Character Making Contest 2024 — Stan Winston School of Character Arts Forums

'skekSalt' the Skeksis

jameskitts — Thu, 29 Aug 2024 00:04:45 +0000

This is skekSalt, my puppet/costume of my original Skeksis character. I love the Dark Crystal and have wanted to try my hand at a Skeksis for a while. I also love pirates, so when it came time to design my Skeksis I chose to style him on the most decedent pirate of all: Captain Hook (specifically Jason Isaacs Hook from 2003).

He is obviously inspired by the Dark Crystal but he is my own character and design. I sculpted his head and hand in clay, moulded them and cast them in latex. I built the mechanisms, the costume frame, and fabricated the costume. The eyes, teeth, hair punching, painting and all finishing was me too. So I'm too blame for his shortcomings haha.

I hope you all like him. I'm yet to decide on a title for him but he loves treasure, stalking the Sifan Coast, and sailing the Silver Sea as a pirate captain. Maybe some of you in this forum can help me come up with a title for him?

There are 9 photos below.

* Character Making Contest 2024 Winner Announcement *

Chris Ellerby — Fri, 06 Sep 2024 02:09:23 +0000

Thank you to all the exceptional artists who submitted their work to our 2024 Character Making Contest. Your entries were both artistically inspiring and creative. The competition was tough, and it was challenging to single out one winner. But after much deliberation, we're proud to present the coveted Grand Prize to Katie Scott for her extraordinary underwater creation, "Mermaid." Congratulations!

Here are some techniques that Katie ingeniously employed to breathe life into her creation:

"This is a full silicone mermaid suit complete with a diving monofin and webbed hands for improved swimming. The whole suit was initially created as a way to keep me warm while swimming in a mermaid tail and it definitely gets the job done- with style! This was built with the intention of being worn frequently, being light enough for air travel and a no-makeup prerequisite. I can carry, get into and move around in this thing with zero outside help (including the zipper with the help of a string)."

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Artist Spotlight on the Stan Winston School Blog - PRICELESS

Grand Prize Winner:

Mermaid by Katie Scott
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11600/mermaid-by-creature-fins/

Runner-up:

Klo Paan the mercenary by Jack Malone
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11433/klo-paan-the-mercenary

Honorable Mentions (in no particular order)

The widow by Dimafry
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11519/the-widow

Orc SFX Creation by Kira Stansberry
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11450/orc-sfx-creation

Macellarius by Maganuco laira
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11509/macellarius

Anthracite by Susana Rodero
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11512/anthracite

Ian by Kat Bee
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11517/ian

Morgan Freeman from South Park by Jason8291
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/11554/morgan-freeman-from-south-park

- Team SWSCA

The dissected Victorian man

Tasha Pearce FX — Wed, 28 Aug 2024 16:34:24 +0000

Brain quarter cross section anatomy bust, inspired by Victorian illustration.

This is Dominic, a character bust taking inspiration from Jean-Baptiste Marc Bourgery's 1800's illustrations, blending the excentric style with modern day anatomical reference, particularly real Caracas cross sections.

Sculpted in monster clay, fibreglass mould, ran in silicone and soft foam, hair punched and resin eyes

Super Mario - SciFi Armor Suit

Waltematec — Sun, 11 Aug 2024 09:51:08 +0000

I planned this out about 3 years ago, kind of a cross between Super Mario and Starship Troopers/Halo/Metroid.

The concept was simple, but it seemed interesting to me, because I felt that if someone saw the suit, they couldn’t help but imagine what other things from that universe may look like, IE Yoshi, Bowser, Koopa Troopers, and so on.

Because the Nintendo franchise is so well known, it would almost automatically inspire people start thinking about applying this aesthetic to COUNTLESS other characters.

I started out with the concept design, which was basically a modified unused armor design from one of the Halo games. I liked this specific one because it just so happened to have circular plates on the chest that were in the exact right place that if they were painted gold, they would look like Mario’s overalls buttons. I wanted to keep the design in the era of Super Mario 3 and Super Mario World because those were my favorite two games growing up. I kept this in mind while working the yellow scarf into the design to take the place of Mario’s yellow Cape from Super Mario World. Since historically Mario is also known as “Jump Man”, I wanted to work a jump pack into the design (using the cooling vents on the back of the DeLorean Time Machine as a guide)

After I had the design, I sat on it for about 2 years. I would always talk about it, but I was never really sure where to start with it. Eventually around this time last year I decided to go ahead and finally dive in to figure out what it would actually take to build this. I decided I would get an undersuit of some kind, and then build the blue armor (“overalls”) over top of it out of EVA foam. I had never used EVA foam before, but had always wanted an excuse to try it out!

For the undersuit, I bought a urethane chest piece and shoulders/arms. They equated to what I would describe as a tech-Batman style suit. I painted the top of it red using UreCoat and installed some light strips between the shoulders and the pecs.

After I had the undersuit, I had to start planning out the blue “Overalls”. I didn’t have a template for this specific suit because it was unreleased, and I modified it, so I had to build the armor templates from scratch from cardboard. I then had to cut the pieces back apart, and transfer the patterns into EVA Foam pieces:

Once I had the foam pieces I could start assembling:

I was able to finish the suit for Wondercon 2024 and wore it there, but after seeing the pictures, I decided I wanted to modify a few aspects of the suit (specifically I wanted to change the forearms to look more cybernetic) and I also wanted to build a hammer for him:

So these are the finished photos. The ones with the bare forearms are from WonderCon and the ones with the robotic forearms is the revised design for Halloween and LA ComicCon.

Insta: @waltematech for more build photos

Klo Paan the mercenary

Jack Malone — Sun, 04 Aug 2024 18:16:38 +0000

Here’s my submission for the Character Making Contest 2024

I'm thrilled to share a personal project I've been working on for the past five months. Klo Paan is an alien mercenary inspired by the universes of Star Wars and The Creator. Having roamed several planets in search of bounties, his body bears the marks of countless battles and the prosthetics he acquired throughout his adventures. He is 1.96 meters ( 6' 4" ) tall.

The concept and design of Klo Paan were developed over five months, a journey that involved sculpting, sewing, crafting, prototyping, 3D printing, and painting. Each step was crucial in bringing him to life, making him as believable as any character from the vast galaxies he inhabits.

The concept work was in real-time; I made many design changes throughout the process, gradually understanding who this character was, his story, and his motivation.

Materials played a significant role in this project. EVA was used for his armor and solar panel, resin for his weapons, backpack, mechanical arm, rifle, grenades, knives, and radio. The organic elements, such as his hands and head, were sculpted in water clay, molded in plaster, cast in latex, and then painted. His eyes were sculpted in 3D, printed in resin, and painted to bring a lifelike quality to his gaze.

A distinct visual identity was paramount. Every piece of his clothing and weaponry was designed to have its own place, communicating a cohesive visual narrative. The overall silhouette was carefully worked on to break traditional forms, making Klo Paan an intriguing figure.

I hope you like it as much as I enjoyed the whole process.

Check out more images on my Instagram!

https://www.instagram.com/jackmalone/

Bioluminescent Alien Makeup

Lauren Bennett — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 01:24:05 +0000

Hi all! I'm Lauren Bennett and this is Baileya, my bioluminescent alien. I've always been fascinated with the color-changing abilities of octopuses and cuttlefishes as well as bioluminescent organisms with their beautiful light displays, so I wanted to do a makeup that reflects those properties by way of UV paint and LED lights. I made 3 overlapping silicone appliances for the head, a spine piece, and 2 shoulder pieces. I incorporated 9 LED strips glued under the prosthetics to give the illusion of a ray of light moving across the head with the help of my friend (credit below) who sauntered and programmed them to meet my vision. I also incorporated a real bioluminescent organism called a Tomopteris along the back of the head and spine as a kind of glowy cerebral element.

I started designing this project as soon as I heard there was another character making contest and I'm so happy I was able to get it done in time! It was my first time making a two part mold over a core for a cowl piece and I definitely ran into some setbacks, having to do a lot of patch work on application day and move the spine piece up onto the head. Still happy to see it all put back together, this was so fun to make!

Please check out the video to see the light display and UV paint in action:
https://youtube.com/shorts/rrf-Tx6ScFU?si=_9zbZHzlRUorWGQN

Makeup: Lauren Bennett (@soulfirefx)
Photos/Videos: Harrison Webb (@justharson)
Lights: Richard Campuzano (@richard__760)
Wardrobe: Dollskill

* The 2024 Character Making Contest Has Ended *

Chris Ellerby — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 07:00:46 +0000

The 2024 Character Making Contest Has Ended

The winning entry will be announced on Friday, September 6th, 2024, so stay tuned!

Thank you all for sharing your creations with our community here at the Stan Winston School of Character Arts Forums.

Please click the "Like" button on your favorite contest entries. We take the community's reaction into consideration during the judging process. Let your voices be heard!

/Chris

Resident Evil Zombie

rey8garza — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 06:49:30 +0000

Sculpted on my face cast and casted the facial appliance out of silicone. Some of the other pros-aide and silicone prosthetics were made with my own molds and some of them were from bought molds. I also did my own bald cap. I tried doing the zombie as accurate as possible. I am still learning how to make dental prosthetics that go other the lips, so this was false teeth from pros-aide on my mouth.

Fatal (The Reptile) A comic series

Luke Soltesz — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 04:01:05 +0000

This is a comic series that I’m creating called Fatal. The character is The Reptile. Let me know what you think! Thanks!

Dark oak creature

Predatoreus — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 03:59:06 +0000

Mask made with tin foil and cardboard

Bellville and Tangle

rickkhughes — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 02:56:18 +0000

I drew a short story about Belleville and wanted to try and bring him to life with a stop motion puppet. I made everything myself except the eyes! Belleville has a stop motion skeleton with a clay head and silicon hands. Tangle is made of wood, aluminum foil and foam with plastic head and feet that I sculpted and made molds of.

Cenobite

Maria Dixon — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 02:39:40 +0000

I created a character based on the original Hellraiser movies from the 1980s and some inspiration from the new cenobites as well!

Angelique was a major inspiration for this makeup, I first drew up some concept designs, then I premade some 3rd-degree silicone veins. This was for a character 'drag' final so on application day I woke up around 4 am to apply the bald cap to myself, and applied the 3rd degree cuts on my arms (just the skin flaps first no blood or color until the very end), and the 3rd-degree skin being pulled on my shoulders, I powdered all of the 3rd-degree and then drove to class (driving bald at 6 am lol).

I then did the color correcting of the hair, I blocked out my eyebrows with a glue stick, powder, color correction, and concealer, I did the face makeup with some airbrush (Iwata), eyeshadows, contour, and highlighting, especially on the neck, chest, and head. I also applied these small cylinder metal pieces on the nose to simulate piercings.

Once the face makeup was finished I went and applied my silicone veins, painted it all with the PPI Skin Illustrator palettes, blood tone, aged blood, vein tones, etc., then I applied fleet-street blood, coagulated mehron blood, and some scab blood as well as some blood mixed with a little bit of water (which I also applied to the shoulder silicone pieces). I put safety pins through the skin on the shoulders and attached them to the earrings with a small silver wire. I put together the wardrobe as well!

(Also I wear glasses so I had to do all of this while not having my glasses on since the bald cap and makeup would be messed up (I was not able to start my makeup until class started so I had to be strategic)).

I will definitely be doing this makeup again but with more airbrush (this was my original plan but I was having difficulties so I decided to go back to using shadows for the sake of time).

I will also create a character later on with a larger chest prosthetic hopefully made of silicone!

Pirate

Maria Dixon — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 02:33:37 +0000

This is my pirate with her eye out! I had such a fun time creating this character.

She has her eye out of its socket from battle, I made the base from latex and cotton and I premade the eyeball from hot glue, paint, red yarn, glossy top coat, gelatin, and of course blood! There is a scar across her lip made from rigid collodion, a dirty face and chest using dirt works in muddy waters, a bloody nose with scab blood, blood on her hands, and blood in her mouth. I layered Pros-Aide on her lips to make them more chapped looking, I also made a 'hero cut' or a cut on the brow with 3rd-degree silicone, no color powder, PPI Skin Illustrator alcohol palettes, and blood. I used these same products to make the cut on her shoulder as well!

Other minor details I included were the gold bottom teeth, hair accessories (including styling the hair with waves), and some smudged eyeliner on the other eye with some smudged mascara. I used some soy sauce and water for the rum and I put together the wardrobe as well!

I have a small video that I shared with the Stan Winston School Instagram account under my username (@ashleycomstocksfx)

Ophelia

Elizabeth Dapo — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:57:46 +0000

While stuck in heavy traffic on the drive home, I was listening to "Dead Wishes" by Chris Cornell and had the idea to make a sculpture. I'm hoping to cast her in resin and create an effect like she's floating in water.
Thanks for the view and good luck everyone!
Liz

"Tony" - Monster Suit

Alex Wolfe — Sat, 31 Aug 2024 00:16:05 +0000

This guys name is Tony, he's a monster I designed and built for a proof of concept short film titled, And We Danced. The film was directed by my friend Kason Culley who also wore the suit for the production (pictured below on set). The majority of the suit was hand-sculpted out of air dry foam clay aside from some 3D printed elements on the gloves then attached to a green body suit. The claws had to be articulated for the film and the eyes needed some glow, which I used some red LEDs for. The design was partially inspired by the Gill-man from Creature from the Black Lagoon, as well as the Xenomorph from Alien, and a praying mantis. Here is a clip of the suit in a test fitting. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/TyzVeN8CXBQ

Which doctor?

Doug Henderson — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 23:15:04 +0000

I designed and applied this character’s silicone nose and upper and lower lip prosthetics. I also applied the multi piece wrap around head tattoos, which were designed by Travis Wilson, and produced by Tinsley Transfers. Travis also designed the amazing magnetic 3D printed jewelry and the costume.

We knew we would be using a large nose adornment that was in two pieces and assembled with magnets through a hole in the nose. This made the necessary size of the nose very large and made the actor’s already thin lips look ridiculous, so I decided to create fuller lip appliances.

The actor shaved his head for the role and here, I’ve applied the first of the 3 Super Baldiez encapsulated Ecoflex Gel silicone pieces.

Here, the upper lip is partially laid down. It extends to line up with the actor’s natural laugh lines. I used Smooth-On’s DermaTac to glue everything down, which worked very well.

I painted everything with Matthew Mungle’s alcohol based makeup palette.

I designed the contacts in photoshop and sent them off to a lens designer, but I’ve forgotten his name. I’ll update if I find it.

The makeup was for a short film.

The Funguy

James S — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 23:03:18 +0000

A cryptid known to haunt ancient forests, it stands 12-15 feet tall. With a body of living wood it gets its name from the perpetual “smile” on its mushroom like head. Viewed from a distance the Funguy doesn’t seem to move. The few reports of people getting close say it emits a pollin or spore that cause hallucinations very similar to psilocybin. At which point the Funguy moves very rapidly and in some rare cases with deadly consequences.

This guy has been on my mind for years and the dream was to make a full sized backpack puppet for Halloween one year. The money for that just hasn’t been there so I thought I’d at least flesh him out with clay. This is the first time I’ve used clay since high school where I’m sure the extent of my creation was an ashtray, yes we still made ashtrays back then in school. It was a fun experience and I look forward to working with clay more in the future.

Thanks for checking it out!

Gruffy

HSA — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 22:32:38 +0000

Gruffy my animatronic that I started 3 years ago and has been added onto since then. He has 128 channels of DMX, 8 110v dimmers, 2 high power speakers, a fm radio transmitter, 2 lasers, a moving head light, a geyser P5, and 5 par lights. He has an aluminum extruded x-rail frame from acrobotics and wheels to move him around. He uses a Boobox Flexmax, a servo DMX, and a 3 axis talking skull. The first year he was an old man in a cabin (that’s where the name Gruffy came from) and now he has become a voodoo skeleton that performs in a light show every Halloween.
he is the main character of my home haunt, Haunted Swamp Adventure. Which is over 1,000 sq. feet and has a swamp, an abandoned factory, a voodoo cabin, and much more.

Here is a video: https://youtu.be/sYqrisXyCJI?si=cvn7BCbsvf4FFemO

And my website: Hauntedswampadventure.com

Creature ?.>>£* Hutton

Frances Galligan — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 22:12:52 +0000

This character was inspired by insects and in particular microscopic larvae. There are also a huge subconscious influence from Men in Black background characters ( I just realised after the initial sculpture was finished). Some of the texture was inspired by topographic mapping lines. It was sculpted with WED clay and cast as a Polyurethane piece, painted with acrylic. Both hand painted and some airbrushing,

I really enjoyed working this guy out and playing around with a few things. This was done during a class the other week with Odyssey Studios. First time painting a character with an airbrush so I am pretty proud of it and look forward to learning more and incorporating more airbrush techniques into future creatures.

Any feedback and advice is appreciated
Thank you kindly
Frances

Puppet of a Brazilian actress for a theatrical performance

Monica Magalhaes — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 22:01:17 +0000

In this video you can see the process of building the puppet of Suely Franco, a Brazilian actress. The puppet was made of latex for a special effect in a theater show. The dialogue in the video is in Portuguese, but you can follow the process. Head was made by Mona Magalhães, the body was made by Carlos Alberto Nunes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkQ8htXnk2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZkQ8htXnk2U

Escape room characters

Jason Cope — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 21:32:26 +0000

I was contracted to produce five faces to go over the entrance of each of the escape rooms at "LockBusters" in Orlando Florida. Each face was a character to representation of the room's theme. These are three of those faces I made for my studio mounted together. Hope you enjoy them!

King of the darkness

Taelor — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:44:23 +0000

Original concept by me. I hand made the entire costume myself. Applied, painted and costumed in two hours.
prosthetics by Infected Fx

Swamp witch

Taelor — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:50:44 +0000

Costume and sfx by myself
swamp witch makeup using infected Fx, skin illustrator and graffiti Fx paints

My Story SFX....

Sylvia Mwashunguti — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:49:42 +0000

I will start by saying when you are passionate about something you always aim to achieve your goals.Being an Sfx MuA(special effects make up artist) was something I realized I could become if only I desired and pursued that dream.Am an MuA from Africa (Zambia) my passion for makeup effects began in 2020 till date..Each year I kept on getting better through practice and regardless of not having the right special effects makeup materials here in my country,,,That had not stopped me from doing what I love the most Special effects, I would improvise and come up with my desired art works.Below are my sfx makeup works .of.When you have passion for something you will create what you want from what you have.

Orc Chief - Character Making Contest 2024 Category

Jeff Thomas — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 20:02:44 +0000

"Be creative and make cool stuff" (Weta Workshops, NZ). I live and love by this moto! Coming from the land of the long white cloud, I have been inspired by Peter Jackson and Richard Taylor over the past couple of decades, but prior to that, I drew my creativity from the greats like Stan Winston, Jim Henson, Don Lanning to name just a few. Creature creation has become a passion. It allows me to express myself through sculpture, and is now thankfully my career as well. I still want to keep pushing in this industry, because I know there is so much still to learn and grow. I'm very excited about the next chapters ahead!! My boy was made by my own hands in WED Clay, then molded and cast in polyurethane. I then painted him to give him his life. Hope you like it....

Scary Special Effects Makeup

Sylvia Mwashunguti — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:47:59 +0000

Creature contest entry 2 - the melting man.

Nicholas Coleman — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:43:15 +0000

Still in the works.

Creature contest 08/30/2024

Nicholas Coleman — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:41:01 +0000

Working on s couple at the moment. Got into watching old planet of the apes vs. new planet of apes and wanted to make my own simian…

Mr. Grinch by 3MStudiosFX

SmallWonders — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 18:15:54 +0000

I wanted to share this Grinch bust I recently made! This bust is based on the phenomenal work by Rick Baker and his crew that was applied onto Jim Carrey in Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas. I sculpted in WED clay, molded in plaster, and cast in latex. I foam-filled the head and created resin eyes to install into the head. I made a pattern for his green fur, and glued it onto the bust. I laid his hairline with some green crepe hair and pros-aide.

This was a fun project and I hope you like it!

Beauty and the Beast Transformation by 3MStudiosFX

SmallWonders — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 17:50:57 +0000

Thanks for checking this piece out!

I was tasked to build a the Beast appliances for my local theatre company's rendition of Beauty and the Beast! This included the face, hands, and feet! As soon as I was given the job, I went straight to the drawing board. I knew I wanted something easily re-appliable between shows for the Beast's face. I was lucky enough to stumble upon Jasper J. Anderson's rendition of the Beast and thought he had the perfect idea! He created a mask, with brow appliance and jaw appliance sewn onto a spandex hood that could be used over and over again. He sewed a wig onto the hood and laid hair to bring the character together. I knew this was what I was going to do, but I wanted mine to have a different overall look. I wanted my Beast to resemble a bull. I gave him floppy ears and aggressive horns.

As far as the hands and feet go, I knew I didn't want to apply makeup every show either. I knew from the start that I was going to build some sort of gloves, as well as build the feet around some shoes. I was unsure where to start with the hands, so I reached out to the FoamFabber himself, Ted Haines. We bounced back and forth some ideas, but he shared the best way to make the gloves would be to foam fabricate the anatomy on top of spandex gloves. He explained that this would be best because it allows for light-weight and easy movement. Foam fabrication is also faster than sculpting, molding, and casting. I immediately took his advice and started building these gloves. These gloves were actually my first experience with foam-fabricating! They were a definite challenge, but a fun one at that! Once the foam fabrication was done, I was able to lay some hair to finish the look.

Since I foam-fabricated the Beast's hands, I knew I should do the same for his feet. I wanted to keep practicing with fabrication and build my skillset as an artist. I wanted the feet to have a false heel, to make it look more animalistic. Once the fabrication was done, I went in and laid hair just like the hands!

This was a super fun project, and I hope you all like it! I couldn't have done it without the help of Jasper J. Anderson and Ted Haines, so make sure to give them some love!