Cod Fisherman

With shopping and other Christmas preparations I haven't had much time to update my blog.

I thought I'd take this opportunity to share a few work in progress photos.

I've got the polymer codfish painted. I thought of airbrushing it but was too lazy to strain the paint and then have to clean the airbrush.

I've also built and primed the wooden dory the fisherman will be seated in. I still need to make a pair of oars and other fishing gear.

Here is a photo of the fisherman holding his catch seated in the dory.

Sea Serpent Sculpture Sold!

I had two pleasant surprises yesterday. The first was the sale of a piece of my horror themed art.

It was the sea serpent sculpture that was inspired by the brontosaurus upsetting the raft full of sailors in King Kong (1933).

The second surprise came after I had fed the seagulls. Each morning the gull we nicknamed Wally shows up on the beach near our home.

My wife and I started to feed Wally when we noticed he was hobbled by fishing line ensnaring his legs.

Eventually he somehow freed himself but now each morning when I check out the surf conditions for fishing Wally expects his free lunch.

Yesterday was the end of the striped bass fishing season. Each year I make a point of fishing the last day. Well the freezing temperature combined with the gusty northwest wind put any idea of fishing out of my mind.

I thought since I'm here I may as well tough it out and walk a few beaches. After three blocks my eyes were tearing badly from the constant wind. I turned my back to the wind to get a moment of relief. As I turned to continue on this lure washed up literally at my feet!

The weird thing is I wanted this lure but I had put off buying it till after the holidays.

Empire Team Treasuries

Here are two treasuries of the artwork of my talented teammates on Etsy: Empire State of Mind by corrnucopia on Etsy Empire Team It's the Joys of the Season by sandyssentiments

Dark Art Horror Sale

http://www.etsy.com/shop/BlacknickSculpture I'm having a 30% off sale in my Etsy shop from Dec.11th through Dec.15th on my horror art and dark art sculptures. With free shipping on purchases over $100. So have a look if your searching for an unusual gift for someone.

Dark Art Goblin Tree Ornaments

I recently finished this set of three Goblin tree ornaments and listed them in my Etsy shop.

They are modeled in Apoxie Sculpt clay and polymer clay. Handmade Goblin Dark Art Ornaments by BlacknickSculpture on Etsy

Between Christmas shopping and fishing the last weeks leading up to the close of the striped bass season I haven't had much free time to work on my new sea serpent piece.

I thought I'd share these photos showing the beginning of the armature and adding the tongue and teeth.

After gluing the aluminum wire into the wooden skull I began sorting through my teeth.

I glued the individual teeth in place. And then sculpted Apoxie clay around them to form gums.

Next it will be time to create the eyes and paint the jaws.

Eric Kessler's King Kong Project

The last week in October Eric Kessler visited us on Long Island to pick up a project I had completed for him. It was a set I created for a stop motion film he is at work on.

Kess is an avid fan of the 1933 version of King Kong. In that classic film special effects creator Willis O'Brien brought Kong and the other creatures of Skull Island to life using stop motion animation.

Utilizing elaborate miniature sets and the most gorgeous Kong puppet I've ever seen Kess has set about to create his vision of the Kong story. In this clip on Youtube you can get an idea how labor intensive this process is : YouTube - Kong Spino & T

Here is Kess loading the last piece of the cavern set into his Jeep.

I took some B&W photos of the cavern to see how it would look.

And here are some color photos of the completed cavern.

For a Kong fan like myself it was a privilege creating this for Kess. I mean think of it -- Kong is going to be strutting his stuff through something I made! How cool is that? The icing on the cake was Kess was kind enough to give me a sneak peek of some footage he had recently completed!