Post #497333 by Bay Park Buzzy on Fri, Dec 4, 2009 2:17 PM

On 2009-12-02 11:54, TikiG wrote:

A Babalu/Squid collab?

Thanks for posting the in-process pics. Can't wait to see the finished deal. G

Here are some behind the scenes shots of this epic collaboration. It's kind of like in Star Trek when Scotty and Jim are in a full on crisis. Squid yells "Babalu, you're carving those details in to deep! You've almost made a breach!" Babalu screams back, "Dammit Squid, I know I can mold these features. I just know I can!" Squid yells again, "It will never break from the mold like that..." Babalu says:"It'll break dammit, I know it will!" And they just on and on like that all day for like five days straight...

Burning the candles at all ends, Babalu talks on the phone, listens to Squid, and make mugs at the same time:

Here's more progress on the mug from a different angle:

You can tell that the final piece was quite different from where it was at this point in development

After Squid left, things quieted down a bit. Babalu got back to work right away on a few new pieces. A few preview action shots will now follow of his projects for those of you who are interested in the creative processes of mug making and ceramics
babalu doesn't have time to post right now because he took on a very enterprising task. He wanted the lizard scales to actually show on the drum heads so he had to develop a method to make them look realistic. Here is how he finally overcame the hurdles of realism by using an atypical method of production:

After using that special process, he applies each scale on one at a time and uses scoring and slip to hold each one in place.

It's time consuming, but the results are worth the effort, as you can see in the preceeding picture

When I was over there yesterday, he had started another one off hand carved and detailed drum mug

He's pretty much freehanding this one:

Reference in the background for inspiration

Close up

He's hoping to have this one finished later today.

And for the sake of entertainment, here's some step by steps of my junk, for the fans of step by step pictures:

My clay approach is the same as my wood carving method: Start with too much material and take off all you don't want or need. I start with a slab, cut the outline, and mark out my high and low points.

In that picture above, I have drawn out my rough reference lines and have the right angle cuts made in it

I go marcus Thorn style and work from the feet up:

body done, now on to the head

More or less roughed out at this point. Next step is to cut it into small pieces and slap it on the background slab. I cut it into pieces to lessen the chances of air bubbles in it

Here's the slab rolled out awaiting the tiki

Here they are after I stuck them on:

I moved the holes to hang it to the bottom of the recess so that the hook you have in the wall will sit in the recess and the plaque will sit flush with the wall.

that's it for now. Tune in soon to see more from the Center of the Universe
Your "Guest Host"
Buzzy Out!