Autumn~Sucus Auribus Sanguis

 















This might be the most bizarre kit release of sculptor William Paquet's career. Released through his amazing resin kit company, Sheer Terror Society, this cadaveric piece is titled, Sucus Auribus Sanguis, (Latin text) or simply, Blood Sap Zombie. This piece is to be the first of a four part Seasonal theme that William intends to realize: Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Blood Sap Zombie is the Autumnal release. *side note: in progress photos of the Winter piece, which is fucking...incredible, can be seen on the Sheer Terror Society Facebook page.*

  I would peg the scale to be in the 1/6 neighborhood, standing at just shy of 14" in height. Cast in four solid pieces of resin: main body, left arm, skull, and the base. Do you understand the implications of a complex figure such as this, with all the negative spaces and undercuts, being cast in in so few pieces? The entire body, sans the left arm, was cast in one...piece. And extremely cleanly cast in one piece, at that. I had only to scrape with my hobby knife around the perimeter of each piece, fill a few air bubbles on the right hand and the left elbow with some epoxy putty. The casting William sent me was the color of pistachio pudding; a strange, ecto green. 
  
 I'm fighting back the urge to drone on and on with praise for this amazing piece, but let it suffice to say it's among the most original, highly detailed resin kits I've had the pleasure of painting, and I've painted a good many. With my paint scheme, I wanted to pay homage to the beautiful colors of the late Autumnal season here in the midwest, but with a bruised,  moldering aspect. I envisioned the strange, corpse-like elemental wraith to stride over the tangled mess of unidentifiable body parts; engorged with blood taken up from human viscera (and unfortunate woodland creatures alike) that blankets the forest floor. Always in flux. Shifting, shimmering like flame, and smelling of sweet cedar resin, wood smoke, iron and putrescent flesh all at once. The fleshy vines which course about it's emaciated body acting as siphons to sanguinate, feed and replenish it's nearly whole, (unwholesome?) form. It oddly regards a freshly depleted human skull in it's monstrous, vine fingered hand. 

  I was constantly reminded of Andreas Vesalius' anatomical illustrations I used to study in high school art class when working with it. I applaud William for releasing such incredible pieces.

 


 

Spiderzero~Medusa Finished

It's been seven years, but at last I've finished painting one of my favorite resin kits. Released in 2008 by sculptor Simon Lee, Medusa has been on my Top 5 Must Paint list since I opened the box in which she arrived that same year. 

 I've always thought Simon's Medusa had a distinct H.R. Giger air about it; particularly the head, which I thought to be reminiscent of Giger's original Li painting in it's general shape: 

  
The forms and amazing organic flow of the piece are wonderful. Strangely beautiful, delicate and bizarre all at once. An elegant and monstrous pirhouette. 

          

Caracolilla Finished

It took me a bit longer than I had initially expected to finish, but at last, Caracolilla is finished. (See my previous post regarding the bust): http://thesepulcher.blogspot.com/2015/06/caracolilla-nude.html Upon seeing this beautifully rendered piece for the first time, I immediately thought of some of the strangely beautiful, and otherworldly alluring beautiful women seen in many of the late artist H.R. Giger's fantastic paintings. It was right then and there that I decided to attempt painting Caracolilla in a similar manner.

 I spent quite a few evenings after work, and some weekends as well, layering sepia and black washes; applying different tones of airbrush colors, and working the highlighted areas of the bone-like, chitinous formations of the head, and her lovely, angelic face. It was a constant ballet of additions and subtractions; ebb and flow, and I loved it. I would've liked to better define some of the biomechanical line work that Giger is famous for in the face, but alas- I needed to wrap it up and move onto the next project. 

 I must again thank Abner Marin for gifting me with this most amazing piece! Thank you!








                       

       

     


                                             

  
    

   

  
  
   

Caracolilla Nude

This beautiful piece will be occupying my paint table for the next few weeks. It's called, "Caracolilla", and is sculpted by digital artist, Abner Marin. Abner very generously sent me a casting of this stunningly detailed bust a few months ago, and it's now available to order from Black Heart Enterprises: http://www.blackheartmodels.com/

 There's absolutely nothing that I can say about this amazing piece that the pictures won't illustrate. Enjoy.

Diseased Alien

 This is another great piece sculpted by artist John Schuster. It's basically your typical "Gray Alien" design, but with quite a gruesome cleft lip and palate rotten nose. The bust is solid resin cast, and a one of a kind piece according to John. The little Feller is just a touch under 5" tall, and flourishing with subtle skin wrinkles and detail. The skin tone I painted turned out more purple than I originally intended; a minty, pistachio green was one of the colors that I'd been applying and knocking back alternatively throughout the paint process, and it seems a knocked it back a bit too much to even detect! But, in the end, I'm happy with it, and John seemed to be pleased with it as well. 

                      
                                            
  



  

     

Desmodus Vrykolakas

I recently finished painting this most excellent vampire display piece sculpted by artist Anthony Watkins. It's cast in solid resin, and comes with a nice round display mount and a clear resin stand. The head is roughly the size of a nice sized orange or apple. This piece really is a painter's dream with all the great textures, crazy teeth, and dramatically positioned tongue. I chose a pale gray skin tone with a really dark, inky mouth and bright reddish-orange eyes to stand out. Anthony didn't have a particular name for the piece other than vampire, so I took the liberty of naming it Desmodus Vrykolakas. Desmodus being a common Vampire Bat, and Vrykoulakas being the Greek, or Slavic name for a blood-feasting, undead creature. Even though it's only a head piece, there's just so much gnarly, pissed-off energy in the facial expression and writhing tongue, it's sure to hold it's own among the other nasty creatures in any Garage Kit enthusiast's display cabinet.






 

Avagddu

I painted this awesome piece several years ago at my friend Norman Meyer's home, way out in Los Angeles, CA. The character is named, Avagddu, and it's from a comic book called Slaine the King, illustrated by Glenn Fabry, and written by Pat Mills and Mike McMahon. Here's a short description of Avagddu found on the internet: "

"Avagddu is the son of the earth goddess and a tainted, brute of a demon. Avagddu is misshaped and covered with boils; he also has only one good eye. He is the dark side of the Earth Power personified."

  

 

                                           

                  Above is an illustration of Avagddu by Glenn Fabry from the pages of Slaine the King. As you can see, Norman did an exemplary job capturing all the nuances of Glenn's depiction of Avagddu. I actually applied some of Norman's facial hair to some of the boils to push the loathsome factor. Visit Artist Proof Studio webstore to purchase a casting of Avagddu here: http://artistproofstudio.bigcartel.com/product/slaine-the-king-avagddu-resin-bust-2000-ad

*Photos courtesy of Nitai Kearney*