Face To Face With The Joker Part 4: Hearts

So this final Joker blog is simply something with a little bit of light hearted flavour to share with you.

As I have said in a previous blog there has been a little bit of fun along the way with his development.

Jokers Recipe:

Uno-Dent- Alignate and stone powder.
Claydium- Nylon enforced clay.
Claydium- Terracotta.
Milliput white- Two Part Epoxy.
Tamiya- Surface Primer in Grey.
Tamiya- Olive Drab.
Tamiya-Racing Green.
Tamiya- Purple.
Tamiya- Semi-Gloss Black.
Citadel- Snot Green.
Citadel- Goblin Green.
Citadel- Skull White.
Citadel- Scab Red.
Citadel- Red Gore.
Citadel- Blood Red.
Windsor & Newton- White Acrylic.
Windsor & Newton- Sap Green.
Windsor & Newton- Ultra-Marine.
Revell- High Gloss.

So those of you who know me well, know that I have a fairly easy going policy on popping round, staying over etc.. my fridge is your fridge kinda attitude and if you fancy a drink just go and get one!!!

Joker fitted into family life very well.

Joker has a rather impressive self grooming regime... showered at least twice a day, a hair was never outta place eyes were glistening and manic smile ready to greet is awaiting public of four five year olds bearing batarangs, handcuffs, water pistols and brooms... He took it all in good part.

My oh my... they grow up so fast... Soon Joker wanted a place and a special someone to call his own.

He was known to entertain the local birds and he made a mean mojito!!... which any fancy female would find it hard to resist and soon found a soul mate in one of our long standing lodgers Vultch... the cuddly vulture.


Love was in the air.....

It's a rather sensitive subject and it's been very polite of you to have not pointed out... Joker has a lack of TORSO and limbs.


He never let this get in his way and soon found his favoured means of transport around the place looking like a reject from a Terry Gilliam excerpt buzzing around on his battery powered digger.

The nest was soon complete... but soon laughter was heard and all did not seem quite so right with his joy buzzard...

The final words heard were; This One'll Kill You...

Tha-ha-ha-ha-ha-hat's All Folks!

Turn Off Your Mind... and Relax with Grant Morrison.

Turn Off Your Mind Relax And Float Down Stream....

(John Lennon 1966)

If there was ever a lyric which describes how you should be before picking up a comic written by Grant Morrison? let this be it…

I read lots of people swooning over his magnificent plot heavy long running issues and loyalty to the characters he writes.

To those people who:

Just. Can’t. See. It.

Or maybe more to the point, just don’t get it?

I am one of those swooners!! For many years now I have had a not so secret crush on Grant Morrison... so last weeks comic shop trip got me all excited as I reached up to the top shelf and pulled down Grant Morrison's recently released book.

Supergods:  Our World In The Age Of The Superhero.

This is more than Grant Morrison's history of superheroes.

The introduction sets the scene of a little boy growing up in Scotland on the edge of the MOD testing station with his anti-war parents.

Then the American armed forces arrived and brought with them a child’s answer to all his fears... the wonderous world of SUPERMAN!

The first part of the book reads very easily, well-researched, very passionate and a very funny look at the start and origin of the major superhero companies and what goes with them in today’s modern society.

After this I feel safe to say that it turns into an autobiography.

We are on Morrison’s trip, and it’s the evolution of superhero comics and how they entwine with Morrison's own evolution of the comics genre...  This book is Grants Morrison’s SECRET ORIGIN!!

The early part of the books superhero history is wonderful! It gives Batman co-creator Bill Finger the well worth due that he deserves and the chapters on Captain Marvel (the Fawcett SHAZAM!-powered original) and Wonder Woman are filled with Morrison insight that I personally thrive off!!

He deconstructs Joe Shuster's cover of the original Action Comics #1 and discusses the issue of creator ownership in the Golden Age very openly and finds a middle ground between the view of the Siegel and Shuster families and the bosses at DC Comics which have been in the news over the last few years.

When talking about Batman, he focuses on his own drug use, due to death-traps and mad scientist villains, a theme that played heavily through the first part of his Batman run…. It reads as a portal into Morrison’s mind.

When we move forward in time to the comic greats such as Denny O'Neil and Jim Starlin the narrative in the book kinda changes and it amalgamtes as you can no longer see the separation of those comic books and  Morrison’s life...

Of course Morrison was a huge reader of  Bronze Age comics.

The book then splits as he talks about Jim Starlin's Captain Marvel whilst being very open  about personal topics like his father's marital infidelity, living on benefits, breaking up with his girlfriend and being unable to find anyone to have sex with him whislt at an all-boys school.

We take a look at Iain Spence's Sekhmet Hypothesis, which sadly is nearly impossible to find online.

This theory is: 

That the eleven-year cycle of the sun's magnetic field influences cultural patterns in the form of a constantly swinging pendulum between "punk" and "hippie" extremes, uppers and downers, materialism and spirituality. 

 This kinda stuff is why I HEART GRANT MORRISON!!!

Now… wait for this:

This hypothesis aligns with Morrison's life…

His experience being straight-edge in the '80s, experimenting with every drug and experience in existence in the '90s, and now new, settled-down, corporate-cool Grant Morrison.

But if this is to be believed Grants solar cycle will be coming to an end this year, as we enter what he posits will be a new psychedelic age.

I hope he’s right… and I hope that even if he is taking a back seat?  he is still on this ride with us?

Towards the end of the book we reach the 90’s and 00’s. For myself, Grants books are one of the only silver linings within the big two comic publishers in this era and he does a very good job at side stepping his own work and contribution he made to this somewhat dreary era of an industry.

This is where we get entertaining and  he enlightens tales of friends and acquaintances. He voices bitterness and regret to the likes of Mark Millar and Alan Moore after Watchmen.

Fun tales of cons with drinking buddies Steve Yeowell and Chris Weston and a Bizzarro!!

Nuff said.

I’m not sure how well this book would stand up to a wider audience as it ties in so closely to his life but if you are a fan, casual reader or hold even a slight interest in the writer or the comics industry this book is a must!

I’ve read it once but feel I need to read it again as just like his comics I’m sure I’ve missed bits.

 

Face To Face With The Joker Part Three: Clubs!

So here we are on part three which will be the final blog on composition.

Using a coarse nail file and craft knife I took to making his cheeks thinner and slightly more prominent.

Stripped the original clay which formed the coat and used sheet plastic to form the shirt collar.

Using Terracotta a new jacket was formed as well as extending the Jokers chin and make the crows feet lines around his eyes and mouth deeper.

I chose to use terracotta for the coat as it needed to be a different clay with a heavier texture than what was used mainly for his hair and only added a few strands with the terracotta.

Using glass paper to thin down the sides of the face but leaving them slightly uneven along with the lapels on his coat.

Following the words of the great Tim Bruckner who keeps things uneven when it comes to sculpting the Joker... this is effective but I didn't want to go crazy, more 'you wouldn't notice unless it's pointed out'...

So now you know!.

It was this girls first time with a can of spray paint... SO much fun!!! but SO stinky!!!

I had used spray primer before but there is nothing quite so boring as priming.

I HATE it!! (but it's a necessity.)

His hair base coat was sprayed, as was the the base for the jacket, his face and details were hand painted.

I built up colour using a selection of four greens for his hair.

Skin tone was enhanced by using pastel dust on a dry brush.

His eyes were a combination of paints and finished with a clear gloss.

In his right eye I added a shadow of Batman's reflection which; unfortunately the camera has not picked up on very well.

His lips were two reds roughly mixed with black to give an uneven streaky appearance and again finished with a clear gloss.

I had started to use photo reference of the normally suave Conrad Veidt.
In his film The Man Who Laughs he looks like one of the most sinister things I have ever seen.
(Though I should point out that the story is incredibly touching.)

Just loved how dark his lips appeared, this was the look I wanted for Mr J.

A dry cloth with dabs of paint was used to build up texture on his coat and the details of the stitching added by hand. His buttons are real and his tie a silk shoe lace.

Slowly but surely I had completed my interpretation of possibly the greatest Batman villain of all time! The Joker... (but we ALL know it's the Penguin... Right?)

Tune in next week to the final Joker blog, Part Four: Hearts where I will be posting the full recipe and for a little fun some pictures of his further escapades!

Face To Face With The Joker Part 2: Diamonds.

Week two takes us into my faux pas, and yes... more casting and how the prince of crime became a regular part of the family!

The first thing I wanted to do was to get the permanent basics in to place.  Snapping off the make- shift ears was the first step.

I had a go at trying to make them from fimo and then from clay, but they didn't sit right.

They either looked pinned or BIG! then they would fall off.

''How can I get a realistic looking ears??''

PING! The lightbulb in my head was lit!

Off to the packet of moulding material.

YES; it says to wear gloves...

BUT there was no big X in an orange box, upside down fish or sad looking trees anywhere on the packet, just as long as I didn't ingest it, it should be cool...

To be honest, it smells kinda nice, was like using a face mask. (feel free to insert,  something about Mary Joke here if you see fit...) except the setting tickles a little... but all in all not an unpleasant experience by far.

I never realised how different my ears are until the cast was made.

I had his ears!!! these fitted perfectly in size, matched the facial material and could be attached using glue.

Now to get the damn thing to balance!?.

This was created by making a cast of a cylinder and using stone powder again.

The clay I added helped for temporary support but I wanted him to have a shirt and bootlace tie so wouldn't work in the long run to build around.

Multi-purpose glue was used to attach the head to the neck and created the correct support and shape to work with.

There we are!! starting to feel like I was getting somewhere.

Painted his lips and hair, again... temporary,  just to help me along with a vision to the final product.

I was liking it but it wasn't quite right...

I sent it off to Doc and Rod Keith.

Doc hit the nail on the head straight away with: HE LOOKS TOO NICE!!...

He did, Doc was right!! apart from the paint he didn't really look like the Joker?

So I messed a little more with the painting.

Joker soon became a regular feature around the house.
So much so, I had kids knocking on the door to ask if they could come in and see him!

My son and his friends would let on to him... and say Hi! and Bye!!, all in all it was quite amusing.

He was being used in games, I wouldn't tell the kids where he was in or around the house... and they and Batman would hunt him down and bring him to justice!! 

Mr J was even given a hot-dog by my neighbour at a BBQ!!

                                  He was living it large baby!!

SO... apart from hangin' with friends and the family... what to do with him?

It didn't matter how much I wanted to believe that paint could sort out my problem, it couldn't.

Gill said to Doc- ''Argh... HE IS TOO NICE, what do I do?? I can't start over as it would be far to costly''.

Doc said to Gill- ''Tilt Him forward, get him to look through his brows as much as possible''.

So off I went to the Tilt!!

From here I started to work on the sculpt of his coat using nylon enforced clay and added extra height and body to his hair, painted over the eyes and lips.
They were distracting as he should have been looking up, no longer straight ahead.

It was starting to work!! it looked better, but still not quite what I wanted.

Most of you reading this will probably know geek message board poster Mr Sinister (Sin)?.

We were chatting late one night and he let me sound off to him. 

Deep down I was pretty gutted that it wasn't working the way I wanted.

In my head I pictured a first appearance Joker...

Sins words were wise.

He told me: ''To carry on and not give up on it, as it was THE JOKER but how I personally see him being, nobody Else's... as long as I worked to what I believe the character to be like it could not be wrong.''

I held this as my mantra.

Though the tilt was better, I wasn't satisfied, he had to be modified facially and his intial coat scrapped.

I gave it a few weeks, sat on my ideas and come back to it fresh so it wasn't a chore and feel like I HAD to complete it.

This helped lots... and from there it was whey hey hey! ALL the way!

Next Week: Clubs!

Rev up the flagship. We're going for a jaunt to the mall...

Once again two of my favourite things collide!!

 Make-Up counters and Comic Books!!!

Monday is MY day: I head into town and have a great day of guilt free shopping, window shopping and food & drink.

A few months back my jaw hit the floor when I saw the wonderful Mike Allred art that supported MACs Wonder Woman promotion… today it happened again but on a slightly smaller scale.

I came across the wonderful work of Bryan Hitch advertising Diesels new scent:

                          CAPTAIN AMERICA!!

                              Only The Brave.

The display stand was a wonderful 3D city scape whilst the base was his shield.

The design of the bottle is cute as it is a clenched fist with the shield on one side.

Something that detracts from the sheer awesomeness of this bottle for me was Diesel designers added some ‘bling’ by placing the logo across the fingers… even though it’s amusing, I find that it gave a somewhat tacky feel to what was a great marketing.

OK… The nitty gritty!! and I must slip into ‘nerd fan girl’ mode for a moment:

                         The fist is BLUE rather than RED??

But then that may have made the shield logo harder to work with??

All in all, I LOVE these two worlds colliding and it smells pretty damn fine too… kind of musky with an earthy feel with a sweet top note breaking through once the scent has settled. It is a limited addition and comes in Hitch designed packaging also.

Any fan boys fancy a scent change or heading into the world of scent?

This is a good place to start!!.

Face to Face With The Joker Part 1: Clubs!!

He doesn't do autograph sessions... and like the title says: face to face! But how did we get here?




Ever heard the phrase Heads Will Roll? well this head nearly rolled down my street on a few occasions during this venture to develop my own style and improve my skill level.

I wanted to try something completely new for me, something which could be fun, something to discover something which would help me develop my sculpting… so I could have a better understanding of the materials I was using for customising and I loved the idea of making something from scratch.

I came across a plastic mask for 50 pence, which I thought would make a good cast. So stage one was to give the mask some eyes, and I did this using nylon enforced clay as added water makes it quite tacky so would hold against the eye sockets well, and fill the nostrils and the mouth of the mask.

Then came the first attempt at casting; I used UnoDent Alginate ….  to make the cast, alas, this didn’t go too well. I didn’t apply enough and didn’t work quick enough as it set in 60 seconds….

So on the third go, I got the hang of it and I came out with a pretty decent bright pink peppermint smelling cast! LOVED IT!!

The Outside

The Inside

Next was stone powder. I chose this as I wanted something which I could carve and file easily, yet was heavy enough to keep the bust from toppling. The powder was mixed with water to create a thick texture, which I whisked with a cookery hand whisk to get the mixture smooth, placed within the cast within a bowl the width I wanted the face to be as the cast is rubbery so can be easily manipulated…  I spirinkled a fine layer of stone powder along the top to help soak up any excess water.

Once set, I had the start of my Joker.

I bought a cheap kids inflatable ball which I used as a base to shape - and give support, in theory - a skull so I could start on sculpting the hair.

I worked in strips using nylon reinforced clay, the same stuff I used to make the eyeballs.

By working in strips, I had enough time to plan the size and shape of the skull whilst the clay set, and gave the structure strength. I placed temporary clay ears onto the side which I used as a guide.

Once the initial layer of hair was established, the ball could be removed and a sheet of flat plastic was attached into a base of polystyrene with wire for strength so the face could be attached onto the skull/hair shape. For this, I used superglue.

Clay was placed around the polystyrene and moulded into a basic neck shape to give it a base; this made sure it was held in place without it over balancing.

Once attached I started to file down into the face and enhance lines and wrinkles, his face needed to be much thinner with exagerated features so two-part epoxy was used to create heavier depth to his eyes, brow-line, forehead and eyebrows.

Tune in next week for Part Two: Diamonds!!