Son of Sam, with Severed Head and Naginata - Final Render (2020)
Was very inspired a few years back by a samurai armor exhibit at LACMA, and have been wanting ever since to try my hand at my own interpretation.
About three and a half months from start to finish. Was all kinds of maddening fun.
About three and a half months from start to finish. Was all kinds of maddening fun.
Son of Sam, with Severed Head and Naginata - Greys (2020)
As always, I like to make a clay render version as well, but this time I mixed in along with that the grey metal material I created.
Son of Sam, with Severed Head and Naginata - Back (2020)
The rune characters surrounding the base pop up in my work a lot. They also appear here on his weapons and decorate the rim of his helmet.
Son of Sam, with Severed Head and Naginata (Greys) - Back (2020)
The most time consuming part of the piece was undoubtedly the stitching, as each one had to be placed by hand and then moved again when I posed him.
Son of Sam - Neutral Pose (Front) (2020)
As per usual, I created my character first in a neutral T-pose, and then moved the separate subtools into position with the transpose arm.
Son of Sam - Neutral Pose (Back) (2020)
Fibers seen here had to all be thrown away prior to posing, and then recreated once he was actually in his set position.
Son of Sam - Helmet (Front) (2020)
The helmet came first, and when I began I had no thoughts of taking him further. But once it was done I decided to take the next step and make him a mask.
Son of Sam - Helmet (Back) (2020)
Runes again. If you've looked at more of the work on my page, you've doubtless seen them elsewhere.
Son of Sam - Helmet (Top) (2020)
I've grown very partial to the kind of free form doodling you see in this surface design. It's done extremely fast and loose, and I typically use a lot of layers so I can discard what's not working as I go.
Son of Sam - Mask (2020)
The details I've etched into the surface are another example of this. As the time lapses illustrate, I'll go through a lot of iterations before arriving at something I like.
Son of Sam - Helmet and Mask (2020)
So, once I had the helmet and mask, I thought I'd go as far as a chest plate and maybe some upper body armor. Still had no plan to make a full character, but was having too much fun to stop.
Son of Sam - Helmet and Bust (2020)
So, by this point I figured I should go ahead and complete him. A lot of the assets were discarded and started over from scratch, for example the rope and stitching.
Severed Head (Front) (2020)
Had the idea for his props as I was finishing up the T-pose. The finished product is pretty much as I envisioned by that point.
FYI - I also considered mounting him on an armored battle ostrich. Perhaps I'll do that at some point. I think it would look pretty boss...
FYI - I also considered mounting him on an armored battle ostrich. Perhaps I'll do that at some point. I think it would look pretty boss...
Severed Head (Right Oblique) (2020)
Not exactly sure just how long this unfortunate fellow's been deceased. The blood is fresh, but I also wanted his skin to have that moldy old rotten cheese look.
Severed Head (Left Oblique) (2020)
It was of course the arrow that killed him. His decapitation came post mortem and was purely for spoils of war purposes - as all the best decapitations generally tend to be.
Son of Sam Weaponry - Arrow, Katana and Naginata (2020)
More of my trademark mystic runes. When in doubt, bust out the runes.
Time Lapse and Turn Around Video #1
Time lapse and turn around of his helmet. This was four days, I believe. You'll see that parts of it change later on once I start assembling the pieces.
Time Lapse and Turn Around Video #2
This one is a time lapse of the mask only. Another four days, if I recall.
Time Lapse and Turn Around Video #3
Upper body time lapse, including twin katanas and harness.
Time Lapse and Turn Around Video #4
Lower body and a lot of refining, including redoing all thread work.
Time Lapse and Turn Around Video #5
Finally, this is a time lapse refining his face (which you don't even see, but whateva...), his trusty rune covered naginata and hapless decapitated foe.
I tried to time lapse the posing as well, but the file was so large by this time that it was crashing my system incessantly, so I abandoned the final video and went ahead and posed him without.
Thanks for watching!
I tried to time lapse the posing as well, but the file was so large by this time that it was crashing my system incessantly, so I abandoned the final video and went ahead and posed him without.
Thanks for watching!
