, when going on the blog the page loaded but text entry box would not load correctly and the timer just kept on going..... Also I've been tired a lot lately, slowly getting used to my new job, not used to heavy physical work and work now feels more like gym! So hopefully after Christmas I will be back on track with sculpting. I have got some painting done however and an old sculpt of mine will shortly be released by Eastern Front Studios, more news on that when I have some. The figure in question can be seen in my Cool Mini Or Not gallery and will be made from resin in Eastern Fronts Dungeon Crawl line as the evil Treant "Ironbark".

Totally off tangent, this afternoon I was engaging in some nostalgia and came across a blog that was dedicated to my former school house competitive events. The school is Windsor Boys School which I attended until age 15 and all of the school houses were all named after old boys who died in World War 2 (err, kind of relevant to the blog?). Anyway, I was in Warwick house and I always did wonder what he did and how he died. Well only 23 years later have I found out. Rememberance Sunday has been and gone, so consider this a belated post on the event. Here is the story of Joe Warwick, founder of my school house and as simple as it may be every soldier had their own story, some heroic,some less so, but all equally important nevertheless.


"Joe Warwick attended Windsor Boys’ School from 1934 to 1940. He joined the R.A.F. as a pilot soon after leaving school and his initial training took him to Scotland, Canada and America (by then also at war). In February 1943 Joe completed his final flying assessment in Florida, USA, successfully gaining his Wings as a Sergeant Pilot.  On his return to the U.K. Joe was posted to IX Squadron, Bomber Command at their main base in Bardney, Lincolnshire where he quickly learned to fly the Avro Lancaster Bomber.  On his 15th successive bombing run over Germany, Joe’s luck ran out. Having taken several hits from enemy anti-aircraft guns and with perilously low fuel, Joe Warwick attempted a crash-landing on British soil in poor visibility. His Lancaster hit a tree and crashed at Markham Clinton in Nottinghamshire.  Pilot officer Warwick rests at St. Mary’s Church, Winkfield, where he had been a chorister and bell-ringer."

By Mary Davis

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Sunday Pick of the Week

I thought it might be an interesting thing to do a pick of the week from the top ten minis in the gallery from the Cool Mini Or Not website. Every sunday I'll post up a picture of my personal favourite from the chart. It will be hard as there are so many amazing models to choose from, but I will endeavour to pick something and post it. You can also check out my favourites list on the blog for a very comprehensive list of some of the best minis from the Cool Mini Or Not galleries.

I thought long and hard about my choice this week and I will give this weeks top pick to Tagamoga's Eldar War Walker. The things that strike me about it is the fantastic lighting effects and the sheer detail of the patterned lights on it. The base sets the model off nicely. So here it is.......

Please stop by and drop Tagamoga a vote and if you are a registered cmon member a comment, it's always appreciated! http://www.coolminiornot.com/263528

dfb

The Original Hells Kitchen

Okay, forget randomness, I have found some sculptural delights for you. The photo is unfortunately old and poor, but it was the general idea that warmed me to this effort, it is a shame the photo is not more detailed and I have no idea if this establishment still exists today, but enjoy the photo and story below anyway. Image and text from http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/flashback/0308/index.html

"A hot spot called Hell’s Café lured 19th-century Parisians to the city’s Montmartre neighborhood—like the Marais—on the Right Bank of the Seine. With plaster lost souls writhing on its walls and a bug-eyed devil’s head for a front door, le Café de l’Enfer may have been one of the world’s first theme restaurants. According to one 1899 visitor, the café’s doorman—in a Satan suit—welcomed diners with the greeting, “Enter and be damned!” Hell’s waiters also dressed as devils. An order for three black coffees spiked with cognac was shrieked back to the kitchen as: “Three seething bumpers of molten sins, with a dash of brimstone intensifier!”

Any Parisians who know whether or not this place still exists please post a comment, it is somewhere I might like to visit on my next trip to fabulous Paris!

dfb

Random Shenannigans.....

Okay more randomness. Here we have the legendary "Star Wars Kid" (bows) demonstrating why Jedi Masters are hardcore and kick ass. Many of you will have seen it, but this is the special effects edited version, which you may not have seen...

Nothing to do with art, but as the title says......

In this mornings post I received the latest edition of ImagineFX magazine. Luckily it was a Dungeons & Dragons special, as the old red box beginners set is being re-released by Wizards of the Coast and it showed off some nice art from the super talented Ralph Horsely whose variation on the fabled "Ancient Red" box and cover art of TSR's original release by Larry Elmore (bows again) was featured inside. The painting pays homage to the original art (which is featured on the outer box) in its composition but freshens it up with a modern more detailed edge. I still have my red beginners set of D&D books, along with the Expert set and the green rule books (alas the final master set is disappeared into some mystical portal). Many fond memories of playing D&D at school, ahhh.......

Edit: I appear to have accidently edited out the final bit of this post so here it goes again...

The cover you see in the picture above is responsible for my interest in Fantasy Art and is unquestionably iconic to me. Larry Elmore and Jeff Easly were my first two artists that I really wanted to emulate at school but alas, my talent was lacking. I am rebooting it and attempting to make a valiant second attempt and that effort remains to be seen. I did have the opportunity to thank Larry Elmore over Facebook as his name cropped up on a friends Friend List. Didn't really expect it to be THE Larry Elmore but it was and so I wrote a quick thank you for the inspiration message and he was even kind enough to reply back. I guess the message here is never stop trying. I wasted about 16 years with no art. Maybe if I kept at it I would be further down the road than I am now. But I know now to, as the saying goes (Mr Bob Ross (bows)),  "Keep on happy painting...."

You can head over to Wizards of the Coast website to find out more here.....

Wizards of the Coast D&D

Inspiration Aplenty

I thought I'd share a personal source of inspiration for of late, two magazines that have now replaced my Games Workshops White Dwarf subscription. To be honest, White Dwarf is long past it's sell by date now. I remember the good old days when it was a proper gaming magazine and the best to boot. Then it turned into an inhouse product catalogue. I have noticed a few improvements with painter/sculptor profile articles, but on the whole the content is very limited and I am not really getting anything out of it at all. Subscription cancelled!!! I replaced it with the fantasy art magazine ImagineFX and have never looked back. ImagineFX is an excellent mix of content, lots of artist profiles, including many amateurs and people plucked from deviantart's website as well as professionals and legendary artists (Larry Elmore is featured in next months edition). It doesn't feature sculpture however, but there is a great deal of concept art, artists sketchbooks, workshops and reviews of products (books, films,software,hardware etc). An all around excellent magazine which is a good source of inspiration for the miniatures hobby. It is a monthly magazine and comes  with the obligatory DVD stuffed full of demos, brushes, 3D models, textures, video workshops and the like. Plenty of useful stuff on it.

www.imaginefx.com

The other magazine is a miniatures one called GamesForce, published in Spainish and recently published in English and available from Cool Mini Or Not in the USA and El Greco Miniatures in the UK (I am not sure about European suppliers). The magazine is absolutely choc full of fullpage close up photography allowing you to really appreciate the detail and skill of the paintjobs within. There is always a good range of miniatures covered - from terrain, to busts, large scale figures and 54mm, 30mm minis. Pretty much everything. The text is fairly limited but enough to explain what is going on, sharing paint recipes, processes and tips and tricks. I would highly recommend this magazine, even though it does take a while for it to come out, it is supposed to be bi-monthly but it frequently takes longer to appear in the UK. Subscriptions are available from EL Greco Miniatures now however. Don't be fooled by the issue number below. The English edition is only on number 18 at the moment, quite a bit behind......

http://www.gameforces.net/

Today's Randomness

Just wanted to post a bit of random stuff really. First off is that Terry at www.daemonscape.co.uk is getting ready to release the Cyborg Daemon, contact here Email: info@daemonscape.com - I think he is taking pre-orders or just pre-booking with anyone who is interested.

I received a couple of goodies in the post recently, an art book and a couple of space marine captains I am going to attempt to paint for ebay. Probably Ultramarines and an as yet undecided chapter, Imperial Fists or Dark Angels maybe. I like yellow though.... The book is by an artist called Glen Fabry who has done a lot of great work and also written a few other books I believe and I will be writing a review for it and posting up in the Arcanium section after I have looked through it more carefully.

Another blog I follow by sculptor and fine artist Alfred Paredes has recently been updated with another interview, video games concept artist Greg Baldwin. These interviews are interesting and always worth a read. Check out the previous interviews he has done as well, these interviews are with some very skilled sculptors and I must say enjoyable to read to someone like myself who is trying to improve my artistic skills. Alfred is a very talented sculptor himself and recently had his work featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Halloween show, carving pumpkins of Vanessa Williams, Steve Spengler and others on the show. The blog is here:

http://apsculpturestudio.squarespace.com/blog/

Also wanted to add that you will soon be able to purchase my busts from a supplier in the USA, more on that when it is all finalised in a few weeks.

All for now....

dfb

Da Da Da Da Da Da DAA BATMAN!!!!

Here are some amazing pieces of work by sculptor Anthony Watkins from the Batman Arkham Asylum game. All villains......

KILLER CROC

 ZSASZ

SCARECROW 

I don't have a blog or website link for Anthony, I'll contact him and see if there is some way to see more of his work.

dfb

Errr.......Okay, I'm Not Confused

Here is an interesting sculpture for you..........

I really like this crazy idea!!!

dfb

All Hallows Eve

The Day of the Dead approaches!!!! I, being a truly grumpy person at being disturbed by unwelcome visitors at my door will be following the traditional pagan rules of turning the lights off and locking the door - that should keep those nasty spirits out of my home and away from my precious candy, mmm candy.

In celebration of the event though, I would like to point again in the direction of my favourite sculptor - Ray Villafane. You may have seen his sand sculpture work on the net, I posted a piece within these very pages as well myself. But he is also one of the top pumpkin sculptors around. Check out the work below and the link underneath will take you all the way across the net to his own site where you feast your eyes on more orangey goodness.....

dfb

RAY VILLAFANES PUMPKIN GALLERY HERE!!

Life Is For Living

Well, yesterday I had some great news about a new job I have been chasing on and off over the year. After 16 years of working for Safeway/Morrisons I will be moving to a new job which is full time over 3 days, giving me 4 days of free-time to actually live life without it feeling like you are constantly working. At any rate this means I can invest more time into my pursuit of art and sculpting, not as much as I would like still as my house is like one massive, eternal DIY project, but at least 1 1/2 days of it. It also means I can ship items more frequently.

At any rate things should be looking up from now on. I will be adding some more things to the blog throughout the course of the week - photography is a hobby dear to my heart when I travel and I will add a section for it, not related to miniatures maybe but photography is a form of art and thats one of the things that this blog is about. Photography from China, USA, Cyprus, Create, Turkey, Paris and many other places I have visited will be featured and I will pick a selection of my best shots. I have some more sketches to add, one is a candidate for a sculpt the rest is just done for fun and practice, but I will be posting all of it anyway.

dfb

Cyborg Daemon

Well I had some news today that the Cyborg Daemon sculpt is cast, in white resin so the photo is a little tricky to make out but it looks good to me and I can't wait to get my hands on it. The tongues will be cast soon and I will post news when the product is available from Daemonscape it will be a limited production run I believe. This commission was a fun one, the next bunch of busts will be zombies, I will post more news on that when the current project is closer to completion.

dfb

Some Lead In The Old Pencil Yet

Here is another update with some smart looking and very cool miniature sculpture this time. These pieces are carved from the tips of pencils.....

Obviously there are more to see, this is just the tip of the, err pencil!!!

Click HERE to see more.

Thats all for now, no sculpting news other than the Mammox Rider is still in progress and the Cyber Daemon Bust is at its final destination ready for casting next week.

dfb

More Sand Sculptures

Here is a very cool dragon I spotted online.

There are some amazing pieces of work done in sand, shame they don't last, I think I would be absolutely gutted if I did this and it was wrecked by the elements shortly afterwards. Anyway, I will find some more and post up soon.

dfb

More Progress......

Latest WIP pics. I am starting on the banner now, then I will move back to the arms and hands before starting the legs. The arm holding the standard will have scale mail armour and a shoulder pad with a buckler shield on the forearm. The back will have a chain and some shrunken heads attached maybe a skull, war trophies from the powerful enemies this ogre has defeated in battle. Its good to see photos this close up as my eyes are old and cant see in such detail, it allows me to go back to it and touch the problem areas up. As usual comments and crits appreciated....

dfb

Back In Black

Well, my short break in Wales was very awe inspiring. The drive up there alone was spectacular with some impressive views of mountains, waterfalls, rivers and alot of powerful atmosphere. Very easy to feel at home there. I live in Cornwall myself so the countryside is very similiar, but I did feel a greater affinity to Wales. We stayed in Borth and we were very close to a spectacular beach. Borth itself is very "meh" but it is a good location in general. The beach is close, there is a golf course next to the sea and horse riding if you are into these activities. This was just a relaxing holiday, so it was very much a case of just taking in the breathtaking scenery and a few day trips - Snowdonia and a steam train ride through the Valley of Rheidol to see "Devils Bridge" and the falls there. It's basically three bridges stacked on top of each other. Shame it hammered down when we arrived at the actual bridge entrance to pay. I guess the Devil likes to piss off the occassional tourist!

Devils Bridge is the bottom one (12th century)

If you have read the about me page you know I was brought up on faerytales and old folktales and have a great  interest in them. The tale of Devils Bridge is a simple one and I'll cut and paste it here from the official website...

"... around the IIth Century, the Devil visited Wales as he had never been there before and he had heard that the scenery was breathtaking. He soon came across an old lady who seemed upset. "What's the matter?" he asked out of curiosity.
"Oh, I'm in such a terrible muddle and I don't know what to do!. My cow has wandered across the river and I can't get her back".
'Ah!" said the Devil 'What you need my dear, is a bridge, and I am just the man to build you one. Why don't you go home, and in the morning there will be a bridge waiting for you. All I ask in return is to keep the first living thing to cross the bridge!"
"Okay then" she said "It's a bargain. I'll see you in the morning. Nos da, Goodnight"

That night she wondered about this stranger who would build her a bridge. 'What a strange request! Why should I cross the bridge to get my cow back if he gets to keep me in exchange? Mind you it is very tempting offer"

The next day she got up and called for her faithful dog. Together they went down to the river. "Well well" she couldn't believe her eyes. In front of her was the best bridge that she had ever seen! I told you that I would build you a bridge" said the Devil appearing from nowhere.
"Now it's your turn to keep your side of the bargain".
I know, you get to keep the first living thing to cross the bridge" and she started to walk towards the bridge. But just when she got to the entrance, she stopped, took out a loaf of bread from her apron pocket and hurled it across the bridge. As quick as a flash and before the Devil could stop it, the dog chased after it. 'Aaaaaaagh!!!!!" screeched the Devil. "You stupid old woman, I don't believe it! Your smelly, hairy farm dog has become the first living thing to cross my bridge. It's no good to me" he screamed and then he vanished.

Well, the Devil was never seen in Wales again as he was so embarrassed at being outwitted by the old lady. High in the mountains near Aberystwyth, there is a village where a very old bridge crosses a deep gorge. Above it are two other bridges built at later dates. But the lowest one....Well, they say that the Devil himself built it!"

Anyway, an inspiring holiday.

Photo Reference Can Be Fun

After doing some thinking about my new ogre project I decided to research some details I'd like to include on some of the models and thought that some body piercings would be a good place to start as I want a primitive, tribal feel as is the usual cliche for ogres (still desperately thinking on any original elements/angles I can give to them). I came across some fabulous and pretty extreme photos on someones blog and thought I'd share them with you in the link below. I'm not a fan of piercing myself but I am sure you will agree that some people do crazy things. Enjoy!

Piercings !!! 

dfb 

A New Project Begins

Moving onto sculpting, now that the cyborg daemon is finished I have been given some DIY orders. Now, I have no intention of this meaning no sculpting or painting for me so I slipped in a cheeky session yesterday and here is the result.... ohh yeah, these are going to be my Mammox Riders. Evil beasts of chaos from the cold north,blah, blah insert dark and foreboding descriptive text in here. Seriously, it will comprise of a standard bearer, with I hope an awesome banner, an ogre warlord and a great hornblower. Maybe a regular warrior to, we will see. There will be three variations of the Mammox creature itself. I am on holiday in Wales next week so I hope to spend some time sketching ideas and maybe even produce some proper concept art to upload to my new section in the blog, yes on the sketchbook page. I have been inspired by browsing through the Cadwallon book by Rackham and am totally blown away by the art of Paul Bonner which I find very much reminiscent of Brian Froud with a scandinavian edge. And even more awesome was when i discovered Gary Chalk did alot of the Pen and ink illustrations in the book to. He was one of my favourite artists from my Talisman/Lonewolf days.

Right, excuse the tangent there and here is the beginnings of the standard bearer. Ignore the legs of course, I am stripping and reworking them. I have gone for a more realistically proportioned figure, although i think he is not ugly enough. I am pleased with the dreads and am working on some kind of head gear, probably the top half of some creatures skull. I need to add a little primitive to them. I am thinking of giving my ogres powerful but stubby legs. Not sure how to distinguish them from big muscular humans just yet. I need to play around....

Comments welcome.

dfb

Final Daemon WIP Photos

Finally I have the last batch of WIP Shots. The first photo shows the tongue options of which there are four now. I am not sure if the client (daemonscape) is going to offer a choice or include them all with the bust. The photos below show some new adjustments, see what you think. The horned ridge is up for debate, the sculpt shows two options, the original horns/bone bit but the new one I like much better, it is just a tentacle type fatty area to break up the texture and allows some patterns to be painted. So you can do a side by side comparison. I like this much better myself, maybe I have been watching too much star wars/farscape babylon 5 but tentacles and aliens go to together perfectly. Well hope these photos meet with approval, they are not good as there was no outside ambient light, taken late yesterday evening. I would have posted them yesterday but I fell asleep on the sofa with my little dog curled up in my arms :)

Terry - let me know which brow to go with, (**cough** smooth, fatty one ;) )

Thanks for looking!

dfb

Paul Day Sculpture

Here is another bit of eye candy for you to feast upon. Today I would like to showcase the magnificent and intriguing work of sculptor Paul Day. You can visit his website at the link below.


Paul Day Website

As you will see, much perspective based sculpture and I am sure you will agree outstanding work.

dfb

Two For One

Two posts in one day again!!! Well, I said I would showcasing the work of others on my website, as much cool stuff as I could find. Well here is one of my favourite sculptors, Mr. Ray Villafane. He works in a lot of mediums and is a professional sculptor, working for Marvel amongst many other clients. If you were to empty the contents of your dustbin on the floor this guy could probably sculpt a masterpiece out of it. Anyway here is one photo to wet your appetite....

 

  

To see all the all other mouthwatering pictures click here.

Enjoy.

dfb 

Big Changes....

Well, done a few things to improve the daemon. Firstly the eye was sorted out. So now both are made with ball bearings, new eyelids and mechanical eyelids on the cyborg eye. Other improvements include some torn flesh on the front, the spine has been finished off with more muscle fibres going around the edges to prepare it better for the mould making process and general tidying up here and there. There is one more change I will hopefully be making that requires the client to give the nod to go ahead and do it, but if/ when done should make the bust look much nicer. Photos will be taken when the second tongue is completed, its half done at the moment so all in all the extra time taken to do the tidy up has been very much worth it!


dfb

Bright & Early

Well, it is just about 3.30am whilst typing this. After what was meant to be 40 winks on the sofa I woke up at 1.00am quite awake and went into the studio to work some more on the cyborg daemon. Finished the reworked skin texture with some nice boils, now just the bony ridge around the skull plate to rework and some modifications in the jaw area.I want to be baking this tomorrow night ideally. After that some sanding, fitting of the tongue and detailing that and then some photos. Time to go to bed methinks.

dfb

Cyborg Daemon

More work done on the Cyborg Daemon today, the back was resculpted along with the textures and additional veins added. I like veins. This project has taken way longer than anticipated and after a quick start I hit a few problems with it and it was sidelined due to artistic block. I started Thuggorre as I had no other projects on the go at the time to help and then hit problems with him to. But we need to get this guy out there so hopefully by wednesday you will be seeing so pictures of a nice, well evil, daemon right here.

dfb

Project Done

The Thuggorre project has gone from concept art to finished product and has been followed by many people in the forums. It was certainly an interesting project, sharing the whole process as a typical work in progress thread, if a little time costly taking pictures, uploading, posting across the different forums and so on. Most other companies will give a sneek peek at some concept art,  the finished green and then the final painted product. With Thuggorre I wanted to share the whole thing, it was just down to my own excitement and the fact I know I would be interested in knowing all the small details involved with product development by the major mini companies out there like Games Workshop, Forgeworld, Enigma, Rackham and so on. Being one artist in a studio doing all this on a much smaller scale I knew it would not hold the allure of watching the masters at work, but I hope the WIP has been relatively enjoyable nontheless. I would sell my soul to poke my nose into the goings on of some of the major art studios across the world!!

The artist who painted Thuggorre for me has now uploaded the final photos to his Cool Mini Or Not gallery and can be viewed below, please give him your vote!!!

SkelettetS Gallery

Grey Matter Figures will be attending the Telford IPMS Scale Model World show on the 13th and 14th November and Thuggorre will be there available for you to take a look at or purchase. Grey Matter Figures will be licensed to sell selected  pieces of work I do and this is the first to be made available. You can of course purchase direct from me at www.dfbstudio.webs.com where I have the webstore set up.

At the workbench today, when I have finished typing this I will be straight onto the cyborg daemon commission, I have to remake the horns on the back of him and do a little bit of retexturing where I hacked half of the back out to start again. I will take the opportunity to work in some more intricate veins as well. When this is done it will be very close to completition and submission of final photos to the client. I must say having the demon on the bench for a long time has really made the super sculpey firm clay a joy to work with and I may do this with other project, time allowing. That or use the fridge to chill it and firm it up in a slightly different manner.

Thanks for reading

dfb

The Paintjob Is Complete!!!

Stefan has finished painting Thuggorre and the today I put together a little product flyer for him which can be seen below showing off the paintjob and a modified logo. I just want to say a big thank you to Stefan for doing this for me, I am beyond pleased with the work done on him and the photos. Thanks Stefan!!

Well, as I have been sat on the laptop for a good deal of time messing around in photoshop and watching the new Natalya Melnik DVD it is time to retire to the studio and finish up the day with a little painting and sculpting......

Toys, Toys, Toys

Nurgle Test warrior is complete and can be seen over on various forums in my WIP threads - wip thread most of yesterday was spent getting nowhere fast, although I did manage to work on the cyber daemon for an hour or two and must say he is very much improved. The day just seemed to disappear.

A trip to Plymouth is in order today, pick up some washes from GW and to see Toy Story 3 3D this evening. Lets hope it is good.......

dfb

Hair Tearing Day

A bit of a hair tearing day today trying to figure out why Photoshop can't do image maps and how to do rollover effects and can I even upload it to a free website anyway??!! Wasted alot of time and got nowhere despite having all the graphics work done. I am just wondering whether to ditch the website builder and just do the whole thing in a proper app and upload the whole site directly. As much as I like the idea of designing a website the actual complexity (well to me at any rate) kind of kills any fun there is to be had in the design process.


On the sculpting front I spent about an hour on the Cyborg Daemon cutting away his back and putting the reshaped muscle back in, some adjustments to the head and neck and I am having second thoughts on the spine. I need this one to be perfect as it is for a  client and will definately turn out to be the best sculpt I have done to date, the skin textures are especially nice, lots of little veins, warts, boils and open flesh wounds. I need to rework the horns in places as well, some of them popped out. 


The Nurgle Knight test model is finished and his buddies are in progress, I need to find out whether I need to do lots more to make up a regiment to the correct size etc. I am not too clued up regarding Warhammer rules. They will be for sale when I have had my fun at any rate and I think I have taken away something from this painting process. I have achieved a smooth surface finish , the shading and highlighting are not too bad and I achieved some nice skanky metal as well. Definately a neat if unremarkable job on the test model. A set of signed Natalya Melnik (Alezi_Z on CMON) DVD's should be sent down to me soon from a friend who attended GENCON 2010, so hopefully my skills will pick up after absorbing that material and putting it into practice.


Thats all I have been doing lately, and lurking in various forums of course......


dfb

Thuggorre Studio Paintjob

The official Thuggorre studio paintjob is well underway and we decided to make it a work in progress so people could take a look at the process to, I do believe that most people enjoy following the various work in progress threads on the forums, I know I do. So here is the link.... Thuggorre Paintjob

Nurgle Warrior almost finished, just got the base to paint and add a little scenic touch. Last night I re-evaluated the Cyborg Daemon and decided to make some alterations to his back so I will cutting a section out and reworking that today. The basic tongue is finished. This is a simple version for those who may not like a seriously gross tongue like the superhero Venom.  Although the way I see it, you would be mad not to like it!! I also did quite a lot of work on graphic elements of a nav bar for the site. Took me a while to realise that Photoshop no longer has built in web tools and cannot turn an image into an image map. Seems crazy to me but, I couldn't figure it out or find online help to do it either. Better find something that can.....

On my website I promised links to all the cool stuff I find online, well here are two for starters and I am sure you will agree, definately cool work....

Paul Day Sculpture

Ray Villafane Pumpkin Sculpture

More updates soon.

dfb

The Giant Just Crashed Through My Door !!!

It appears that Royal Mail messed up and the package containing the casts I should have had Saturday was not delivered nor a card left for to collect it with. Nonetheless I have now picked it up and Thuggorre is ready to be shipped. Please order at the link below if you would like one.


http://dfbstudio.webs.com/apps/webstore/products/show/1641947


I have found a better webstore to use and am in the process of setting things up, updates will be posted on that when done.


New things have arisen on my painting desk and I have been sat at my easel trying out some new techniques on some simple old models - Games Workshop Chaos Knights to be precise. They are going to be painted in the colours of Nurgle and have some small conversions on the shields. I need to get back into painting as well as doing the sculpting so I can advance my skills in equal measure......


I am really happy with the  graphics work I have done on the logo and packaging and when my current sculpting commission is finished I will be moving on to to put some time into setting up the website into something bearable to look at.


Tomorrow brings some more updates, I will be taking pictures of the Nurgle Knight, new product photography of Thuggorre and more sculpting.......


dfb

Thuggorre Stomping Out Soon!!

I am awaiting production casts of Thuggorre and Darkhand ready for 2nd August, so if anyone would like to pre-order one please drop me an email at dogfacedboyuk1 at gmail.com - I will only be getting a small amount at a time as I am unsure of interest to be honest. The idea of my shop is basically to allow the purchase of anything I sculpt while I have fun learning, practicing and designing stuff I am interested in, I am not pushing it as a serious business interest until I know it will be successful. That remains to be seen. So if people purchase my work I will put some time and effort into doing stuff that other people would like to see as well as what I want to do and of course commission work.

I have been working on my photoshop skills, below is an example of the product label I have designed for Thuggorre. A studio paintjob version will be shown off as soon as it is finished - the painter received the package today, and I think work begins tomorrow.

The Cyborg Daemon tongues are underway and I am also working on my painting skills. Some Nurgle chaos warriors will be squirming their way onto Ebay at some point , I am doing the test model, the other 5 are all basecoated, base metals on and the scenics are on the base to. Just fancied doing something else for the minute. One side of the face of the In The Shadows rat is done , looks okay. It will hopefully be good enough for Grey Matter Figures to use for their product photography in their webstore!

dfb

DFBStudio Logo

Here is the logo I have designed for the website and product labels etc. I have to do a banner format as of yet, but that won't take long now I have the main logo done. I think it looks pretty good and once I had the idea in my head the whole process was pretty straightforward.

dfb 

The Darkhand Pre-Order

The Darkhand bust I sculpted originally for the mini-dojo contest is now also available to purchase! Please note I have not managed to work out how to do an accurate combined item shipping charge on the webstore. If you want multiple items please contact me before buying so I can consult the mystical charts of the Royal Mail and work it out!!!!

dfb

Thuggorre Pre-Order

I have decided to do a pre-order for Thuggorre, the official release date is 2nd August, casts should be availble for shipping that week. Shipping is tracked for security using Royal Mail Airsure. Whilst such a service effectively doubles the shipping costs it provides insurance for me to cover any lost goods and should ensure a more efficient delivery. UK deliveries are also signed for. The webstore can be found at the link below.....


http://dfbstudio.webs.com/apps/webstore/

dfb 

Two For The Price Of One

Two posts in one day - incredible!!! This one is to show off the adjusted Cyborg Daemon with his new eye. He went in the oven today  to allow me to start work on the tongue, the designs have been chosen so watch this space. I am hoping to have this finished by next wednesday.

dfb 

Thuggorre the Giant

Received a great big parcel today containing the first set of casts of "Thuggorre". These casts are going to be for myself and the paint master, with maybe one going out for a competition which I will sort out shortly. I am hoping to be getting the production casts for the end of next week ready to launch the following week, so a hopeful launch date of 2nd August where it will be available to purchase from the newly established DFB Studio. I am still working on the graphic design elements I need, although now I have it in my head what I am aiming for with the logo so now its just a case of doing it. Never rush a logo design, you only get one chance!!! Well, unless you are the manufacturer of a well known brand of kitchen towel.

I must say Tim, Mark and Rich have done a great job casting Thuggorre, it came out great, alot of the skin texture has come out slightly less obvious, although it should be subtle in order to be realistic anyway. Whether this is my sculpting or the silicone I am not sure, but either way it still looks great. The mould line running down the right hand side of the bust and is very discreet, so good news for people who hate the prep stage of painitng!

The photos of the resin have been taken and I will upload and edit into this post later this evening, so until then.........

dfb

PS On other news, I also received the Cool Mini Or Not annual today which is an absolutely fantastic book full of great minis, and there is nearly a whole page showing off the Jarheads I made last year. It is indeed Cool.

Something Evil Is Coming......

Thuggorre the Giant and the Cyborg Daemon busts are very nearly completed, been working on them on my days off and odd evenings here and there over the last few weeks. Both are sculpts I am pleased with despite giving me a few delaying headaches, a bit annoying especially as the daemon had such a quick start to a nearly finished state! I will be contacting Grey Matter Figures to do the casting of Thuggorre and hopefully get some US shops willing to supply the bust across the pond. We shall see.


dfb

Conceptual Art Sucks

I don't know if anyone has been following Junior Apprentice whilst it was on, but one episode struck a cord inside me and has wound me up intensely. The art episode featured the youngsters selecting two artists from 6 to represent at a London gallery where they then obviously had to sell as much art as possible. The artists featured a photographer, a conceptual person, an installation person, a normal artist and an abstract painter. the sixth person wasn't shown. I use the term person in there because art doesn't come into the job and this is the thing that irked me. I believe the term is "conceptual art" (not to be confused with concept art) where the person comes up with some idea and thats pretty much it. No skill required. The conceptual artist is a lady called Jessica Layton who, bizarrely, house sits and looks after peoples pets whilst they are away on holiday etc. She then proceeds to dress up in their clothes hire a photographer to shoot a portrait with the pet and she pretends to be the homeowner. She also moves stuff around abit to mess with their heads as well. All rather disturbing I feel. Even the junior apprentices expressed their horror when they found out what she does. The girl interviewing her couldn't escape quick enough. Further to this I went to her website where I found out she also steals small items from them, sets up a stall and invites them to come down and view it. Wierd. How people view this as art really is beyond me. Art denotes that skill is involved in something. Conceptual "art" requires no skill, anyone can have clever idea. If you can't draw, paint, sculpt, carve etc you are not an artist. The real problem here is that talentless, prentious people are in love with the idea of being an artist, establishments like the Tate Gallery encourage it and provide lucrative rewards like the Turner Prize and then real artists have to pick up the pieces. For thoses who struggle to learn to draw, paint, sculpt whatever and have to make a living from it, these people are a real kick in the teeth to the effort involved. They errode and water down the real art world and encourage talentless people to be involved in a profession they should not be in. Having said that, I'd like to present my Turner Prize entry - imagine a white toilet, filthy inside from heavy use and no cleaning with a floater swimming on top. I have entitled the piece "Behold The Truth of Conceptual "Art"" It's a surefire winner.

This rant could extend into many other areas of modern life to - a mothering government which doesn't let you discipline your own children, simplified exams at school and university levels, television (big brother?) and media (celebrity gossip - who gives a crap about what dresses so and so is wearing), sport (cheating, use of steroids) its just a whole watering down of our way of life and we will be weaker for it.[/rant]


Onto the subject of sculpting. Thuggorre is approaching near completion one side of the front body to do, some additional details on the back of the cloak will be added after baking ( a chain attached to some heads and skulls). Then I have the dreaded eye to do on this and the Cyborg demon (will do both at the same time). seem to have real bad artists block on eyes for some reason.  Also did some painting on the wereat assassin bust I did a while back. The fleshtones look quite nice and I am pretty pleased with how that is coming.


dfb

Tunisian Tales

Well after a "relaxing" week in beautiful Tunisia I am back. Why is that in inverted comas? Probably because I was a little grumpy with fellow holidaymakers lack of manners and rudeness. One spoilt little girl banging her glass at a waiter and demanding water, people just walking straight into you without saying anything and queue jumping galore. And oh yeah don't get me started with sunbeds.  I also witnessed a little girl of about 7 attempting to cut her own bread with a razor sharp guillotine, except it would have been all her fingertips that would have been cut if I hadn't stopped her pulling the handle down. I am not a parent, but I am sure most would agree that it was monumental stupidity to let loose a 7 year old on a guillotine with a great big razor sharp 4" wide blade. Anyway, Tunisia has beautiful countryside, seemed to be more looked after than other countries I have visited in that area. Lots of neatly planted agriculture and palms along the main roads. The modern towns are a bit grubby and lots of building work is unfinished or in progress. An old town we visited was very picturesque though. Of course the ruins of Carthage are a big attraction and I was quite pleased to spend a day out looking around despite the ominous police building with armed guards on towers along one perimter edge. I took some photos here that include many sculptures found at the site and will upload these in due course. Some in very good condition some not so much, but on the whole the site was pretty good.


I am now back to work and will be fitting in as much sculpting this week as I can. I have also been sketching and have another sheet of drawings finished and two pages in my sketchbook are in progress with 6 new characters. It is definately good to be drawing again after so long away from my pencils. I have also bought pen and ink so I can perhaps play with that soon again as well. Working in colour is on the "to do" list however and I will be going digital for my colour work, at least to start with. I do have acrylics and oils and would love to do some pieces on board and canvas. My wife is a big Disney fan so I may do some simple scenes and characters from her favourite films to start with.


dfb

CMON Annual 2008

Good news from Cool Mini Or Not website - their new annual 2008 is nearly set for release. A preview is available in the forum news post and allows ou to flick through a few pages of absolutely stunning minis! I am very pleased that the photographs I submitted of my own qualifying pieces were accepted and included in the annual as well, so that is quite exciting for me and I'm really looking forward to taking a look through the book and having a printed version of some great miniature art rather than just a collection of saved photographs on my hard drive. Check it out in the news section of the CMON forum.

On the sculpting front I have had a few days off, and got back to work on Wednesday, Thuggorre now sits on his new base and sculpting is underway on the cloak and chest armour. Now I was going to add some ringmail to it, but decided against it as it didn't fit in with the way I did the leather armour, so maybe on the next sculpt. I am pleased with it so far. The Cyborg Daemon awaits his eye still and a tongue, I took some time off for this one whilst I awaited delivery of the ball bearings I ordered for the eyes and because the eyes on both sculpts weren't looking right it put me off my stride on it. Back to that soon. The ogre rider sits patiently on the workbench, no work on that this week other thn cursory checking glances.

I am away for a holiday, so won't be doing anything over the coming week although I do have alot of sketches to upload and will possibly get around to doing that tomorrow before I go. The new designs however won't be up for everyone to have their vote on as I have already picked two favourites from the new sketches.

dfb 

Bad To The Bone

Finally, the Rat Warrior is here and he has a name. The sculpt is "Bad To The Bone" and is availble from www.greymatterfigures.com now!! I have uploaded photos to CoolMiniOrNot.com and you can vote and comment on the sculpt there if you wish, its very much appreciated!!


http://coolminiornot.com/251152

I have entitled him "Skrakch Bodyguard To Prince Skim" for my own gallery, and the photos actually do the sculpt justice. Goes to show just how important bright sunshine is for a good picture.

dfb 

Rat Warrior Bust Ready

I got the rat warrior back today. Still unamed as far as I know. Anyway, the casting is fantastic, the mould line barely goes half way around, running through the armour so it doesnt spoil any delicate pieces. Great job by Tim ad the guys at GreyMatter as usual !! Photos will be uploaded over the weekend to Cool Mini Or Not and I will post a link for voting and comments when it is up. About time I put some more stuff in my gallery really.

dfb

Current Progress

No more pictures today, but the Thugorre/Thuggorre - probably going to be the latter name now - is not far from completion. Skin details need to be put in, the accessories (cloak and necklace), an ear and one eye to resculpt and the bust is done. The ball bearings I ordered to use for eyes arrived a few days ago, this should make life easier for me and I can now try them out on the cyborg demon. I am still sketching out designs for the tongue as there are so many possibilities and I cannot decide!!


On other notes, I may have another commission coming up, more news on that if I am permitted at a later date, but it sounds fun. I have also been doing more concept sketches for various characters for possible future bust projects. Three more to finish shading and they will be posted for peoples comments and voting. They are : Zombie Cheerleader, Orc Warrior, Pus Demon, Cyclops, Thief and Stone Golem. I also completed another sketch for a nazi type character, but more on that another time as it will definately be sculpted. No progress made on web design unfortunately, I am itching to get back to test my photoshop skills once again and know roughly what i want but my logo needs tweaking first.


dfb

More From Thugorre

Some updated pictures for you. The left side was trimmed down and some facial proportions were adjusted as well as the eyes. Hopefully should look a whole lot better when the next lot of pictures go up!!!

dfb

Thugore The Barbarian

After a bit of posting around people liked the concept sketch of the pin-headed barbarian I have christianed Thugore, so I sculpted him out today. The roughing in is pretty much finished so I am gonna get to work on smoothing it out tonight ready for detailing and texturing tomorrow. Heres the roughed in bust....

More pics soon. If enough people are interested I might send this off to Grey Matter Figures to be cast and make it available to purchase. Its 60mm by the way.


dfb

Mr Forgetful....

Well looks like I forgot to post here as well as the forums all the latest progress. Nevermind. There will be one final set of new pics up tomorrow showing off the 99% finished bust. The tongue is the final element to do.

On another note I have started to sketch again after much reading of ImagineFX magazine I have decided to try my hand at some proper concept art and came up with a sheet of characters for my next bust design. I have chosen to do the bald headed barbarian character and started sculpting it already. Pictures of that soonish.

This character is called "Thugore" I imagine as a barbarian, outcast due to his even smaller than usual brain and his cone head. This guy is dumb, even by barabarian standards. Luckily for him then that one of the most powerful sorcerors in the world (like ever) controls his mind from afar and makes this lumbering ox do his bidding (hence the glazed over eyes).

dfb

Another Update...

Keep your eyes peeled for pictures of the face tomorrow, I will need some opinions. i am just sculpting the teeth now (nearly done) and moving around to the opposite side of the face. The teeth will not be sharp, mainly due to avoid too much rip on the mould when the resin is pulled but also because its fits in with my design and is different to the typically sharp toothed demon. It helps make the sculpt look like a brute. I am also working in some veins now I have a body building mag in front of me I can start doing that tonight. I tried a different technique for sculpting ultra fine veins, most people stick thin rolls of putty into a little trench cut out of the sculpt on larger scale work. On this sculpt it is made just be cutting the line in the final shape and then using simple sculpt-fu to reblend the putty to a raised vein edge. Looks pretty cool and works much better on an already textured surface that you don't want to ruin. Might do a little tutorial one day when i'm not doing the 1000 other things on my to do list.

dfb 

New Pictures

Here are the latest pictures of the bust progress. Some further shots will be posted over the next few days. I'm really liking the direction its heading and hope the client likes it to, but we shall see....

dfb

Denizens

Well, after knocking out my first, err, 35mm figure, I am quite pleased to announce I have decided on a name for my fantasy minis line as the title has kind of given it away already, yes it is "Denizens". Simple and to the point. I'll obviously have to design a nice looking logo still and so on. It describes what I want to do perfectly - create characters and monsters for fantasy games settings. I'll add descriptive fluff and stuff to breathe a little inspiration and life where I can. All for now. No work on anything today, as today is a me day and I'm going to see Clash of the Titans.

dfb 

First "30mm" Sculpt

Well progress continues on the Cyborg, I have moved around to the front now, built the sternum and have used guitar strings to create muscle fibres. Skinning the pec right now to see if effect looks okay and then i am going to start roughing the head in.


On another note, whilst the sculpt was baking i started my very first 30mm figure which has actually grown to 35mm to top of head. Hmmm, dont know how that happened. Anyway, it was just basically playing around from a simple idea of a bank robber in a clown mask with a gun and a "bang" sign. It is nearly done, more time was spent trying to get the putty to stick to the armature than actually sculpting it I almost certain. Had a few problems with the armature as well, round the arms and shoulders. Poorly executed on my part and it has affected the sculpt more than i thought. I m not that worried - its only messing about. I will post some pics soon.


dfb

I Am Borg

Well, the new bust is well underway and has progressed very quickly. The design has moved away from the original art considerably after much discussion and a bit of research we decided to do it as a cyborg. The current WIP shows the back of the sculpt. More photos next week when hopefully the front will be near to completition.

dfb

More News

Added a few bits to the website today, its certainly not how I want it to look at the moment, but it will do for a moment. I'll start work on some graphical elements soon, but I'd like to try and design a logo first and foremost. Has to feature a werewolf, some cool lettering and beyond that its still thoughts and ideas.....


The new bust design is shaping up, almost at a point where I can start the actual sculpting. It has changed significantly from the original photo in the previous post but is along similiar lines. It will be demon from the future, that's all I'll say for now.


dfb

Hunk of Junk

I am livid - after wasting two hours setting up a Webs free website using their piece of rubbish website  builder I managed to get one paragraph up. My web browser apparantly struggled to load the program properly disallowing me use of some basic tools. I typed the same paragraph about 5 times, hitting the publish button and then getting nothing upon viewing the page. I am so angry at this point the laptop nearly went through the window. I switched to Internet Explorer 8 which is slower than a crippled tortoise but actually displayed the website builder tools properly. Shame the text looked like it was being displayed by a ZX Spectrum. Bizarre. When I hit the publish button it failed to do anything. Incensed I nearly kicked my whining dog into orbit but refrained and sent her to bed with her tail between her legs and running for her life. Finally I hit the compatability button, hooray the text displayed correctly and the publish button actually published. Although I am grateful for a free website you have wasted 2 hours of my evening - thanks alot you bunch of goons.

www.dfbstudio.webs.com 

This site will allow me to organise my stuff and get some different pages set up. The blog will continue here and be linked back to for news updates etc. I can't see me getting on with that website builder. I can post here in moments, by the time internet explorer loads I can be done. 

On a brighter note the Rat Warrior bust is on its way to the fellas at Grey Matter Figures to be cast up. Good news indeed, work begins on the new commission. 

dfb 

New Commission

The Rat Warrior is on its way to the casters, so look out for that on www.greymatterfigures.com . A few ammendments and details were done today, some teeth on the skull and a tiny mouth on the worth and some fur tidying up.

Here is the artwork for my latest commission piece, I'm currently doing sketches to work out optimum size for the bust to show off the facial details. Look out for work in progress shots on here and in the forums.

dfb

Possessed By Daemons

Well, some good news, the commission I was chasing up is still on, so the next project will be of a demon possessed horned character. The artwork is very reminiscent of a Darth Maul character and I hope to capture some strong evil emotion and a penetrating stare in the sculpt. The skin texture will be interesting to tackle to. This should be underway midweek and in progress shots will be posted here and across the forums. The bust will be a limited edition run of 100 and will be available from www.daemonscape.co.uk who sell resin wargames scenery and bases for a variety of scales. They have a great selection of nicely priced gun turrets, emplacements and other pieces, far cheaper than Forgeworlds range.

dfb 

WIP Photo's

Here are some shots of my latest sculpt, a little more to do on it, but its nearly there. Sculpted with a mix of milliputt and greenstuff onto a resin copy of my super sculpey original.

dfb

Still Thinking

Just putting down some further thoughts on how to organise the direction of my sculpting. My fantasy and science fiction worlds are still very much thoughts in progress and at the moment I am really wanting to get down a name for each setting and a logo design, then I will be temporarily happy with that. I'm starting the ball rolling with the sci-fi world. I thought "After World" sounded quite nice until I googled it and found it already existed along with a very similiar setting and theme that I want for myself. Had to scratch that. My setting will be very much based in this world - we have so much culture already in place it seems daft not to utilise it into a story we are all very much aware of and thinking about constantly - our future. 2012 seems like a good starting point for our Apocalypse, and I'll throw in some alien interference and the chaos that follows from the collapse of society and that should be a good starting point for ideas. The obvious things like food,fuels/power, resources and knowledge are key to survival in a series of reborn city states scattered across the earth and my sculptures will reflect the factions and characters of this new world order. The miniatures will be created with a mind to fit into the vast array of RPG's and wargames out there already. Busts and larger scale figures for collectors will also reflect people from this futuristic dustland. I might create a website and keep up some links to it on this blog so you can check out work as it trickles out a little easier.

More work done on the rat warrior. It's nearly there now. I am trying to complete parts on it everyday now and would guess it will be finished within a week or so. This has been a slow project compared to some of the other sculpts I have done due to various factors and some personal troubles but hopefully I can make quicker progress on the final bust in the series - The Rat King himself! 

What's next up? Well, more painting on the "In the Shadows" bust and a couple of other commissions to chase up on. I want to get some more personal projects such as my Dark Taeles nursery rhyme characters on the move and another one Legends of Yore (working titles). These are two of my of interests and so it is only sensible to create some sculpture around them!! I have some good ideas, but it is sometimes hard to go somewhere that hasn't been explored before. My Red Riding Hood is bad with attitude, a wolf hunter who is more inclined to say "Oh my what a beautiful fur coat your skin would make!" than talk common niceties. This is obviously not really taking her in a direction that hasn't already been explored but I do love this potential aspect of character and think it works well with her. Where I can, I will push some ideas that are a bit more out there. The Olde world is full of dark and intriguing characters thanks to those Brothers Grimm.

dfb 

Almost There

The warrior is almost finished, just some details on the side of the helmet, the horn and the cheek guard clasp mainly, some sanding and finishing  and the helmet crest left to do. Working with epoxy is certainly slow compared with super sculpey, but I do like the saftey net of not having to worry about damaging it by holding it clumsily and squashing the details. I am pleased with the final look, it is turning out well and think it will be mission accomplished when this piece is done. The scavenger type culture of the were-rats and their look is achieved by creating a slightly disjointed type of helmet, which is worn,damaged and repaired and has a couple of different elements to its design.

I neglected to take photos last week, as I'm moving all my stuff into the garage and now the work is largely finished it seemed slightly pointless. I will now do photos when the piece is completed!!! 

dfb 

Workshops and Woes

February was not a good month, my grandfathers funeral, my in-laws little dog has died and an illness in the family have kept us all busy. But life goes on and march is off to a good start with the completion of my workshop (well near enough, just lighting to sort out and a couple of minor details to finish). A dedicated space for my art work at last! My wife will be glad to see the back of my stuff taking up the room. I have some tools to purchase to kit it out, bench grinder, bench drill (for hopefully creating some useable resin jarheads as well as accurate drilling and i hope to purchase a cheap cnc router later in the year, i already have sourced a very affordable 3 axis cnc. With this tool i should be able to create vehicles and anything else which requires more technical accuracy, press moulds for detailing etc as well as make my own display bases.

The warrior rat has some minor work done, one side of the face is complete and now I am moving to detail the other side of the helmet, hopefully this should go a little quicker as I now just have to mirror what i have done. I am pleased with how its turning out, I will be doing a couple of options on the helmets crest piece just to keep things interesting as well. 

Oh Rats!!

It has been a while since my last update here, but I am finally back in the sculpting seat after taking December off ( a busy month at work and the dreaded xmas to deal with) from it. I have done quite a bit of work on the Rat Warrior, no photos as yet but the detailing on the helmet is the next thing i will be tackling, bulking out of the face is done more or less, I have added a beard, the helmet basic shape and some details are also done. It should look quite different from the original sculpt of "In the Shadows".

On a personal note, I have recently returned  from a trip to London to celebrate a 60th birthday and also had a short holiday. Went to see a west end show, attended the London Boat Show at Excel and visited  the Natural History Musuem which i have not visited since childhood. It actually turned out to be a very inspirational visit - the dinosaur displays were particularly useful as were some of the stranger mammals on show. So I hope to bring some of my photos into some sculpts this year. I will post a selection when they have been through a bit of editing.

dfb