A Fantastic Beast Week 7/8

Coming to the end of the project, I have realised that I completely forgot about the tutorial I had found previously. As I went back and continued watching it I was reminded of how useful it was and could have been had I been following it this whole time. It would have helped give my dragon a better shape, a better structure.

Another mistake I have made was over the last couple of weeks as I was finishing up the feet before I baked it for the final time. The mistake here was a key one that everyone keeps repeating yet I still forgot. REFERENCE PHOTOS. I forgot to have them out with me whilst I was working over the holidays, despite the fact that Karen and Simon kept telling me to have the out. I did listen to them when I was in the studio but this explains why the feet look so awkward and a little misshapen. I really need to print out the photos, especially seeing as I went to the Natural History museum during the London trip. I had primary research I should have used, and this mistake may have ruined my piece as it doesn't look right.

Also after baking it the tail came off and as I was working on the feet the legs started to crack and pieces started falling off. I had previously ordered sculpey glue for reattaching the tail but was worried it wouldnt arrive on time. So I tried to use sculpey to reattach whatever I could but it just didn't seem to be working. Thankfully the glue arrived last week so I was able to stick the tail and some bits on the head back and bake it. Some of the other cracks I just covered up with paint and glaze.

As my timetable said PAINT all day everyday over the easter break, I went in on thursday to paint the base. Which I decided to paint white based off of some of the photos I found online from people who went to the exhibition. Mostly because I haven't had a chance to go and see it for myself yet. However, I did book tickets for April 20th which should give me a better opportunity for primary research.

People always ask me if its going to have wings, or why it doesn't and I'm not sure if I've mentioned this before but here goes. The Antipodean Opaleye, in version, does not have wings because it lives in valleys in New Zealand, therefore, in order to protect itself and hide it doesnt have wings. The bulk of the wings would potentially slow it down on land and make it more visible to an unwanted audience. Therefore, by not having wings it can better hide from danger, despite being shiny and iridescent.

I would have loved to make wings for it though as it would have looked more like a typical dragon. Although to be fair it isnt as it is a mix of western and Asian culture due to the fact that New Zealand is heavily westernised. Hence the mix of the longish body/neck, no wings (key feature in Asian dragons) and the muscular legs - reminiscent of western dragons.

In terms of the base I decided to keep it simple after doing some more research into it. Meaning I decided to scrap the idea of having a rock or any other kind of flora. In hindsight this does look much cleaner and much more professional, and I could convey its environment through the concept sketches I'll work on this week.