Sea Monster

This was the second sculpture I made after getting my feet wet in the hobby. I had a clear reference for both the sculpting and the painting from an amazing artist I found on YouTube, which was exactly what I needed at the time. The main reason I wanted to sculpt this specific monster was its funny head and exaggerated chin. My goal was basically to copy the entire reference, and I think it turned out pretty decently. It resembles the original quite closely, even if some of the more advanced techniques are still a work in progress.

The painting phase was significantly more difficult, which is a struggle that continues to this day. I used exclusively acrylics and stuck to a very conservative palette of mostly just three colors. At the time, I didn't realize that I could, and should, use a wider range of colors, so the overall paint job lacks a bit of technique and depth. That being said, dry brushing really came to the rescue here. Just that simple technique gave the piece some much-needed life and texture, saving it from feeling flat despite the limited palette.

After finishing the creature, I built a diorama with sunken ships for scale, though it didn't quite hit the mark. I was also pretty lazy with the mounting. Instead of designing the environment to naturally support and conceal how the monster floats, I just stuck a brass rod into its belly. In hindsight, I should have solved that holistically within the diorama itself so the creature actually feels suspended in the water rather than just pinned to a stand. Overall, though, I still like the sculpture and think it is a nice piece.