Making Monsters

The makers of Super Sculpey have a great tutorial video with artist Jake Corrick on creating a creature bust.  It's an easy to follow introduction to sculpting technique aimed at beginners.  The biggest takeaway is probably the difference between form and texture and how the two interact, but it's worth a look even if you're not into creature gaffs.

Anyone who does work with sculpey should pay attention to the alcohol wash technique for removing tool marks and fingerprints.  Our brains are wired to recognize a fingerprint pattern because we've seen them every time we look at our own hands.  Seeing it on a creature instantly breaks immersion and identifies a gaff as a created work instead of a living thing.   It's inexcusable to leave them on a sculpt when they're so easy to remove.

The Crawling Chaos

Ukrainian artist Sadania brings the horror of Nyarlathotep to life.  The sculpt features some fantastic anatomical work.  Browse the whole gallery for a panoramic view of the piece. 

Treasure Chest Kickstarter

A treasure chest?  Made of real wood and steel?  For $40 For $54, shipped?

Sign me up. It might be worth hopping on.

I don't normally flog Kickstarter projects, but I think this one is worth supporting keeping an eye on.   The chest from Fantasy Coin, LLC is a natural outgrowth of their numismatic efforts and features solid construction, a functional lock, and a selection of three skeleton keys.  The finish is a bit meh, but that's easy to fix.  What makes this a really good deal is that shipping is included in the pledge price.  The topper is that the sponsor has a solid record of delivering what they promise.  Given the rampant fraud and under-performance that infests Kickstarter (I'm looking at you, Chaosium) that's a major plus.

Update:  It appears shipping isn't actually included in the pledge price.  Christian Haunton brought that fact up in the comments, pointing out that shipping is added after you pick a pledge tier.  I had interpreted this statement to mean shipping was included:

Ah yes, the dreaded shipping! Sending packages overseas can be expensive, especially for a heavy item such as these chests. The prices shown in the reward tiers are the actual costs to ship a Medium Flat Rate box. USPS has been the most reliable and cost effective in our experience.

With an extra 30% tacked on for shipping this isn't nearly the deal I thought it was.  That could change, based on the extras thrown in if the campaign hits it's stretch goals.  For now I'm going to pass on it.

Atlantis Shepherd's Journal

Interested in making your own tomes?  Then you'll love this recreation of the Shepherd's Journal from Disney's "Atlantis".   Artist Janet J. Res has a three part build log (1, 2, 3) of the project that covers everything involved in putting it together, from forming the text block to creating a working cover hinge.

The Dunwich Horror

Hollywood effects artist Joel Harlow brings us this work-in-progress conceptual sculpt for the elder Whateley brother from "The Dunwich Horror".  This would look fantastic on the big screen.  I'm amazed that there hasn't been a decent adaptation of the story.  It's easily the most action-oriented and commercial of Lovecraft's tales, which makes the rather dull films that have been released even more puzzling.

Special Collections

I started working on this project almost a year ago, and I'm finally in the home stretch.

You know what's held me up?  Bags.  I wanted a cool Miskatonic specimen bag for the Cthulhu tokens, but every kind I ordered ended up being far too sheer.  After the third time I just went ahead and ordered...wait for it...real specimen bags. 

I'll have more to show after Labor Day weekend, but I think you're going to like it.

The Runes of Wintermark

The UK-based "Empire" LARP brings us their in-game "Wintermark" rune alphabet.  The 26 character font is downloadable from their website in both TTF and vector formats.  It's used for both magical rituals and items in live action events, and ideal for re-purposing.

The fact they have their own font gives you an idea how immersive "Empire" is.  Browse the rest of their website for some glorious LARP porn, including costumes and themed camps.

Update: In the comments Nicholas Avenell pointed out I wasn't the first to think about re-purposing those glyphs. Harry Dresden beat me to it. Heh.