Author: Claude Raymond Design

The Baby Beholder is moving along well. The eyes should be completed this week and hopefully the complete base coat as well

I’m also hopeful that I will get the Stone Elemental hand completed this weekend.. The rubber coat has dried and the textured coats have been added afterwards as well. It should turn out very nicely.

I’m using several peoples paper mache concepts and ideas to make my own “concept” and using it to make a couple of small Dragon head Trophy mounts… the “cloth mache” that Gourmet Paper Mache uses is a great idea. I will be using the Avis Studios Clayche on this build as well. This is as far as I have gotten on the build.

    

 

I tore my knee up so walking up and down the steps is a pain.. So I sat around this past Sunday with the dogs and after a little while I decided to make some small trophy head mounts.. Starting with a Smurf..I have no idea how my brain works but I decide to make a little 3 apple tall Smurf head… well that means he is really only one apple tall. My Smurf Head is a version of the movie Smurfs.. I decided to also make a couple other Fairy type critter trophy heads as well. So if you want a Smurf Trophy head mount they should end up at the odd mall in May.

      

I’m not sure what other trophy head ideas i have stuck in my mellon…we shall see what else shakes loose…

as always if you have any questions feel free to contact me.

 

 

 

It’s February and I’m slacking at doing bi-weekly posts. So here goes my verbal/written diarrhea and poor writing skills.

I’m getting ready for the May OddMall and starting to look at the options of doing other shows. I’d love to start up some sort of Goblin Market Craft show in Cleveland….there is the written diarrhea…words just flowing out…but I would..how does one start a new craft show from scratch?

I have lots of critter builds going on. Let’s do a quick run through

The Baby Beholder is coming along well. I expect to have his base layer done by the end of this week. Here is how he started and where he is at right now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Once his base coat is done I’m going to give him the classic 1975 beholder hide. I’m not a fan of the eye layout so I changed that up. I have it designed so he can be screwed onto an acrylic rod base or the future owner will be able to hang him up in the house with some fishing line.

I’m just about done with my beta test Stone Elemental Hand. It is a paper mache build with some other media mixed in there. The palm of the hand will have a “pot” in it so the owner can put a small house plant in the palm. Don’t you worry, I’m a thinker.. The area of the pot is going to have a rubber coating on it so the water won’t cause any issues…. After I finish off the beta test I’ll be building one to take to the oddmall.

Also showing up at the Oddmall if things go as planned will be a Stone Elemental Head. He will have a light inside his melon so that the eyes will glow. I think I’m also going to see about making some light come out of the mouth and perhaps make some cracks in the back of the head that will make some interesting light/shadows against a wall behind the head.  I have lots of paper mache work to get to.

   

I’m doing some Paper Mache Dragon building as well… I’m not sure how it will all work out in the end but there is a chance I will have a couple of small dragon Trophy heads at the Oddmall

The two sets of weeping angels are being finished off. One set will be attached to some round bases while the others will be attached to some bookends. I’ll post some finished photos shortly.

This guy was made as a test on some materials and oven temps.. The sign on him is only temporary. I’m still working on what I’ll put there.

I will also have 2 new Bonsai Tree Ents at the Oddmall. One will have a little tea light fairie light on his base the other is made to hold a pen or other such item in his arms.

I think that’s it…..Other than my Unicorn Trophy wall mount that I’m building. I’m not sure if it will be ready or not for the May Oddmall. We shall see. It is based on the Unicorn from the “Hunt of the Unicorn” Tapestries. This means the horn will be really really long and it will be much smaller than the “movie” horse look that most folks have in their head.

I may for the first time Mold and cast something because the horn is something I don’t look forward to making more of by hand each time i make a Unicorn Bust… plus I can than perhaps simple sell you fine folks the horn.

We shall see.

Enjoy the Snow!

Steve.

 

The new year has started and I’m hoping to do more shows this year..

 

The only one I have booked so far is the May “Oddmall” at the Akron Convention Center.

 

You can find my work for sale here on the site and I also have several listings on Etsy. I big thanks to Kacie in Pa for being my first Non Networked Etsy sale. I hope her sister loves the Bonsai Tree Ent very much.

 

On to some completed Projects and some that are in the pipeline.

 

This past December I did a couple of “commissioned” pieces for friends. One wanted some Doctor Who style weeping angels for an xmas gift for his daughter and the other was a friend that wanted a Bonsai Tree Ent for her sister. The concept request for the Bonsai Tree Ent was to make it morbid. So I decided to go with making it diseased. This is the end product, a black plague is seeping into the tree from the corner of the pot. The leaves are starting to fall out and the Bonsai Tree Ent has the Black Death creeping over it as well.

      

 

My Friend Steve stumbled upon folks that DIY weeping angels from Barbie dolls and asked me if that was something I could do. After Googling it Doctor Who Weeping Angel Barbie (sorry I’m not a Doctor Whoer) and I saw the DIYs and found folks on Etsy selling them. Not happy with the DIYs and the look of the Etsy ones I took the concept and built upon it. I had to improve on the hair and hairband by sculpting it and I had to improve on the wings by doing a little more to it to get a good statue style wing quickly to keep the cost down.  The final result the final result turned out great… The Doctor Who Weeping Angel Barbie I made looks like they should weigh several pounds but are very very light.  I of course was also not happy with just making The Doctor Who Weeping Angle Barbie with her face covered. So I had to hack the arms and face apart more and rebuild it to make the screaming and reaching Doctor Who Weeping Angel as well. Here are the final results of the build and you can also visit the “sale Page” to scroll thru some other photos of the final product.

    

 

This second set will be mounted to book ends and for sale at my booth at shows this year. I will also have a third set done that will simply be on stands.

 

I completed another Bonsai Tree Ent. This little guy can hold a pen for you or anything else you might want to give him. I left the branches bare on this Bonsai Tree Ent so you can plop some air plants into them. This creates a wonderful “life like” look. The pot is ceramic so this one has a little more “weight” to it.

  

 

Here we have Violet giving me some input on the Bonsai Tree Ent build as I was working on it.

 

I found some tiny ceramic pots and decided to try and make some Bonsai Tree Ent twigs… There experiments but I may sell them off cheap at the Oddmall if anyone wants to rehome one. I also have a picture of my Twig Sprite hanging out in a hanging flower pot below.

         

 

I started this Zombie Elf On the Shelf last winter and had him in the ground for a year to see what that would do to him.. It didn’t do much at all so I had to do some ware and tare to the fella after I painted his face. I’ll be taking him to the Oddmall this May. I have some Zombie Pumpkins up on Etsy as well. I made these a few years back and decided to try and sell them rather than put them back in storage. Check out the Etsy listing for more information.

 

I have made Zombie Snow man displays in the past with Super Sculpey and Femo so I decided to give Apoxie sculpt a try. The result is a little to grey. I still may take him to Oddmall and see if anyone likes him enough to take him home.

On to tests and other builds

 

This Gargoyal was made out of Super Sculpey about 10 or more years ago and had been sitting in a box for a long time. He is a cone incense burner with the smoke coming out of his butt. Yeah I’m that kinda guy. I have to do a second base for him since the current one doesn’t allow for enough air flow to keep the incense lit.  I ended up doing some paint treatments to make him look like stone.

I decided that the “pocket display” I made last year for my display table needed to be changed up a little. So I’m going to add a couple other things to it.. this half pot and this wood pencil holder will be attached to the display. I wanted to show folks looking at the table that the Bobble Heads could be put into more places than just a pocket.

I’m working on a new eye build here are a couple test heads with the new eyes in place. I think I like the results..

Lastly I’m going to be messing around with making some Trophy wall mounts and Displays. I’ll be using paper mache on a lot of them.

Here we have the start and parts for a couple of small dragon heads and the stones that will be used to make an Earth Elemental Hand. I’ll also be making the Head of a Stone Gollum/Earth elemental. The plan for that one is to have a light inside that will make the eyes glow.

And then there is this guy. The baby Beholder. He will be floating on a stand when completed.  So far his piece parts are coming together nicely. Also you got a peek of a naked Doctor Who Weeping Angel Barbie waiting in the back ground for her dress to be put on. Dirty.

Well I’m still looking into summer art shows to do in 2015. If you have any ideas feel free to send them on over my way.

I really need to take a week off and get the yard ready for winter.. nothing is worse than moving flower pots around in the mid 30s. Yet i put it off once again this weekend and instead did some model work.

This past week I started a couple of projects for holiday orders from friends and I started taking photos so I can get some things listed on my store.

I’m not good at all with custom camera settings but I’m giving it a shot. Hear are some test photos of my OOAK Caged Wood – Forest Fairy and one of my Caged Fairy Dragons.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I picked up a couple of clearance pots that I can use for some OOAK Bonsai Tree Ents. This one is a special order for a friend.

 

 

I’m not sure yet if I’ll have a broken or chopped trunk that the larger OOAK Bonsai Tree Ent will be looking at next to him. After this Bonsai Tree Ent is completed I’ll move on to making one for the next pot.. These pots are ceramic and a lot heavier than the plastic starter pots I picked up on amazon for the first three I made. I’ll see what I come up with for other models.

The other custom order has to wait to get posted on the off chance that the intended recipient comes across my build photos.

 

I’m tooling around with a smaller OOAK Fairy Wood Sprite. This one will be smaller and called a Twig Sprite….

 

 

I’m looking at getting his hands, feet and upper body done this week.. and maybe the face build. I had to spend some time this weekend also making more eyes.. i ran out of the size i want to use on these models and since i make all my OOAK doll eyes by hand i had to spend some time on OOAK doll eye making before i got back to work on the build of the Twig Wood Fairy.

One of these days when things slow down i’ll write up a tutorial on how i make my OOAK doll Eyes… its a combination of other folks ideas and some things i found that work well for my fantasy eyes.

I’m also making some other OOAK Earth Elemental Pebble Sprite. I’m going to make some that can hold something other than a die. We shall see what my broken mind comes up with.

 

As always thanks for finding my site and spending some of your time browsing.

Steve (the product of Claude and Raymond)

Thanks to everyone that stopped by the booth at OddMall this past weekend.

 

I’m taking a semi break this week…. I have a couple of special order projects i’m working on for some friends before the holidays.. one shall remain unmentioned till after the holidays ..the other is a new Bonsai Tree Ent.

      

The pot on this one is ceramic and the inside dimensions are 5 x 9. This will make the base a little larger and I’m still figuring out what i will do with the extra “leg” room.

i’m also going to get some NON phone pictures taking this week down in my little photo booth so I can get some stuff listed in the Store Pages. I’ll also put a thing or two up on Etsy in the next week or so.

 

If you found me at the show and have some other Ohio Area shows recommendations please send them on over and if you have any questions feel free to send me a note as well.

Thanks for Visiting my site as always.

Steve (the product of Claude and Raymond)

 

Starting to finish off my models for the show so let’s see what we have so far.

I’ll have a small group of Pebble sprites and since a friend made a “Thing” comment I had to may an homage to the big orange lug.

There will also be 3 Bonsai Tree Ents sitting on the table.. Two have been completed and I’m looking to finish the 3^rd one of this week.

          

Next up we have 2 Tree Sprites for sale. These fellas would be about 10 inches tall if they were standing up on their feet… I’ll have a third one there that is for display only and holding my business cards.

     

I’ll have this little caged green forest fairy that is looking for handouts as well.

I’ll have several smaller sized Dragon eggs and a couple larger sized ones as well. In addition I’ll have the extra-large red dragon egg that has a little shaking motion going on. I’ll have “ask” written on it.. I don’t expect to sell it.

I’m hopeful that I will have a couple of fairy dragon cages ready for November 1^st as well. Right now I’m working on the “cage environments”.

I messed around with some fake flowers and putting flower faces on them.. I’ll have them there to add to the table “look/fee” and sell um if folks like them…

And lastly I’ll have a display of pocket bobble headed critters…The 6 pockets will be filled and I’ll have some on display stands…

I think that’s it.. I may have some goblin babies with me as well… we’ll see…plus the little beta test below will be hanging out on my shoulder

 

 

 

 

 

 

The table layout has been tested.. It will be a little crowded… Once i get my table cloth completed we’ll do a second test layout.

Speaking of the table cloth… I thought i would use a Drop Cloth for a table cloth and try and put the company name on the front.. rather than purchase a banner i thought i would try and stencil it on…

I laid out the letters in the center of the cloth and i think the final results will end up looking cool… i should have the rest of it painted by the weekend.. and i can do a test fit then.

i’m going to have two Bonsai Tree Ents for sale at the show.. and in the next month of so i’m going to do some tests on using live plants on them..

this is the first Bonsai Tree Ent. I started by making a wire tree frame and added material ..I used some of my OOAK hand made eyes on the OOAK Bansai Tree Entas well

 

a couple more pictures here.. this is when the OOAK Bansai Tree Entwas mostly finished and the last one has the wash drying on him.. so the OOAK Bansai Tree Ent.

Next we have a little tiny elf resting on some wine corks..  I had an armature sitting around and Heather said i need to make something cute.. so i cooked this guy up in about an hour or so..

I used some of the new OOAK hand made doll eyes that i cooked up last week on him.. i must say i like the green eyes

Finally i’m just about ready to call the OOAK Large Red Dragon Egg complete. I installed some rare earth magnets on the “door” so it stays closed much better and i gave the OOAK Large Red Dragon Egg a Burnt Umber wash over the last couple days.

 

i’m not sure yet if i’ll do some more painting on the OOAK Large Red Dragon Egg .. i’ll let it sit for a bit and think on it.

So for the next update lets look for

1. table cloth finished

2. green ooak medium dragon egg completed

3. table test 2 completed

4. tiny shelf elf done

5. second bonsai tree ent completed

6. back to work on the Fairy dragons.

7. i’m sure there is a 7 8 and 9 …but i’ll hold off and naming them and see what else hits the list.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy weekend with sculpting and display projects.

I taped out a spot on the gaming table for a 72’x30’ table layout and did a “ruff” display layout.

I found out my OOAK Fantasy Bobble Head Creatures display was going to be too large. As you can see in the photo.. I took it to the table saw Saturday afternoon and it now holds 6 pockets. The photo below is of the display after i gave it a primer coat and did a test fit in our sun room.

 

I did a beta build on a cage stand for my OOAK Fairy Dragons Saturday and 1.0 was not tall enough….bummer..

A little toooo short………darn it!.. I had to put a paint can under it to lift it up off the table.

So Sunday morning I did 2.0 with a second piece of scrap wood.. much, much better. Just needs a coat of paint and we will call this one done. I’ll get a photo of the new one tonight.

I started to polyurethane my tree stump display for my OOAK fantasy Wood Sprite.. Now if I could only get the poly to fill in the holes on the edge of the bark and core. I’ll see what I have when I go check it out after I get home tonight. Another tonight item.

The for sale OOAK fantasy Wood Sprite was started and finished over the weekend.. Well, he needs to be baked but the sculpting is all done.

  

The photo on the right shows a test fit on the “leaf wings”. I’m looking at other options for leaf wings as well.. i’m not sold on making something from scratch on this.

I had the goal of wanting to finish off 3 OOAK fairy dragons this weekend and failed.. I changed how I’m doing the toes late Sunday so I’m going to be redoing the toes on the first 3.. They are at about 95% complete. I’m also still not sold on what I’ll be doing for wings.

   

 

That’s it… busy, busy weekend.. Getting close to being able to slow down.

I may try and finish off some display builds during the work week and look to aging the OOAK large Red Dragon egg inspired by the game of thrones design.

Have a wonderful week..

 

Steve of Claude Raymond Design.