, 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.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.
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.
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…)
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…)
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…)
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.
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.
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.
Symmetry
Here are some tricks for sculptors frustrated by bilateral symmetry.
First, impress a brightly colored string on the exact centerline of the face, then shine a light exactly on the center string. This makes the differences between sides glaringly apparent and consequently easier to fix.
Second, notice the terminus line — the delineation between light and shadow. You can get this line really sharp by bringing the light close to the sculpture. Concentrate on just sculpting along the terminus line. By moving the light up and down along the centerline, you can capture the volumes more accurately.
Last, take a picture of the piece and put it on your computer screen. Even now, I noticed a bunch of problems just writing this entry! Flipping the image horizontally also makes problems, and therefore solutions, really obvious.
Done with sculpting!
Yeah! The benefit of a Seattle snowstorm that put a foot of snow on the ground: five uninterrupted days trapped in the studio, sculpting.
She is pretty much done and ready for molding. We will begin the molds in four days, the day after Christmas. This will give me time to go over every inch of her to recheck the subtle details, and give my friends time to come over and see her.
Exhausted, happy, elated!
(More photos after the jump.)
Pretty happy
Some headway on the face and hair.
Hands and harp
It took me 12 hours to rough out the hands. When I gave her the harp, I realized the harp needs to be thickened up a lot.
Hands are one of the great joys of sculpting. An aspect of the human form is the juxtaposition between the hard bony structure of, say, the elbow, and the soft fleshiness of the surrounding muscles. In the hands, the dance between these two textures is very complex. The bones are like stones in a river with the muscles flowing around them. There is movement, turbulence, and exciting interaction of hard versus soft, rigid versus pliable.
This difference gives the human figure a dynamic quality. Too much softness, and the figure becomes flaccid and uninteresting; too much hardness, and the figure is brittle. Each texture has to be expressed with clarity and distinctness. This is what makes the hands so delightful to sculpt.
Torso cleanup
Yesterday was hands and elbows. When I finished those, I invited my sculptor friends over to critique and correct the work. Today we got the torso cleaned up and sketched in the belly-dancing top. This will be covered with real fabric and beads, so there is not a lot of detail.
Another week and I’ll begin the moldmaking. It feels wonderful to be at this big benchmark.
Arm sculpting is tricky
Today I began in earnest to work on the arms. The join to the body is a very tricky area, and it’s taken me most of the day to get it right.
Mermaid re-armed
The arms are back on and the scales are nearly done. Yeah!
A friend of mine, who helps work on hydroplane speed boats, is here in the studio making an intake cowling. You can see it behind the mermaid.
He had never clayed up an automotive part before; instead he had been using fiberglass, foam, and bondo. Yecch! I am showing him how to get really beautiful sweeping lines across the cowling. It takes time, but you can really control the shapes this way.
See woman merge into fish after the jump!
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