CreativeCritters Blog: groom

Monday, August 5, 2013

World of Warcraft Pandaren Wedding Cake Topper Work in progress- the groom gets arms and the bride is completed

Progress on the World of Warcraft wedding cake topper is moving forward and the sculpture is nearing completion. To see how this all started check out posts one, two, and three in this series. In the last post I showed you how I dressed the bride and groom , but neither had their arms or heads yet. Now you can see how the Pandaren groom's hands and arms started out. I used a wire armature bent into the proper shape and sculpted the gray and black polymer clay fingers and hands onto the wire. They're still a little rough in this picture, but you get the idea.

Next I sculpted the arms and added cuffs to the black tuxedo jacket. The cuffs also help secure the hands even more firmly to the arms. I left enough wire sticking out of the shoulders to insert into the groom's body.

I did the same thing with the bride's arms and managed to to arrange their arms so they were holding hands. It took several tries to get this right, but I managed to achieve the look I wanted. This is a very sturdy sculpture as well. Not only do the arms have wire armatures but I also pressed them against the bodies wherever possible, forming one solid piece.

The next step was to sculpt the bride's head. Although I've never sculpted a Pandaren before, my years of experience sculpting a variety of animals came into play and I was able to create a female Pandaren in polymer clay without too much difficulty. I also had several good pictures to go by, which always helps.

Here you can see that I've added her hair, put a purple (polymer clay) bow in it, and inserted a pair of hair sticks. I also added gray piping to her bodice and gray details to the shoulders of the dress. The piping helps distinguish the white dress from her white flesh and the shoulder details not only add a bit of color but also help attach the arms even more firmly to her body.

And here you can see what she looks like from the back. I used thin strands of clay to create her hair and styled it into a bun encircled with a gold band. Making hair in this manner does take quite a bit of time, but I just love the way it looks- so much more natural than a sheet of textured clay. At this point the sculpting phase is finished for the bride. Once I'm finished sculpting the groom I'll bake the entire piece then do some detail painting.
In the next post I'll finish sculpting my Pandaren groom and I'll be able to share the final cake topper with you. Thanks for joining me in this creative World of Warcraft wedding cake topper adventure! ;)

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

Become a fan of CreativeCritters on Facebook

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Progress on the Pandaren Wedding Cake Topper: the Bride and Groom Get Dressed

To see how this all started be sure to check out the first two posts on this project at Making a Custom Order World of Warcraft Pandaren Wedding Cake Topper and Work in Progress (Pandaren Pants).

Work on the custom World of Warcraft Pandaren wedding cake topper has been coming along nicely and the Pandaren couple are now getting dressed in their sharp looking tuxedo and pretty white wedding dress.

Now that the groom's pants are complete I've started to add his jacket and belt. This is the view from the rear.

And this is the view from the front. As you can see, I've added lots of little details, including the white shirt under the tuxedo jacket, a black bow tie, and silver buttons down the center of the jacket. I made the belt to resemble the picture that bride sent me as closely as possible. All of this is done by hand using Premo polymer clay.

Once I completed the main part of the groom's tuxedo I attached the bride to the base, sculpted her feet in the same manner as I did the groom's, and used a thin sheet of white polymer clay to create the skirt of her wedding gown. As with the groom, the bride has a foil and wire armature with the wire going through her feet and into the base. All of my pieces are created with durability in mind. I want my work to be around for years to come!

I used my fingers and a soft paint brush to create the folds I wanted and position the skirt exactly the way I wanted it to lay. I smoothed the waist of the skirt onto her body in preparation for adding the bodice. One reason I love Premo polymer clay is that you can roll it out very thin and it still remains strong and flexible. When I make clothing like this I usually run the clay through my pasta machine on #4 or #5, which makes it very thin and easy to drape. Of course it also takes a very light touch to avoid stretching or ripping the clay!

And here you can see I've added not only the bodice of the dress, but also sculpted a layer of white clay over the brown to create the Pandaren bride's skin. I added a purple sash with a little bow at the waist as well. In the next post you'll see how I add details to the bodice to make it stand out against her white skin.

And here's a slightly different angle. You can see my laptop with the pictures I'm using in the background. The bride sent me several good shots of the Pandaren couple, which made it much easier to include all these little details and reproduce the characters in clay. I've also bent the wire for the arms of the bride and groom. This next part is going to be a bit complicated because I want the couple to be holding hands. It may sound easy enough, but it can be difficult to get each arm and hand positioned just right. So be sure to check back and see if I can do it!
Thanks so much for sharing another creative adventure with me!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

Become a fan of CreativeCritters on Facebook

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

Work in Progress- The World of Warcraft Pandaren Wedding Cake Topper (Pandaren Pants- LOL)

If you've been paying attention you know I got a custom order for a World of Warcraft Pandaren wedding cake topper recently. I've been having a lot of fun working on this project and things are coming along quite nicely. You can check out this post to see how I started the armatures for the bride and groom. Once the armatures were complete I made the base. I wanted it to resemble a stone floor so I mixed several shades of brown and gray polymer clay together and then used my stone texture plate to create the look I wanted.

I do love those texture plates- they come in mighty handy for things like this! I just cut a free form shape from the clay, making sure it was large enough to hold the bride and groom, but not too large. This does have to fit on top of a wedding cake after all.
Then I set the base aside and got back to work adding a base layer of clay to the bride and groom. I used brown clay for no other reason than the fact that I had an ample supply of it. This base layer will be covered anyway, so it really didn't matter what color clay I used.

Instead of giving the bride separate legs I just made one solid piece in order to make her more sturdy. Her dress will completely cover her lower half, so I just wanted to get the shape right and make sure she would attach solidly to the base. She will have feet, though, which I'll sculpt right onto the base.
Here you can see the groom attached to the base with his feet sculpted and wearing his fancy black and gold spats. I even made sure to sculpt toenails!

There's a heavy gauge wire that runs through his body, out the bottom of his feet, and into the clay base. I want to be absolutely certain that this wedding cake topper is going to be a strong, solid piece. Next I made some Pandaren pants, a first for me- LOL

I think he looks pretty good with his pants on! I actually use my sewing and pattern making skills to make the patterns for these clothes in clay. It's the same process really, only you're using thin sheets of polymer clay instead of fabric. It helps to be skilled in a variety of different crafts. These things do tend to overlap. And here's a shot of the groom's back side. Of course I had to add that cute little tail ;)

In my next Pandaren post the groom will finish getting dressed in his tuxedo. So far this project has gone quite smoothly and I hope it continues like this. I have most of it planned out, although sometimes I need to change my plans as I sculpt and come across issues. I'm still trying to figure out exactly how I want to sculpt their arms. I'd like them to be holding hands, but that's not as easy as it sounds. Any time you're working on two sculptures simultaneously things can be a bit complicated. Their arms will have to be positioned perfectly and I'll have to measure constantly as I'm sculpting. But I'll cross that bridge (or those arms) when I come to it. Until then, thanks for joining me on another creative adventure!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

Become a fan of CreativeCritters on Facebook

Friday, July 12, 2013

Making a custom order World of Warcraft Pandaren wedding cake topper

So I got my first order for a World of Warcraft Pandaren wedding cake topper last week, and I'm really excited to be working on this project. Business had been slow for the last few weeks, and while that did allow me to catch up on some things around the house and the yard, it's always nice to have a project or two going on the work table. And this one is just really cool! First of all, wedding cake toppers are such special and important keepsakes, second of all Pandaren are just some really awesome WoW characters! Pandaren are large bipedial panda-like humanoids that live in mountainous bamboo laden areas (just like your average panda bear). Their main homeland is in a portion of Azeroth known as Pandaria. Personally, I think they're adorable! I also like that Pandaren get along with any races that don't attack their homeland. In terms of the war between The Alliance and The Horde the Pandaren remain neutral. Yep, Pandaren are certainly critters after my own heart ;) This is a screen shot of the Pandaren couple I'll be sculpting in polymer clay.

Now I've never sculpted Pandaren before, but ever since WoW introduced these characters I've been wanting to either sculpt them or create them as plushies. Before now I really didn't have the time to do it just for fun.
Before I started sculpting I carefully examined all the pictures my customer sent me and planned out exactly how I was going to create this couple. I drew a rough sketch of the bride and groom and covered it with tape to keep it clean and make sure it lasted through the entire project. This drawing will help me keep everything in the right proportion and size. Then I had to make the armatures, using my sketch to measure against. Since this sculpture will be sitting on top of a wedding cake I not only want it to be strong, but very lightweight as well. Pandaren have large, thick bodies and if I were to make them from solid clay not only would it be very expensive in terms of the amount of clay needed, but the sculpture would be pretty heavy. So I created a wire armature covered with foil for their bodies.

By filling the groom's body cavity with tightly packed foil I saved at least a full bar of clay, if not more. The legs are also very thick so covering them in foil saves clay and gives the groom an even stronger base of support. I left enough wire sticking out at the bottom so I can insert it into the base. These wedding cake toppers are meant to last!

The bride's body isn't nearly as big or thick, but I still want to keep things as light as possible, so I built up her torso with foil as well. After shaping the foil I wrapped it with floral tape and coated it with tacky glue. This helps smooth the surface and will allow the base layer of clay to adhere easily without any air bubbles.

So that's the basic armature for my Pandaren bride and groom. I'll continue to post my progress on this fun World of Warcraft wedding cake topper as I go. This is a truly enjoyable project and I hope the real bride and groom get as much pleasure from it as I do! To order your own custom wedding cake topper (I can create any characters you like, not just World of Warcraft) just click Made To Order Personalized Unique Wedding Cake Topper. Here you can read more about my custom cake toppers (I'll do birthdays, anniversaries, or any other type of cake topper you'd like as well) and place your deposit. If you have questions just send me an email at macreativecritters@gmail.com.
Thanks so much for sharing in another creative adventure!

~Michelle of CreativeCritters

Become a fan of CreativeCritters on Facebook