Sculpting Skin

Smooth surfaces do not exist in nature.

That's a bit of an exaggeration, but sculptors that embrace the idea will almost immediately see their work improve.  I speak from experience.  I wasn't half bad at capturing form, but it was only when I started to pay attention to texture that I saw some real growth in my work.  That's why you'll frequently see me drawing attention to the surface textures of work featured here. 

If you're at a loss for how to do texture work this tutorial by Serbian artist Sendy at the EffectsLab is a perfect place to start.  He runs down a complete collection of tools and then demonstrates how they're used to create realistic, and downright horrific, skin textures. 

Cthulhu Fhtagn! Centipede Edition.

Copper Centipede returns with another excellent Cthulhu idol.  It's cast in a semi-transparent resin to mimic the look of smoky quartz.

Bosmer Shadow Daggers

Impact Props has a complete build log for their recreation of the Bosmer Shadow Daggers from "Elder Scrolls Online".  It's fascinating to watch the project develop from a piece of paper to the final product.

Miskatonic Swag

Zazzle is offering 20% off all t-shirts during their current holiday sale.  Enter code ZAZCYBERWEEK at checkout.  I just happen to have some Miskatonic University items that you may find interesting.

From the Mountains of Madness

Russian artist Girhash Angbandskaya brings us this Elder Thing art doll.* Her attention to detail is amazing, right down to recreating the five radial wings instead of fudging them as a single pair.

* Just sit back and let that roll over you.  An art doll. Of an Elder Thing. What a glorious time to be alive.

Dagger of Yht'ktir

Florian Mellies has posted a closer look at the Dagger of Yht'ktir featured in last week's tableau shot.   The sculpt is wonderfully organic and twisted. The high resolution shot gives you a good look at the texture and finish work. 

Dungeon Crawl

Brazilian artist Rodrigo Cali brings us this cool collection of items from a Dungeons and Dragons adventure. 

I'm surprised we don't see more fantasy RPG props.  "Call of Cthulhu" embraced prop documents and handouts as a natural outgrowth of its primarily investigative nature.  You would think traditional fantasy games would be filled with reproductions of scrolls, maps, and plunder.  The plethora of high end gaming accessories, like miniatures, battlemats, DM screens, etc., show a desire to add some nice "set dressing", but for some reason props haven't really caught on.