3D Artist: Can you tell us about The Forest Emperor – how did this project start and where do you hope it to lead?
Emily Coleman: Over the past few years, I’ve been working on a series of forest dragon sculptures. I’ve always like the idea of creatures being merged with their environments, especially deep forests. I decided to make each sculpture in the series based off a different season. As I was working on the final two, I started thinking about making a creature that was sort of the “father” of all creatures and plants in the forest. I thought of him as being much larger than the other dragons, having a whole ecosystem on his back. It was then that I began planning him as a large-scale sculpture.
I’ve never worked in such a large scale, so I am hoping to learn a lot about the medium from this project. I am also hoping to teach others through my experiences. Again, there isn’t a whole lot of information out there for beginners and I enjoy helping those that are interested in subjects that I have experience in. I am hoping for this to become a real community-based project where viewers can ask questions and watch me work on the sculpture real time. I will be sharing my entire process each step of the way.
I am also big into conservation and environmental protection. I am hoping to spread awareness about many of these issues through both sharing my process as well as showing the finished piece both locally at galleries and online.
3DA: What tools are you using to bring The Forest Emperor to life?
EC: Since he is being created at such a large scale (6 feet long), my toolset has completely changed for this project. I am having a steel armature welded by a local metal company. To start bulking out the form, I will be using EPS foam blocks. This foam is very similar to the foam padding you see in packages. It will be attached to the armature using a special glue and then carved down using special heated tools. The clay that I will be using for the detail work is Apoxy Sculpt. This is a two-part clay that doesn’t need to be baked and will be rock solid once it cures. It will be attached directly to the foam form. I will be using a lot of metal sculpting tools and will be implementing some elements such as glass eyes and casts of horns. I will paint the final piece with an airbrush and hand painted details.
3DA: How has CG helped in bringing this fantastic creature into a large-scale sculpture?
EC: Just the process of modelling in 3D programs has greatly helped my understanding of anatomy. I’ve noticed that my sculptures have gotten a lot better since I picked up Maya. In addition to that, I actually created the mock up for the armature of the Forest Emperor within Maya. I am using the orthographic views of the model to give to my welder so that he can create the correct proportions for the armature.
3DA: Can you tell us about how the community has responded to your project?
EC: The response to this project has been incredible! Not only have I received a lot of financial support through Kickstarter, but other sculptors in the community have been passing the information around and getting my project seen by a lot of people. Even though I haven’t begun production, this already feels like such a group-driven project and I am really excited about that. I really look forward to sharing my progress and discussing it with the community.
Do you have plans for future projects along the same lines – if yes, can you tell us more about your hopes for these?
I don’t have any specific plans at this time. However, I have noticed that through planning this project alone I have already changed my way of thinking about sculpture. I’ve been working on a series on mechanical birds that are being created life size. They are not quite as large scale as the Emperor, but still require new techniques and approaches. If all goes well with the Emperor, I will definitely consider creating more pieces in the same vein.
Emily has created a Kickstarter project forThe Forest Emperor. If you’re interested in supporting Emily, please visit www.theforestemperor.com.
Artist: Emily S Coleman
Website: www.emilysculpts.com
Tools of the trade: Super Sculpey, ZBrush, Maya
Expertise: Creature Sculpture
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