Thestral and Hagrid

Did a sketch of Hagrid, my favorite character from the Harry Potter series.

I paused the dvd at the point when Hagrid is telling the Dursleys that Harry would be attending Hogwarts under the finest headmaster Hogwarts had ever seen, "Albus Dumbledore!" He says it with fierce pride and loyalty, and it shows on his face (Coltrane does a fine job portraying Hagrid) and that moment is SO quintessentially Hagrid! It's just a quick sketch, but I may have caught a little of that. I was having ink problems, so did the sketch in multiple pens and colors (2 black, a purple and a red). Not altogether a good solution, but not horrid either. The photo makes me see things I didn't see on the paper, so I may change a little here and there. More than likely, I'll make more sketches of him.





A bit of progress on the thestral -- the head is baked, but there'll be some tweaking yet.

Thestral, anyone?

I don't usually post photos of WIPs (Works in Progress) but for this project, I might as well. If you have watched the Harry Potter movies, and seen the fifth in the series (or read the book) "Order of the Phoenix," then you know about Thestrals. They are nearly skeletal, almost spectral, bat-winged horses, which can be seen only by people who have witnessed death. The movie special-effects folks did a fantastic job (Phantasmic?) representing them. I may not do it justice of course, but I'll likely come close enough to at least the literary description of thestrals. I have at this time begun the armature, and I'm working on the head. There is already more on the body than this, my having bulked it out a bit more with Sculpey Ultra-light. The wings are taped together just to keep them out of the way, and the tail has already been extended considerably. I keep fussing with the leg positions, and nothing about them is certain yet. I played the movie and made a number of sketches first... very helpful!!!

DOBBY

I made a Dobby ornament, for a gift. He's gone now, but I did take some photos. He's wearing four hats, and dangles three sock charms, all polymer clay. His little shirt is stiffened fabric from an old tee shirt. He had an unusual effect on me: I want to make MORE Dobbies!

It's Ornament season!!!

I do know that most folks call it the Holiday season, but I'm beginning to think of it as the Ornament season. My group had its annual Ornament Swap event, and these are the ones I made for other people, whether my swap partners, or a side-swap. Regular swap partners were Joan and Amy (the hippocamp and Harry Potter Quiddich) and side-swaps went to Anna (Sugarplum Fairy ballerina) and Judy (the Christmas Onion). All are mixed media, predominating in polymer clay.

Halloween Ornaments

Last year, I was in a bit of a hurry when purchasing a small, artificial Christmas tree at Wallymart. The shelves in that area were piled high and all I could see were pink ones, or white ones. Yes, I know it's not a real tree, but I might like to approximate reality, so I was searching for a green one. Way UP near the top of the pile of boxes, was one with a picture that was neither white nor pink! GREEEEEEEEEEN!!!! It was the LAST one! I got an attendant to help get it down, and scurried off to the checkout. Once I got it home, I began to assemble it, and I don't know... somewhere in the process or the season, I realized it wasn't actually the DARK green I thought it was. It was black! OK, I can adjust, I really can. But it got me thinking that I might put it up as a "Halloween Tree" to decorate! I've a friend who leaves her tree up year-round, and decorates according to the season, so... why not have a H'ween tree? I was thinking about decorations to make, and had a few good ideas. They never got made, and due to the horrid events of this late summer, I didn't feel like decorating much at all for H'ween. However, my sculpting group had its annual H'ween Challenge, and I made a couple of ornaments (one as a spare -- could enter only one) for the tree. I did give one to the friend who decorates her ever-present tree, and kept the one I chose to enter into the challenge. I kept the one on the left, and gave my friend the one on the right.

A closeup of Lynn's hippocamp -- there will be more pix of other hipps to come. There is a full-sized shot in the slideshow.

I've been moderately busy: more Harry Potter-themed items, for a swap this time. The sub-theme for the swap was "Potions" and at first I was at a loss as to what to make, so I didn't sign up right away. After getting an inspired thought, I just skootched in and it became a lovely swap! I received some terrific items, including some potions, and my very own Hogwarts' acceptance letter! I'll show pix of a few of the items I sent, heavy on the glass engraving -- my original inspiration. The limit was $20 or 2 hours' of work on it. Mine was very low in cost, but closer to the two hours in time, so it worked out fine.

I've another project that's completed on the HP theme, but will post it later. It should go up at that HPC group first, though none are likely to see it here before there.