Quote

"I have learned to regard fame as a will-o-the-wisp, which when caught, is not worth the possession; but to please a child is a sweet and lovely thing that warms one's heart and brings its own reward."
-L. Frank Baum, Author of The Wizard of Oz

Creature Feature (Ha! I Made a Rhyme!)

I recently got the request to build a mascot for a blood clinic.  They gave me the freedom to create the look of the creature, but wanted it to be a vampire (blood clinic, go figure) and he needed to be comical and friendly.  I got to work, first on the actual size of the head.  I thought, to add to the comedy, his head needed to be over sized so it would sit awkwardly on a normal body.  As always the case with building mascot heads (at least for me), the hardest part to solve is what to use for a base.  It needs to be sturdy enough to support the sculpture, but still have enough room to accommodate a real person's head and shoulders.  The structure also needs to be similar in shape to the final product so there doesn't have to be layers built upon the base adding extra weight.  Those heads can get heavy and hot, so the less uncomfortable, the better.

To begin, I went to a local store and walked around looking for different shapes.  I tried on flower pots and buckets, but finally decided on a kitchen trash can.  Yes, I tried them on.  I'm at the age of "I don't care." After taking some measurements, I drew out the shape of the lower chin, knowing that the finished creature would have an extra seven inches of height due to his dome head which would come later.

After cutting the shape with a jig saw, I drew out the basic facial features.  Most importantly, I decided where the mouth would be because this needed to be the next cut.

After cutting the mouth hole, I wrapped the entire head in a layer of one inch foam.  This layer was going to allow me to add definition later and smooth out the features of the creature, rather than add skin and such straight to the can's outer plastic.

Dome head added.  He seems to be happy with it.  Under the dome, I filled the space with poly-fiber- fill (one of my favorite things to say) to give the foam a little extra support.  Hey, dome and foam rhyme too.  This post is becoming more like poetry.

Now come the fun parts.  I wanted his brow a bit more pronounced than the rest of his head.  Later I would be adding up-turned eyebrows and by making the brow protrude from the forehead, it will make the eyebrows jump off the face more.  I also added some curve nubs on each side of the mouth.  By adding just a slight bump in that space, when it comes time to paint, the mouth will look bigger and have more of a comic grin.  What, you say?  Trust me.  Before covering the head in the skin, I added an extra chin piece, just to give his lower jaw a little more shape and interest.  You'll also see the drawings done on the face are with a yellow marker.  Yellow doesn't show through the fabric as easily, but always test the transparency of your skin fabric first.  Nothing worse than an unintended mascot with tattoos.

Next, I added the a layer of skin and airbrushed the features.  I looked at several different colors for the creature, but decided on a lavender fleece.  Why?  White is too obvious for a vampire and I thought the purple would look nice in contrast with the black hair he would later get.  After all the Count on Sesame Street is purple and it has worked for him for decades.

The most difficult part of the whole build was the black wig.  For it to look right, the seams could only be in certain places, mainly along the ridge of the corners and back of the head.  I drafted several patterns on the structure before deciding on the proper seam lines.  The wig is made of a very short and shiny fur.  As with all fur, when cutting, it creates a mess.  Add to that problem the issue of static electricity generated and whew!  I had to literally get out the vacuum and suck myself clean before leaving the workroom.

Time to start adding facial features.  A pair of glitter eyes and some dark purple lips took the creature to the fierce level.  I always hold the pieces in place with pins before permanently sticking the parts together.  I also have added (though it is hard to tell in this picture) a piece of black shark-tooth scrim in the mouth.  Theatre people know what that is, but for those of you who don't, scrim is a loosely woven fabric that will allow the person inside see out, but make it more difficult for people on the outside to see in.  At this point, I also added a dimple in his chin.

Eyebrows (made from trimmed down feather boas), fangs and a tongue are glued in place.  See how those ridges at the corner of the mouth make the smile bigger.

And finally a nose, some pointed ears and a few tufts of white on either side of the head to give him that older man, distinguished look.  A couple of sparkles in the eyes and he is ready to go.

Now, if anyone says my work sucks, I can't be offended.