Gargoyle shield and strike plate fabrication

The background shield that will suspend the gargoyle from the wings has been fabricated in walnut. Plastic letters are utilized to spell out "HAUD VEREOR" a Latin phrase which means, "no fear"

We are currently looking into the correct spelling. My version, has "havd" vs "haud". I believe, "haud" is correct.

The blue tape on the shield is where the hinge will be located. The hinge will also be fabricated in wood.

(The wood sections will be molded in order to produce the wax reproductions)

The strike plate will be embellished with some designs. I have not decided on the design yet.

Gargoyle wings fabrication

Here is the video showing how I semi detailed the gargoyle's wings. I used an alcohol torch and stainless steel tools to form the clay.

Gargoyle wing's receive their clay; ready for detailing

This image shows the wings with their first layer of clay. They are not attached to the body. The wings will be molded separately and will be welded to the body during the metal chasing phase. The wings till need additional revisiting.

As of now the wings at their widest points measure 7 1/4". Please advise if I need to collapse them. I now your main concern was the 5" depth (front to back)

Gargoyle wings update

The wings have been altered per the client's request. Once the wings length has been approved I will begin the clay up. In other words, I will apply the clay to the wings.

Gargoyle armature design for wings - video

In this video I proposed 3 designs for the wings, A, B or C. I tend to like B, but only if we can increase the width from 4" to 6".

Look  "A" looks great when viewing from the front, but from a profile view, the wings will hide the gargoyle.

Gargoyle armature for the wings

Here are the proposed wings for the gargoyle. The wings were created using a cotton t-shirt and water-based glue. They allows me to form the wings before I brush on the clay. I use pins to hold the wings in place.

Gargoyle wing design for bronze door knocker

The top video shows a rough wing template I plan on using as my guide for creating the gargoyle wings. I think I will use the same process I used when creating the Thor loincloth...  http://actionfiguresculptor.blogspot.com/2010/05/creating-thors-loincloth.html

Gargoyle sculpture - face update

The client has instructed me to remove the beard and add fangs to the gargoyle. The clay sculpture is still very rough at this stage. I will wait a few days before I attempt to add finer detail to the head. Due to the hot weather we are experiencing in the Los Angeles area right now, the clay is too soft; therefore, adding fine detail is somewhat of an arduous task. 

The harder the clay the more detail I am able to add with my dental tools.

The beard has been removed and the fangs are now present.

My 1/3 scale Dracula head for clay model is posed next to the gargoyle sculpture.

Birds eye view of the gargoyle

Gargoyle sculpture - first attempt adding detail

Since I had a few extra hours on Labor Day after working on the life size bronze soft coated wheaten terrier, I decided to add some detail to the gargoyle blank I created yesterday.

At this point I will wait for the client to indicate if he likes the direction I am taking the gargoyle sculpt. Keep in mind, the sculpt is very rough at this point, it still needs to undergo many more hours of constant  detailing and tweaking.

The beard was added the last minute, it may have to go if the client does not care for it. Horns were added per the client's request.

The muscle may be added on the next pass.

Hands and feet will be detailed.

Profile

The current sculpt measures... 6"h  x  3.5"d  x  3.75"w

Gargoyle sculpture - foundation phase - body pose and proportions

Below is the proposed gargoyle pose. Before I continue I will ask my client to approve the pose. The wings will be added once the main body is somewhat complete.