The Head of John Romero

[MmM]

I declined the offer--I want to keep it for myself.

[SYS]

That's cool. Have you ever considered making plastic action figure stuff you could sell? I know it's pretty hard to get licensing for existing stuff. Then you gotta do prototypes, injection plastiform moulds etc. You just seem talented enough as a hobbyist that it might be worthwhile to at least explore the business aspect of it.

[Creaphis]

Well, mass-production of plastic figures is another bag of worms, and probably best left to Mattel. But, if MmM was to suppress his sentimental feelings and sell one-of-a-kind paper mache masterpieces, there could be a pretty penny or two in it for him.

[Shapeless]

I would sell it, but that's just me. maybe you could make another Romero head but with the other expression.

[Lüt]

MmM said:

I don't know why, but I frequently get comments from people who like my stuff better unpainted/unfinished--I guess people dig that whole crispy fried look or something.

In this particular instance, I think the paint adds a cartoony effect that detracts from the impact of the unfinished product - taming it in a way, perhaps.

[Use]

MmM said:

I declined the offer--I want to keep it for myself.

Ask him for a job!!

[TomoAlien]

It's awesome, as always. Two thumbs up!

[MmM]

POTGIESSER: I toy with the idea at times, but I've never seriously pursued it. I'd probably go with busts, rather than action figures, if I were to do it, as it'd be easier and I think there'd be less legal monkeyshine. I expect there's a lot of legal hoopla to worry about with toys (choking hazards, child safety, paint toxicity, etc.) that I don't think I'd want to deal with. I definitely wouldn't be able to use wire for joints with a kid's product, unless it was buried in rubber/latex maybe.

Shapeless: I hate making the same thing twice, so I don't think I'll ever make another Romero head.

Lüt: Yeah, it's a bit on the cartoony side of life. I think the sculpt is partly to blame there too, not just the paint.

Use3D: Traditional sculpting is, unfortunately, growing increasingly less important. Digital sculpting is the way of the future, especially now that there are machines that can transform computer models into actual physical objects. I can't see game developers hiring regular sculptors much anymore--someone that does both, sure.

[Pirx]

MmM said:

Thanks for the additional comments, guys. I don't know why, but I frequently get comments from people who like my stuff better unpainted/unfinished--I guess people dig that whole crispy fried look or something.

it's the burned look that makes this creepy for me. looks like a fire victim with the hair apparently burned off.

[Pure Hellspawn]

Very nice artwork. I liked the one with the bald and burning head, too. Just out of curiosity, if you did accept the offer, how much would you have charged?

[MmM]

Offhand, I dunno--I'd really have to sit down and think about how much I'd charge. For sure, I'd factor the time/amount of work into the price, as well as the cost of the materials to make it (which is next to nothing, maybe $1-2, if that).

[Creaphis]

Thinking logically about what to charge is a mistake. With art, a higher price only makes people want it more.

[MmM]

I know a lot of artists who think that way, but I don't agree with it. An artist should charge a fair price for their work, not price gouge.

[Mary20]

Oh my god. That's awesome.

[Necros20]

Cool, how long did it take you to finish?

[MmM]

Roughly three days; October 19-21, 2008.

[jplstatic]

HOW?!?

I want to sculpt for my game

do I need an expensive kiln or anything or do you have a cheap way that you do this? These look amazing.

[Creaphis]

MmM uses paper mache. No kiln is necessary, and supplies are dirt cheap. All you need to do this is incredible amounts of skill.

Jpl, I'm guessing that you want to make models so that you can use them to make monster sprites for mods. In this day and age, learning to make physical sculptures for that purpose, without any prior experience, is probably not worth it. It would make more sense to practice using 3D modeling programs and keep the whole process inside your computer. Talk to people like Kristus, leileilol and SirTimberWolf - they should be able to recommend programs to start practicing with and might offer advice.

[jplstatic]

well i'm familiar with basic 3d max from college. i know that after i got my first degree and left early they continued with a lot more but with work i'm sure i could figure something out. i just basically lost all friendships and confiding in wanting to do anything and that is truly the reason i have been acting like an ass on here. i don't know of anyone i've run into in the past few months that hasn't been suicidal. that's probably tremendously offtopic and flammable. i am going to see if i can drop my music into the newstuff somehow. once i get some sort of positive outcome from something i'll continue with an idea that i really am promising is really good, its just going to take a lot of work and i'm not as motivated as i should be. you wouldn't believe the amount of ridicule doom had brought me in game design college.

[Necros20]

Romero's decapitation looks to have been rather messy. ;)

[Creaphis]

I think that some degree of mess is pretty standard for decapitations.

[jplstatic]

i agree. most decapitations do involve a rather festive display of carnage. especially those involving heads removed from the rest of the body on what appears to be a metal stick.

edit: okay, it was wooden.

edit#2: doom is also so outdated i've been considered a hippy for working with it. can you believe that? hippies that play doom? man. doom 4 is coming out but you can't really convince the hardcore gamers of that. #%$kin' halo and animal crossing hippies.

[MmM]

jplstatic: It's good to be able to do both, but in terms of practicality/employability, I'd say you'd be better off to learn computer modeling than the real thing. As I've mentioned before, there are machines now that can covert digital models into real objects, so I think, eventually, the number of people doing traditional sculpting is going to decrease significantly.

On the other hand, I don't want to discourage you if you'd really like to get into hands-on sculpting. Depending on what medium you use, you may, or may not need a kiln for clays. There are lots of products that air dry, or can be cooked in a normal oven (like Super Sculpey). I do all my work with paper products, but use whatever materials you like. For stop motion figures, latex over an articulated armature would probably be the best bet (that's what Gregor Punchatz used after all). I haven't tried it, but there's Rubber Dip crap you can buy at your local hardware store that might work as a quick/cheap approach to that--make yourself an armature out of wire, dip it, paint it, and away you do.

[Necros20]

I've noticed how in game the gibs around the base of the stick seem to be modified from the gibbed commando sprite.

[jplstatic]

ahhh that's what gibs are. [edit: period added]