Creature Making Contest — Stan Winston School of Character Arts Forums

Inouri the Gelfling Courier

Jeff Brown — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 19:44:19 +0000

Inouri the Gelfling Courier.

Designed and created as a new creature that would live inside the world of Jim Henson's 'The Dark Crystal'. Heavily influenced by Brian Froud and the Dark Crystal world.

Fawkes the Phoenix

Miriam Brandt Selfors — Sun, 24 Jan 2021 22:59:29 +0000

As my university project I created a replica static puppet of Fawkes the Phoenix from Harry Potter. This was my first time working with featherwork, so the Stan Winston featherwork tutorials really helped me out. Each feather was individually dyed and placed onto the model. This project took 3 months to finish. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SIhX26RORWE&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=mirrribirrri

Little Shop of Horrors Pod 1 Audrey II Puppet

Matt-a-Magical — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 05:03:45 +0000

This is the smallest iteration of Audrey II that I made in 2019 for a production of Little Shop of Horrors in Washington, DC. I have never really taken a class on mechanics, but I've taken some various workshops at puppet festivals over the years, and have talked to other puppet-making friends to get a basic understanding of mechanics, but it would be nice to expand my knowledge and skill-sets. Even so, I'm pretty proud of how this turned out, as it was probably my most technical creation. All of the parts were things you could find at the store, though for convenience I ordered many online (foam clay, teflon tubing, braided nylon thread, etc.). The thing that made me the happiest was my nod to Jim Henson on the can itself. The thing that really launched his career was the ads he made for Wilkins Coffee, which was based in MD, just outside of DC, where he lived. Since the show was set in the 60s, and since Wilkins Coffee was big in the 60s, and the show was being produced in DC, where Jim got his start, I thought it was a nice little Easter egg to include. I doubt very many people got the reference, but for those who did, I hope it was well received. I had to design the label myself by piecing images off the internet I found. Hope you enjoy!
See more of my work at www.mattamagical.com, or on Facebook and Instagram @MattaMagical. Support my work at www.patreon.com/MattaMagical Thanks!

The structure of the head was made out of closed-cell polyethylene foam, then the details were formed using foam clay.

Mouth palets for the inside.

The leaves were made out of craft foam, sealed with non-toxic contact cement, and painted with acrylics.

The lips were covered in a stretch t-shirt type cotton fabric.

Then I coated them with silicone for a fleshy look.

Quiet on the set!

The creation with its creator.

https://youtu.be/uu_yz4GrAhk
A demo of the mechanics.

https://youtu.be/e0HOhro_lAM
The puppet in action!

Creature contest

Aaron Duncan — Sat, 23 Jan 2021 02:58:46 +0000

Blind Lord

Frédéric Wajeman — Thu, 25 Feb 2021 08:16:36 +0000

Hello
The Blind Lord is the name of this sculpture. This piece is the result of a collaboration between two passionate artists : Romain Pommier who created the design and sculpted it using the software Zbrush and myself, Frederic Wajeman, who made the physical sculpture. The 3D file was cutted in 6 main pieces with the eyes and teeth seperate in order to print them. The inside of the sculpture was created with a frame that helped making the horns, head and the entire bust stronger. The printing technique for this project is using filament PLA. Once fully printed and all the pieces put together with the frame, the sculpture was coated and reworked to remove the print marks and bring back some of the details. The eyes are made of transparent resin. The overall printing time was around the 100 hours. Putting everything together and painting it represent almost 10 hours. The pictures and videos was made using an Ipad and a lighting with LED, allowing us to modify the color and the intensity to fit with the mood we wanted.
That’s it for this great project.

Thanquol (Grey Seer Cosplay)

The Dunwich Crafter — Fri, 12 Mar 2021 20:17:22 +0000

Hello everyone!

This is my Grey Seer cosplay based on the design of Warhammer Total War II.
Materials:
-EVA foam
-Foam clay
-Fabric
-PLA
-Thermoplastics
-Latex
-Prosthetic silicone
-Polyurethane resin
-Polyester resin

Hope do you enjoy it!

Hyperendocrin Carnotaurus - The Isle

Boglarka Zilahi — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 20:01:00 +0000

Hello!

This is my Hyperendocrin Carnotaurus puppet that I completely handcrafted from scratch. The head, hands and feet are polymer clay with plastic claws. The body is soft, made with hand sewn elastic fabric that I painted with special paints by my hand. The large armour scales on its back are leather. The puppet has posable skeleton combination of copper wire and plastic ball and socket armature. Can be used for stop motion animations
Carno is around 60cm long
Character is from "The Isle" videogame

Pumpkinhead bust

Mauricio Chávez Vigil — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 17:23:38 +0000

Hello, this is my first entry, it's a 1/3 scale bust based on the character pumpkinhead created by Stan Winston Studios.

Baby dragon puppet

L'atelier du chat noir — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 19:54:33 +0000

Baby dragon is an articulate puppet with armature, textile and polymere clay, 25cm.

QILIN - Creature making contest

Boglarka Zilahi — Fri, 05 Mar 2021 13:47:43 +0000

Hello!

This Qilin is completely handcrafted from stratch. The head and hooves are polymer clay and the antlers, horn and larger spikes are instamorph plastic . The body is soft, made with hand sewn and dyed elastic fabric, faux fur and leather.
It's almost completely posable, it has special armature inside made with combination of copper wire and plastic ball and socket armature. Can be used for stop motion animations!

Short animation test:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CIyjWuWJqcb/

Posability demo:
https://www.instagram.com/p/CJIf67sJaT9/

The Elder Fox Guardian

Escaron — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 18:55:37 +0000

Hello, my name is Linda aka Escaron. Im a sculptor, story writer and artdoll maker with a close connection to nature. I give form to the unseen,the spirits and beings in the different realms all around us, those which arent visible to the naked eye but still are there. And also those you really need to look closely to see - those who hide among us. I create them so that people can enjoy them, get inspired, see and feel the magic in this world and beyond it. This is my passion. And now I will introduce you to one of these creatures, one that live among us, are us, protect us and our world, the Elder Fox Guardian.

If you happen to wander into a old and untouched part of the woods where the trees are aged and gnarly and the vegetation grows thick you may catch a glimps of a sudden movement, only to find theres nothing there as you turn your head. You could have sworn you saw the dissapearing tail of a fox, or a flash of brown from a deers pelt, but the forest is very quiet and still around you, almost as if the trees themselves hold their breath. And yet the feeling wont go away, a distinct feeling of someone watching you all the while an image linger in the back of your mind, of something that goes against all logic and sense. Surely it was just an animal you saw, it couldnt have been anything else, still...

They bear many names and at the same time no name at all. They are guardians, protectors, animal, nature and human born into one. Back in the days when human tribes lived in harmony with nature and wildlife these beings were quite known, for they were created by the very same humans, and they called them Elder Guardians.

When a tribes elder was about to pass on into the afterlife they could instead decide to stay, to reincarnate. As they breathed their last the other members would perform a sacred ritual, a pact with the realm of spirits and with Gaia, the mother earth. The elder was marked with the rune of Elhaz/Algiz* painted upon their forhead and together with sacred ropes and a sacrificed animal (the tribes totem) the elders head was then burried in a groove under a special tree, (the tribe spirit tree). And after three full moons passing the tribes Elder Guardian would awaken - human, animal and natures soul perfectly harmonized into one single being, immortal and there to forever watch over and protect the people and nature alike.

This particular Elder Fox Guardian may look somewhat scary, but believe me he is anything but. He is old, he is wise and he is protective of every soul alike. His past self skull with the rune of Elhaz/Algiz sharp upon his frontal lobe hang inside his crown of sacred branches, his past self face intertwined with the face of the fox, giving him perfect vision and senses. The twigs and brances growing from the fox body move by his command and works as both extra limbs, protection and camoflauge, and if you look closely you can see the memory of his past identity in the shape of the wood, a skeletal human looking form.
The Elder Fox Guardian is a perfect sync of souls and life in harmony and he will keep watch over this world and all its life together with his breatheren, the other Elder Guardians of various animal, nature and human joinings.
So If you ever walk through the forest, maybe feeling a little lost, and catch a glimps of something that isnt quite animal, if you ever feel eyes upon you, dont be afraid. If a Elder Guardian is watching you, you are safe, as well as a truly lucky fella.

(**Elhaz/Algiz rune come from the Elder Futhark runic alphabet and stand for protection, connection to the divine, wisdom and merging with nature among other things. Search for it of you want to know more.)

-------------

MADE:

The Elder Fox Guardian is completely handmade by me. His head, paws, the human skull and the braches (resembling a human skeleton over his back) are all hand sculpted, everything in super sculpey except the branches that are made in cosclay (so they are bendable and can be moved). I made a mold and casted the fox head in resin for durability and attached every piece to a skeleton/frame I made in thick wire. The skeleton was then filled out with batting to make the fox body. I painted all the clay parts in acrylics, glossed the eyes and varnished them. I also used model fibres to make the mossy parts on the branches. Then I hand dyed fauxfur and attached to the fox body, I shaped, trimmed and cut it to get the shaped I wanted. Lastly I made the ropes with lots of yarn, wire and small wooden beads I painted, drilled holes in the human skull and finally attached everything togheter. The Elder Fox Guardian is completely posable, he can bend all his legs, tail. neck and even the branches.The rope can also be adjustable (and removed). I have made artdolls before but never anything as complex as this, I tried a lot of new things and methods. Im really happy with both him and the lore I wrote.

SIZE: He stand 25cm tall and 30cm long.

Mormeltje

lisalahey.mua@hotmail.com — Mon, 22 Feb 2021 20:07:46 +0000

This is Mormeltje. A silicone bust, ears, resin eyes, horns and punched hair.
Creator; Lisa Lahey

Crabman

Luciano Zangla — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 01:01:04 +0000

Hello again people from SWSCA!

And this guy here is a Crabman, done in the past (February 2018). Sculpted in Chavant, cast in urethane resin and also painted with acrylics. Hope you like it!

Thank you!

El pequeño CERATOTERIUM SIMUN SAPIENS-JOSÉ MARÍA SERRANO CARRIEL

Jose Maria Serrano Carriel — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 14:04:31 +0000

OBRA: CERATOTERIUM SIMUN SAPIENS

* Creature Making Contest Winner Announcement *

Chris Ellerby — Fri, 19 Mar 2021 21:15:10 +0000

Congratulations to the co-Grand Prize winners of the Stan Winston School Creature Making Contest, Romain Pommier and Frédéric Wajeman for their amazing entry The Blind Lord

According to Frédéric "This piece is the result of a collaboration between two passionate artists: Romain Pommier who created the design and sculpted it using the software Zbrush and myself, Frederic Wajeman, who made the physical sculpture."

And a special THANK YOU to all the artists that entered; your submissions are inspiring and creative and made the competition very tough.

We hope you enjoy your winnings as much as we enjoyed your art, Frédéric and Romain. Grand Prize sponsored by our great friends at Fourth Seal Studios!

Grand Prize Pack: Over $1,400 Value!

From Fourth Seal Studios - $1,115 Value!
Do-It-Yourself
Twin Cast 28mm Combo Kit with Extra Casting Plate
1/4-20 Veining Stand Set
24mm, 26mm, and 28mm Sculpture/Casting Blanks

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28mm Camera Ready Slate Eye Set
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31mm, 44mm, 57mm & 63mm RBFX Eye Shells
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Merch

Eye Skull Face Mask
Fourth Seal Dad Hat
Eye Skull T-Shirt
2 Iris Stickers

From Stan Winston School
1-Year Unlimited Subscription to Stan Winston School - $359.94 value!
Artist Spotlight on the Stan Winston School Blog - PRICELESS

Honorable Mentions:

El pequeño CERATOTERIUM SIMUN SAPIENS-JOSÉ MARÍA SERRANO CARRIEL by Jose Maria Serrano Carriel
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8373/el-pequeno-ceratoterium-simun-sapiens-jose-maria-serrano-carriel

Crabman by Luciano Zangla
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8444/crabman

Mormeltje by Lisa Lahey
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8268/mormeltje

The Elder Fox Guardian by Escaron
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8421/the-elder-fox-guardian

QILIN - Creature making contest by Boglarka Zilahi
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8330/qilin-creature-making-contest

The Dunwich Crafter by Thanquol (Grey Seer Cosplay)
https://forums.stanwinstonschool.com/discussion/8386/thanquol-grey-seer-cosplay

- Team SWSCA

old witch puppet

L'atelier du chat noir — Wed, 27 Jan 2021 14:57:39 +0000

My puppet measures 40 cm and is articulated, made with polymer clay and media mix as materials, it is a puppet oakdoll

Galactic Zoo Denizen

Hyun — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 06:42:08 +0000

I made this creature in July 2019.

This is a Special Effect Make up Creature inspired by an Alien Scorpion.

This beautiful creature here is a trained carnivore who watches humans from outer space but will attack them someday in time. The key characteristic of this alien creature is that it has numerous eyes and teeth that are essential for food hunting, making it very scary. It also has large venomous jaws and tails. The moment we see this creature somewhere in the galaxy and look into its creature's beautiful eyes, we'll be caught in its food chain.

The Process for making it included Life casting from an exact model and Sculpture , mold, foam latex , and SFX make up.

Enjoy my beautiful

And I attach this creature video on YouTube link here.

https://youtu.be/HJ2BXFHMZYE

Amateur Hiisi and Shaman Inspired Forest Creature - Kid Friendly

creatorofthings — Sat, 13 Mar 2021 05:12:24 +0000

First time working with clay!!! Complete 'project.' This was a fun project I had fun experimenting with. He was an idea that evolved from wanting a forest type creature that was inspired by hiisi myth and a woodland shaman. Total time working on it was about 6 hours not including drying times.
Base creature frame from flower foam and toothpicks.
Air Dry clay over that. Covered with paper-mache mix.
Eyes were purchased online. Fur was bought in a square and cut, styled and attached where needed. All his other additions I hand made.
The bottom 5 pics of through the progress. The first ones are of his woodland photoshoot on our ranch.
I am really thankful for Stan Winston School for hosting these contests to stimulate creativity.
I hope you enjoy my little fluffy guy.

Thank you!!
Jessi

Tharg The Mighty - 2000ad character

Chris Nichols — Thu, 18 Feb 2021 01:01:53 +0000

Finished off my Tharg the mighty sculpture. First time using WED clay. Pretty fast to work with which is nice.
Planning on molding him this weekend and will cast in latex.

Grogu “baby yoda” the child from the Mandalorian series

Illuminate — Sun, 21 Feb 2021 22:52:51 +0000

My rendition of Christian Alzmann / Legacy effects puppet

This entire piece is 100 % hand made by me .Used monster clay to sculpt . Casted in dragon skin 10 platinum silicone . Painted with various silicone pigments / GE silicone + krylon , silcpig .. Epoxacast eyes hand painted from the back side and smoke tinted . eyes are removable . I have been doing this less than one year and this is my very first completed piece. I learned all of these techniques from watching the Stan Winston school courses. I wanted a grogu puppet or sculpture so bad after watching the mandalorian series and wanted to buy the awesome sideshow collectibles one but first decided to try my luck at making my own . I couldn’t be more satisfied with the results I got and am glad I joined the SWSCA because I actually learned so many things I never would have tried on my own . The pictures I posted were through the various stages and tweaks I made before completing the piece. Thank you Stan Winston School for giving me the tools to make my dreams possible ! I can’t stress this enough. If your interested in seeing the complete process of this project you can look me up on Instagram: razor_aesthetic

https://www.instagram.com/p/CLpusjVl0bG/?igshid=1sqi9krefseg8

The Grove: "Junior/AKA Knarles Barkleaf"

Justin Swain — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 15:46:04 +0000

"The Trees are ALIVE!"... again.

"Junior" was one of three trees I designed and constructed for the Logos Theatre's stage production of Prince Caspian, from The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis.

The requirement from my Artistic Director was for them to be bipod/humanoid and epic! A lot of the inspiration for the look came from a myriad of Tree Ent photos on Pinterest. The design idea came from the YouTube series that Stan Winston school did with Legacy Effects for Geek Week with Wired Magazine: How to Build a Giant Robot Mech. I will link a video that our team at the Logos Theatre created that highlights the tree design process: https://youtu.be/CkptnYfSefw

"Junior" is a mech suit. He is operated by one person inside on drywall stilts wearing a spandex suit for the lower half. The upper half mechanics are the same as the prototype parallelogram constructed by Jim Kundig with a few exceptions/modifications. Thanks to Matt Winston and Jim for answering a few of my questions during the process. The suit has a 13-foot wingspan and from toe to top measures roughly 12 feet. The exterior is constructed from EVA foam/L-200 (shoutout to Ted Haines on the Foamsmith Courses!). The legs/roots and musculature are all constructed of heat gun pipe insulation.

Photos of the design and construction process as well as the completed Mech are below. Here are additional behind the scenes videos of the build process: https://youtu.be/LnyoSiihWYU https://youtu.be/_WZ6fMW6SFY

KRENT the pumpkin reaper

Mihaela Vengher — Sat, 06 Feb 2021 23:36:38 +0000

KRENT is a underworld creature. He is a reaper. And it's a design which I have created.
It is handmade in polymerclay and mixed media. He is dressed with real leather fabric and belts, and polymerclay. The hair is made in whool.
He is in 1.6 scale. It is hand painted with acrylics. The skull flame in his hand was made in oil based clay and casted in resin.

(Sorry I am a foreigner, I had to translate in English)
This is the story of Krent the pumpkin reaper, told by himself.

Magic ... The air is imbued with magic ... You can feel it...

(* breathe *)

every time you inspire ... You feel it go down and flow into your stomach. The world and the laws of the universe are based on it .

But now, stranger, I'll tell you my truth: What do you know about necromancy?

Oh ... You sure don't know much about it (laughs), but don't be afraid, I'll explain everything:

Once a year, in the mortal world there is this holiday ... (laughs) they call this a holiday (laughs). .

Well, stranger, who among mortals leaves that world on that precise day ... Becomes a pumpkin!

Oh, no no, don't get me wrong. His death in his world, on that very day, fuels my power in my world.

And I, because I am tied to this power and chained with its deep roots, must pledge.

I will plant a small seed in this sin-scorched land, and a sprout will grow, fueled by its essence. That sprout will become a pumpkin ... And yes! You understood it well, foreigner. I turn mortal souls into pumpkins (laughs).

What do you think about it? Are you amazed? But you have nothing to fear, you will not become a pumpkin ... Just try not to detach yourself from your carcass on that very day ... Besides, I'm just doing my job!

You see, necromancy is a complex art of black magic, and black magic, like that of light, has a purpose, there is balance.

Especially necessary in this world, where a minimum charge of extra magic would be enough to unbalance this universe. For this, once the pumpkins reach maturity, I have to uproot them ... Ripping that gummy soul and adding it to my magical charge. Ooohhhhh ... I love that day, and plucking and cutting and skinning pumpkins is my favorite activity (laughs)

My world also has its laws governed by powerful gods, what you mortals would call ... GOD? But not here ... There is neither one ... This world is much larger and it is said that it has no borders. This whole world works like a machine, the energies in it feed their power, just as these greasy souls feed mine. A single sign from them would make mine, and yours of the world, disappear forever, dissolving and getting lost in the boundless temporal fabric. Enough with the fairy tales now ...

This is my story ... The known one.

I'm Krent the Pumpkin Reaper, and I'll be waiting for you here in my world, if you will be willing to know the rest (laughs)
.........................................................................
And now, some work in progress.

Thank you for watching and reading.

Yeti Monster Sculpture Bust

Creative_Creature — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 23:49:02 +0000

This is Abominable ! Sculpted in Sculptex Modeling Clay. After molding I will cast this in latex and add eyes hair and what ever ghoulish extras I may consider to spook this caracter out. I'll be molding the teeth separately to avoid locking and for ease of cleaning out the mold. This was a fun sculpt it presented some challenges as a large open mouth was the first time I've sculpted a caracter mask in that position.

A Little Fellow

Diego Rodriguez-galvez — Mon, 08 Mar 2021 03:53:31 +0000

I started sculpting this little guy as a fairy, but then it move more to look like some kind of alien. I don't know now what they really are, but I like how is looking. Made out of a wax modeling clay.

* The Creature Making Contest Has Ended *

Chris Ellerby — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 10:13:22 +0000

The 2021 Creature Making Contest is now closed for entries.

The winning entry will be announced on Friday, March 19th, 2021, 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

Original Alien Latex Mask

Thomas Kostelnik — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 03:59:40 +0000

Hellooooo again! This is the first latex mask I ever sculpted/made. It's an original alien design I came up with back in college ohh too many years ago. The eyes need work, but that's what this competition is for right?!

Bebé JABBA

Jose Maria Serrano Carriel — Thu, 11 Mar 2021 21:14:46 +0000

Modelado en plasteline Monster Clay, por JOSE MARIA SERRANO CARRIEL

Alien Scorpion | Stan Winston creature contest

Philipp Brates — Mon, 15 Mar 2021 00:38:22 +0000

Hello,

this is my second entrie to the creature contest. ( First entrie to be found here)
This time an original creatur - a scorpion from somewhere in the galaxy.
He is something between a facehugger, a headcrap and a "casual" earth-based scoprion, with big knive-sharp claws in the front and a supersized heavy duty spike on the end of his plated tail.

The front claws are for fixating the prey, while the big spike slams down on them to kill and crack open potential armored enemies.
He was sculpted mainly in SuperSculpey with a few smaller parts ( mostly the small hairs and spikes) out of Cosplay.

I started him begining of february on the weekend sessions.
Sadly I was not able to start the paintjob on him yet for the contest, but since I saw, others are submitting raw-sculpts aswell, I though I'll give him a shot anyway.

I streamed the entire process of creating and sculpting him on my twitch channel, but I didnt come along to pull the sessions together in a little timelaps yet. I will do eventually, also to have a nice memorie where and how it started, and how he turned out.

Some High-Res Closeups I managed to shoot, to emphasize the detail in his plates and legs

"Helena Rise!"

Chris Decays — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 07:00:15 +0000

Summoned in desperation from her agonizing sleep, Helena, A goddess of destruction and poet of war,in order to ward off the armies of heavens realms attacking the hellion gates. In the end, she has no side and chooses no mercy.

"Hellion Masquerade"

Chris Decays — Tue, 16 Mar 2021 06:53:32 +0000

Apocalypse day! One of the millions of "Hellions" ( demonic/ ghoulish creatures) inhabiting the burning realm in the center of the earth.
Monsters so ugly and disgusting, their supreme leader demanded they all wear masks before rising to bring war to humanity.
Even evil has mild manners.