Aragorn and Arwen collectables 2012

Conceived by Art Director Daniel Falconer as a matching set. These small figures were very enjoyable to research. Each was portrayed from a specific scene in the films. Aragon where we first see him at The Prancing Pony and Arwen from a scene in Return Of The King. To keep production costs low these were intentionally sculpted with minimal parts and undercuts to simplify the molding and casting process.

Gandalf Life size sculpture 2012

Straight after finishing the 1:6 collectable sculpture of Gandalf, Weta asked me to make a full sized figure of the same design.
We started off by scanning the collectable figure and converting it into a digital asset. The scaled up version was then milled out in polystyrene. I make this process sound simple only because I was hardly involved.
Once milled out I replaced The staff and sword hilt with  casts taken from the film props. I also used a life cast of Sir Ian McKellen's face instead of the scan of my little sculpt.

All the polystyrene was then covered in a wax based clay to be sculpted textured and detailed.

A bronze version was later installed outside the Roxy Cinema in Miramar Wellington.

Hobbit Gandalf Collectable 2012

Having had my Gandalf miniature collectable received moderately well the year before, I had the opportunity to try my hand at a 1:6 scale figure of Sir Ian McKellen's character in the Hobbit range.

I had always loved this classic Painting of Gandalf by John Howe I used it as a heavy influence.

You can view it here on John Howe's website

Sculpted in Chavant Hard NSP over roughly six weeks.

Prelude to the Supernova: Art Project 2011

In between working on the Hobbit films and collectables, I would occasionally turn to this little sculpture for a bit of variety. Originally intended as a little anatomy study, this eventually turned into a full diorama.

Barad Dur Collectable 2011

Barad Dur was to be Weta's next epic Lord of the Rings collectable diorama.
Dave Tremont has created an exhaustive account of his and Leonard Ellis's process making this.

Check it out here

I just did the rock sculpting again.

 

Gandalf Miniature Collectable 2011

I really wanted to have a go at sculpting a likeness of a classic LOTR character. Gandalf was a perfect opportunity.

My sculpting this figure was featured in a Weta Featurette made for A limited cinema run of LOTR.

Rivendell Collectable 2011

Model making on this stunning collectable had started long before I joined Weta. I eagerly volunteered helping Dave Tremont and Gary Hunt with the final touches on the rock environment sculpting.

The Hobbit Trilogy 2010-2013

Near the end of 2010 I was offered the remarkable opportunity to come over to Wellington, New Zealand and work at Weta Workshop on Peter Jackson's Hobbit films.

This was at the time a bit of a career goal. I had been subtly harassing Weta for consideration since seeing Fellowship of The Ring in 2001! I even went over to NZ in 2008 for a one hour interview in hopes of working on the Hobbit.

Weta collects an incredible community of artists and technicians. On the Hobbit films it is very hard to reasonably take credit for any one thing as it is such a collaborative process of design and fabrication.

Primarily in the sculpting department I occasionally tried to work on some props and costume, even spending time on set from time to time.

For the purposes of this blog I have collected some of my personal highlights.

The first task I was handed was to work on the make up concept sculpt for the dwarf Dori on a face cast of actor Mark Hadlow.

 I also sculpted the final facial appliance he wore in the film.

Did the same for Gloin on the face cast of actor Peter Hambleton. In Tolkien Lore Gloin is father to Gimli famously portrayed by John Rhys-Davies in the Lord of The Rings trilogy. I was fortunate to have access to that original Gimli appliance as reference when attempting to hint to the relation in this new sculpt.

Long with David Meng I worked on prosthetic design details and the final prosthetic appliance sculpture for bombur:

I sculpted various design maquettes, creature suits and make ups for goblin and orc characters.

This picture was published in CINEFEX 132.

The big sculpture on my desk here is by Aris Kolokontes
 

I designed and sculpted the facial prosthetic and head cage for an orc character that became The Torturer of Dol Guldur.

Painted some Mirkwood Elf armor. It just so happens that the elf on the front right of this image is Jane Wenley a remarkably talented sculptor. See some of her work here: 

www.wetanz.com/artists/jane-wenley

Probably my last contribution was helping on the sculpture and manufacture of this horn blown by Bombur in BOFA

 

Grimly Sculpy Sculpt 2010

Inspired by the fantastic work of the illustrator Gris Grimly, I sculpted this tiny thing in Super Sculpy on an impulse.

Flat Man. Art project 2010

Having never cast and painted or hair punched silicone prosthetics before, I started this little project just to try it out.

Sculpted in Chavant Clay Medium NSP, I used some left over resin eyes from the dinosaur project.

Giant Skull 2010 - 2017

Somewhere in 2010 while re watching Steven Spielberg's Hook I remembered as a kid thinking I would love to have the giant skull mounted on Captain Hook's pirate ship prow.

Still from Hook (1991)

Actually I wanted the whole ship but as an adult one must make reasonable compromises so I decided on a whim to only make the skull as decoration for my workshop.

Luckily I had some free time on my hands while waiting for the next job so I ordered a big block of urethane biscuit foam with the intention of hand carving the skull into it.

My extremely low tech solution for carving a block is to carefully project the profiles on all the flat sides using an overhead projector.

From here I simply carve into it keeping as many references nearby as possible

Unfortunately A sudden relocation to New Zealand put a halt on my progress and the unfinished sculpt was put on storage and nearly forgotten.

Easter 2017 I dug the crumbling sculpture now seven years old out of an attic in South Africa and determined that I had to either finish it somehow or it goes in the landfill. I opted to finish the carving, give it a rushed seal of resin and casting urethane and take it on the plane back to Wellington New Zealand.

Sealed, wrapped and ready to travel on the plane!

The skull is now in my new workshop in Wellington NZ for repair of damage incurred going through the x-ray machine at customs. I will finish the damned thing!