, costs about $100-140 and is well worth it. I’ve burned up seven ordinary $25 glue guns in the past two years. This orange beast can effortlessly put out several pounds of glue a minute. It requires specific shaped glue sticks available in 11-pound boxes. You can find great deals on the web.Fin mechanism prototype
It is time to revisit the mechanism that will move the fins. My primary reason for building this particular project was to learn mechanical movements. After I finished sculpting, I set aside a week to really figure this out.
The objective is a caterpillar motion, with a change in speed, that varies between a small flutter and a large sweeping motion, and these two motions cannot be synched. My engineering friends Kim Hall, Paul Illian, Pasha Amigud, and Bill Jeswine offered abundant suggestions. We began with frantic scribbling on napkins and available paper, accentuated with lots of hand movements and shuffling through the Grainger Catalog.
The next step was to build a super-rough prototype from available steel, bolts, screws, wood, glue, baling wire, and PVC. Have a look at it after the jump.
Preparing for molding
My team and I are preparing the sculpture for molds. We’re taking off the pieces that need to be done separately: the ears, arms, and fingers. We’ve made a mounting bracket of scrap lumber and steel to hold the arms so it will be easy to get around them. We reuse the bracket materials after each job.
Another photo after the jump.
Mounting the small parts
The small parts — fingers, ears, and fin bases — all get their own molds. We use cheap chopsticks to anchor them to sheets of 3/4-inch plywood.
Specific techniques after the jump.
The big molds (1)
I’ve already illustrated the molding process with the hair (see Moldmaking: the hair one, two, three, four), so I’ll just touch on the high points.
It is very rare today for a sculptor to do monumental work like the Red Silk Mermaid. An artist may sculpt only four or five such pieces in her whole career. The opportunity to make molds at this scale is equally rare, and it offers a terrific learning experience. A team of helpers can accomplish weeks of work in a matter of days. Their assistance is enormously valuable.
To find volunteers, I simply email all my friends in the industry and ask them if they know of anyone who would benefit from this study. In return for the volunteers’ assistance and labor, I introduce them to this work and show how it’s done in a professional studio. True, this is an informal atmosphere and not a standard lecture, but I require the volunteers to get their hands dirty in the process — often for the first time.
Photos of the volunteers in action after the jump. (more…)
The big molds (2): Mother molds and mold legs
Six volunteers today. We finished the mother mold shells and began to put the supporting legs on each piece. We’re doing the legs slightly differently from the hair because the pieces are so large. Instead of using a platform to measure all the supports, we’re just making them really long. We’ll cut them to length later.
Two more photos after the jump.
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The big molds (3): Opening
Three things today: cutting the legs to length, removing the bolts, and opening the shells. We used a contractor’s laser level to sight down the legs, then cut them off with a SawzAll. We then carefully removed the bolts from all the pieces — this took hours!
Near the end of the day, we used a few dozen screwdrivers to remove the first few shells. You can see them after the jump.
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Dying the fin silk
[Left to right: Jasmine Gilbert, Kim Graham, Owen Wolf]
We have begun experiments on the silk for the fins. Owen Wolf, who has been dying fabrics for more than a decade, is working with us find the right look for the Mermaid. My good friend Jasmine Gilbert, a fabulous costumer, is helping with the coloring.
This is the first layer of intense silk dyes. We will set these with steam tonight and then do the second layer tomorrow. It may take many layers, and quite a few attempts, to get the complexity of texture we are looking for. But it is a joy to finally be working with the colors.
Silk dying technique
We have chosen a stretchable silk that can handle all the movement without too much buckling.
We drew the pattern for the dorsal fin with a light pencil and masked the white areas with a liquid resist, then allowed the resist to dry. Next, we stretched the silk on a wooden frame with bulldog clips and rubber bands. After treating the fabric with vinegar, we drew the two silk dyes, intense yellow and magenta, onto the surface. With the vinegar treatment, it is astonishing how much control you can have with the movement of the color; it is very much like watercolor painting.
After the silk dries, Owen will steam it tonight to set the color into the surface.
Removing the rubber molds
At long last we are removing the rubber molds from the clay. It slips off with astounding ease. This haunting image shows the inside of the face mold. Good, clean, and without flaw.
Two more photos after the jump.
A new commission: Satyr Legs
I’m building the Red Silk Mermaid as a personal piece, between regular work and paying commissions. I’ve just received a very fun commission from a longtime client, Tyrell Littles. I will document this commission here on this site and return to the Mermaid as soon as we are done.
Photos and more about this new commission, a set of “satyr legs,” after the jump. (more…)
Satyr Legs at Wizards of the Coast
I created a costume with the new Satyr Leg extensions and then went by the corporate offices of Wizards of the Coast, where I used to work. I still have some great friends there. (The photo shows me with Dawn Murin.) We took it as an opportunity to test the leg extensions for comfort and show them off to a company filled with fantasy lovers. It was a terrific hit.
Two more photos after the jump. (more…)
Satyr Legs: Casting the rubber feet
I made the original Satyr Legs feet with bicycle tires bolted over the steel feet. The problem with using real tires is they have a lot of grooves and very little gripping surface; this reduces friction on the road. I needed a lot more contact with the ground.
To solve this, I used perforated steel and poured rubber to cast directly onto the steel feet. This is a tough rubber called VytaFlex 60. It is critical you first abrade the steel surface to remove surface oils before casting.
A closeup of the foot after the jump. (more…)
A new Tree Troll
After a great deal of thought, I have decided to put the Red Silk Mermaid sculpture on hold for the time being.
The single biggest reason is the economy. If I were to finish her now, it is unlikely she would sell for some time. Instead, for the time being, I am going to make more accessible pieces. Silk Mermaid fans, be assured I am not abandoning the Mermaid, merely delaying her for a better time. My profound thanks to all the volunteers who have helped so far on the great lady. I will contact all of you personally as soon as the work resumes.
This site has become a way to connect with artists around the world and exchange ideas and techniques. This will continue as I document and construct another project very close to my heart, and also much less demanding to build. I have begun work on a new Tree Troll — a 12-foot-tall, two-ton concrete Troll for a children’s playground.
More about the new Troll, with many photos of the foil maquette, after the jump.
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Tree textures
I am determined to make the concrete Tree Troll almost indistinguishable from real wood. To do that, it is important to understand the complex language of surface texture. The whorls, knots, cracks, and crevices that trees gain as they grow are very characteristic.
Each day I mix up a pint batch of mortar and spend about an hour and practicing, using old weathered driftwood as reference. Pictured here are some samples of the real thing, along with some good tests — and some dreadful ones. Another photo after the jump.
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Digigrade leg extensions
At last I have finished designing my digigrade leg extensions and am now selling them to costumers, performers, and actors at Kim Graham Studios. Here is a good shot of the finished satyr version, with split hooves. These leg extensions make the wearer 14 inches taller, which makes me 6′ 7″ — and a real crowdstopper!
This one-minute Digilegs video demo on YouTube shows just how naturally they move. The hooves slide on springs; the movement constantly hides the foot mechanism and gives the wonderful impression of an additional ankle joint.
For Steamcon, a steampunk convention in Seattle (October 23-25, 2009), I’m already planning a “steam-powered” version with gears and moving parts. A Jules Verne mechanical satyr — it will be so cool!
If you have questions, please contact me at kimsculptor (at) gmail (dot) com.
Digilegs demo II posted on YouTube
After worldwide attention from Gizmodo, Boing Boing, CrunchGear, Neatorama, and many other major sites, Kim Graham’s first Digilegs demo on YouTube has been viewed almost half a million times. Now Kim has posted a second Digilegs demo on YouTube, this time demonstrating how to put on the mechanical leg extensions and move easily up and down slopes while wearing them.
Kim Graham is on YouTube as inventorgal.
Dancing on quicksand
Alas, the Silk Mermaid mold is now buttoned up and hoisted into the ceiling for long-term storage. At some point I’ll return to this wonderful project, but it will not be for some time.
The surprising news is, I’m also putting the concrete Troll away for an equally long time. The Digileg extensions have become enormously popular and required all my attention. There are now several hundred people who would like sets, and this requires a large production run. I will not be documenting that process, but will be posting some of the creative costumes fans will be building when the Digilegs go on sale.
Part of the life of an artist/entrepreneur is to be open to the unusual opportunities on your path. First I began on the Silk Mermaid, then the leg extensions, then the concrete Troll. Now the extensions are back on the front burner and heating up. Once the leg extensions are in production, I intend to resume blogging about my personal projects. It will be several months before I can begin anything new, but rest assured, whatever it is, it will challenging and fun!
Surviving as an artist is often the elastic ability to adapt from one project to another and to really enjoy that shifting challenge. I call it “dancing on quicksand.”
The new Tree Troll maquette - now on hold