Sans Souci Studios
Follow us on Facebook!
  • Home
  • Gallery
    • Fursuit Heads and Partials
    • Paper Mache Masks 2000- 2014
  • Blog
  • About
    • About
    • Embarking on the Road to Furry Fandom
  • Contact
  • Thanks to Our Supporters!

Points of Reference

6/7/2022

0 Comments

 
Half Arnold and full Arnold Armature by Monster Makers
Here we have Sans Souci Studios' armatures and Best Boys, Arnold Full Armature and Arnold "Han Solo" Half Armature. (Seriously, his name is Arnold. That's the name of the person from whom this was live-cast.) Other than being a handy place to put clay while sculpting, Arnold provides valuable points of reference. Especially Half Arnold. While building a sculpt on Full Arnold is a good way of seeing what a sculpt will look like in motion on a real wearer, Half Arnold provides a perfectly flat plane from which to build a system of reference points and angles. Invaluable, as otherwise reference points have a maddening way of seeming to shift on a 3D sculpture.
sculpting a fursuit wolf head base in plasticine
Above, finding the center of the sculpt, and making sure it's at a 90 degree angle to the armature back. I measure to find the center of the armature, mark the line on both the top and bottom of the head, and trace the center line around the sculpt, as shown above. At any point where the sculpt doesn't meet the armature back (here, at the throat)  I mark the center on masking tape and then extend a line up the tape onto the sculpt. I use various measuring tools to keep the line as perpendicular as possible to the armature back, but there's always a certain amount of eyeballing and guesswork involved.
making a template for the back of a wolf head fursuit base
Above, creating a "template" of sorts for the back of the sculpt, to help ensure its symmetry. First, I lay down that good old patterning material, duck tape over aluminum foil, on the armature base under the sculpt in progress. Then I trace on the tape along the edge of the sculpt, mark and fold it at the halfway mark, and trim so that the two sides of the template are symmetrical.  Then I lay the template back down on the armature and clay up the back edge of the mask along it. There's still a certain amount of eyeballing and guesswork involved, as the template can shift and stretch, and little bits of clay on the armature can put it out of whack. But still, it makes a pretty good guide.
sculpting a wolf head fursuit base in plasticine
Now I have a sculpt with a symmetrical back and a centered and perpendicular nose. Getting the sides of the sculpt to match is a lot trickier. Each side can cave in, bow out, or do some evil combination of those things in its own special way. The back template can help  address this by placing "landmarks" on the sides, to make specific areas on the sides easier to compare. For example, I can mark where the cut out is for the lower jaw on one side of the template, then fold the template, mark the same spot for the jaw cutout on the other side, then transfer the mark into the clay. 

Once I've placed the landmarks I can make a gizmo to compare the angles at specific points of each side of the head. Here, I have cut out a little piece from a cereal box, preserving one original corner so that I have a handy 90 degree angle for reference. Then I carefully cut a thin slot into the sculpt, press one edge of the box in, and trace along the side of the sculpt to get the angle of that specific spot, making sure one side of the 90 degree angle is flat on the armature back. I trim along the line I've traced and then compare the angle of my gizmo to the angle of the sculpt on the other side, again being careful to line up one side of my 90 degree angle with the armature back. Then I adjust the sculpt as needed. I don't have too long to play with the gizmo though, as being made out of thin cardboard the edges start squishing down and losing their shape fairly quickly.
making reference points for eyes for a fursuit wolf head base
And here we have my Glorious Goggles, my Reference Point Piece de Resistance. The goggles will help ensure that the eyes will be equidistant from the center line of the head, lie along a line that is at right angles to the center line of the head, and are both set back the same distance into the head. They will also help ensure that the eye bed I sculpt on my head will be parallel to the back of the mask and not tipped forward or back. Plus, if I'm fairly certain that my eye placement is accurate and even, I can use the eyes themselves as further reference points for sculpting the head.

How I made the Glorious Goggles. I've traced the backs of correctly sized eye cabochons onto a piece of thin craft plastic and cut the circles out. I've measured the distance between the eyes on my original resin head, cut down a disposable chopstick I got from Chinese takeout to that length, and carefully hot glued the plastic circles on the ends, lining up the outside edges of the circles with the ends of the chopstick. Then I marked the center of my contraption with a Sharpie. Next, I measured the distance from the armature back to a point a little bit in front of its eyes and cut two more pieces of chopstick to that length, thus making the "arms" of my goggles. I hot glued them on as well, taking care to hold the arms at more or less at a right angle to the front of the goggles until the glue cools. 
adding reference points for eyes on a wolf head fursuit base
Above, beginning to set the glasses into the sculpt. I've started carving out holes into which to insert the arms of the glasses. These holes need to be pretty roomy so they don't force the arms out of their proper alignment. 
Picture
Adding a slot to the sculpt, into which I'll set the bridge of the glasses. I insert a skewer through the bridge of the sculpt's nose at the inside corner of each eye, keeping the skewer as perpendicular to the center line as I can. Then I cut a slot into the sculpt by pulling up on the skewer and removing clay along its path as needed with clay tools. 
adding reference points for eyes on a wolf head fursuit base
Above, the glasses have been added. Now just to fill the clay back in around them. It's already easy to see adjustments I need to make to the cheeks and brows, with the right hand brow being raised higher and there being more material on the outside edge of the right eye. 
wolf head base for fursuit in progress
And, here we have the goggles completely clayed over, with a pair of acrylic eye cabochons resting on top of them, and a more developed sculpt in general. I'm happy to have this pretty solid point of reference in the sculpt, though it also makes me think how sculpting software makes symmetry so effortless!
0 Comments

More Eyeballs

6/21/2018

0 Comments

 
fursuit resin eyes pupil



​Adding to the thoughts I had on painting eyeballs I previously blogged about here. ​​​One of the areas I saw the most room for improvement was in painting pupils. I had come up with a method of making stencils for the pupils that I really liked, but I was not happy with the brushmarks in the pupils.


fursuit resin eyes pupil


  Solution- make the stencils as previously, mask out the rest of the eye as well, and SPRAY the pupil on with spray paint. 
fursuit resin eyes pupil




​Another interesting and challenging thing about painting eyes is that painted parts look completely different when viewed from the front or the back, as the curve of the plastic greatly magnifies anything in the center. Here, these two pupils are painted the same size, but you can see how much bigger the pupil looks when viewed from the front. 





I find it helpful when designing eyes to make a mock up like this on paper, and then put the resin eye over it to see how the curve will change it.  



Easy peasy!









fursuit resin eyes pupil
painting fursuit resin eyes


​Again you can see how much bigger the pupil looks, Also, you can see how anything painted around the outer edge  is greatly minimized. The blue in the mock up fills the outer half of the circle, but when the eye is placed over it, only a thin rim of blue is visible.
painting fursuit resin eyes
painting fursuit resin eyes


Starting to paint the actual eyes. Here they are both viewed from the back...
painting fursuit resin eyes

 And then one flipped over to show how different it looks when viewed from the front. 
wolf eyes resin fursuit

And, finished eyeballs, along with the reference picture I used. I did two sets like this, one for the grey wolf and another for the grey and black wolf I blogged about here.
​
wolf fursuit resin eyes

​

Another set of finished eyeballs, along with the reference picture I used. This will be for the brown and black guy I blogged about here.

​
Now, I just need to get some teeth painted, so I can start building some heads!
0 Comments

Painting Resin Eyes

11/20/2016

1 Comment

 
Wolf eyes painted on Dreamvision Creations resin blanks
Above, the finished eyes for "Max", my first fursuit head, along with the reference picture I used. I wanted the eyes for my next head to be pretty much the same color,though I wanted to use strictly acrylic paint this time. I had also used watercolor pencils in Max's eyes to sketch in some details, but found the results to be unpredictable and a little difficult to control.
Notebook of color sketches for painting resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head
Notebook of color sketches for painting resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head
 It would help if I could remember what colors I had used the first time around! So I got myself a multimedia sketchbook and this time took notes on my experiments. (It's worth noting that the steps in painting eyes on paper is in reverse order to painting eyes on clear resin- on paper you paint the dark background first and work your way up to the ring of color around the pupil; on resin, you'd start with  the ring of color and work to the dark background.)
resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head one layer of color applied

It also helps to have the big pile of reject resin eyes from my Little WIndows debacle to experiment on. The one in this picture is one of these- you'll notice the bubbles and the slightly yellow cast to the clear resin.

But in any case I was able to recreate the color scheme I used. Here's the ring of color around the pupil, Burnt Sienna, applied with a #1 liner brush. I've found it's impossible to find brushes too thin and skinny to paint these eyes.
resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head two layers of color applied



The next color added, Iridescent Copper. God how I love metallic paints!!
Resin eyes for a fursuit head three layers of color applied
resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head four layers of color applied



Next, a mix of Iridescent Copper and Yellow Ochre. As much as I want to make everything shiny, adding a little matte paint into the mix helps break up the sheen and thus adds an interesting sparkle.








Building up the layers of color. Next, a mix of Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue and Iridescent Gold. Again, adding a little matte color into the metallic.
Picture


Now it's finally time to MAKE IT SHINY!! A layer of Iridescent Gold applied straight up, this time with a "bigger" brush, a #2 round. This picture, taken with a flash, shows how the lines of matte paint breaks up the metallic paint and adds that sparkle.
resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head layer of metallic gold paint applied


Next to last step, a layer of Interference Gold, applied with an even "bigger"  brush, a #4 round. I like just the little extra depth of color this paint adds.
Picture

Finally, a layer of black paint, applied with a 1/2" wash brush. Before this step I check to make sure there are no thin spots in the last two layers of colors  by laying the eye down on a sheet of black paper and making sure there's nothing that leaps out at me. The black adds a lot more depth to the color and helps to show up the layers of brushstrokes.
Group of resin wolf eyes for a fursuit head
One downside of having piles of reject resin eyes, however, is that the OCD has free reign and its sufferer feels compelled to paint piles and piles and piles of experimental eyes until one comes out Just Right! The above eyes pretty much have all the same color scheme, but have slightly different styles of brush work.
Finished wolf eyes painted on Dreamvision Creations resin blanks
And finally, the eyes I'm going to use on my next head, painted on sparkly clear bubble free resin eye blanks from Dreamvision Creations. I am pleased with how they came out and can't wait to install them!
1 Comment

Painting Pupils on Resin Eye Blanks

10/28/2016

0 Comments

 
Tools and materials for making a pupil stencil for a resin eye blank
In my last post I failed to cast usable resin eye blanks using Little Windows resin and so bought blanks from Dreamvision Creations.In this post I will paint pupils on them. For the last furry head, I used a “Staedler Professional Combo Circle Template", from here on in known as "The Circle Thingy” to lightly trace pupils onto my resin eye blank with a black watercolor pencil, which I then carefully painted in. This time I wanted to make a stencil for the pupil, so I could fuss a little more with its placement. The resin eyes hugely magnify any errors at the center, so if the placement looks a little off from the back of the eye, it can look way off from the front!
The first order of business, however, was to decide on a diameter for the pupil. Anything in the center of the resin eye blank is greatly magnified, so it's good to try out a bunch of different sized pupils to see what looks best, knowing that the actual circle used will be smaller than how it will appear. The Circle Thingy came in handy for this- I put it down over a piece of black construction paper and simply moved the blank over each opening, until I found a size I liked.
Then to make a stencil. A craft hole punch in the size I selected (grey things in pictures) comes in handy here. I make sure the punch is nice and sharp by punching lots of holes in a sheet of aluminum foil (yes, really). Then I carefully stick a piece of Frog Tape onto a piece of wax paper. Frog Tape is supposedly a special kind of masking tape that is less prone to paint bleeding under its edges than other masking tapes, so is more likely to make sharp clean lines. Using the Circle Thingy I draw a circle on the tape/wax paper the size of the eye and then mark the center on the circle using the guides on the template (you can see some of them around large opening on the Circle Thingy in the picture to the left.)
stencil for painting pupil on Dreamvision Creation resin eye blank
I then cut out the circle and folded down one little edge so that I could get it centered in the hole punch, since it won't fit otherwise. I use the target to try to get the hole as close to the middle of the circle as possible. Then I peel the wax paper off the back of my new stencil and carefully position it over the back of the eye before pressing it down firmly. Even though the hole punch has been carefully positioned over the "X", and the stencil may be smack dab in the middle of the eye, the placement of the stencil may still need fiddling- again, any little error is magnified hugely by the center of the eye.
stencil for painting pupil on back of resin eye blank by Dreamvision Creations
stencil for painting pupil on back of Dreamvision Creations resin eye blank
**note** it's best to use the new stencil ASAP after it's made, specifically, it's best to remove the tape promptly from the wax paper, as the longer the tape sits on the paper the more firmly it gets stuck.
paint applied to stencil for pupil on resin eye  blank

Then I rub the edges of the stencil down to make sure they're firmly attached to the eye.  Then I use a fluid body acrylic (aka bottled, not tubed) such as Golden, and a wide, flat wash  brush to apply the paint. The wash brush tends to leave fewer  brushstrokes in my experience. I try to pat the paint on as much as possible, and try not to stroke the paint up under the edges of the stencil.
 When the paint is dry I remove the stencil. I **do not** use a hair dryer to speed drying as I sometimes do, as I've found it can cause a skin to form between the stencil and the eye, which can make the paint on the eye peel off when I remove the stencil. I scrape off any little spots that managed to get up under the tape anyway with my fingernail. In case of a total disaster, it's possible to wash the paint off the eye and start over again, though it's best to do this sooner rather than later- the paint is easiest to get off  before it has fully cured, usually within 24 hours. And, the finished pupil!
pupil painted on Dreamvision Creations resin eye blank
UPDATE 11/15/16: I want to share some good tips I got from Furaffinity, Livejournal and Facebook after I posted this article there. Some suggestions: Try using a paint marker, with a metal washer for a template; use spraypaint or an airbrush to get a better edge with the stencil; use frisket film for the stencil. I had tried to use frisket film previously but the punches can't handle it. However I might try putting the frisket film directly on the eye, drawing the circle on the film and cutting away the hole from there with an exacto knife.
0 Comments

(Mis) Adventures in Resin Eye Casting

10/22/2016

0 Comments

 
 
reject resin eyes for fursuit head worn by Carrie
According to the Interwebs, I am the only person on Earth who cannot get beautiful bubble free castings using Little Windows casting resin.

Painting the eyes was my favorite part of making my first furry mask. I had fantasies of a little sideline on Etsy painting eyes. In order to keep the price competitive with what other sellers on Etsy were offering, I'd need to find a way to cast the eyes myself. I figured the eyes would cost me about $10 a pair to make using Little Windows resin, where they cost me $30 ready made from Dreamvision Creations on Etsy. That, plus the fact Little Windows resin is supposed to be non-toxic and odorless, made this option initially very attractive.



I saw some very cool eyeball painting techniques on the Little Windows website and wasted a lot of time trying them out. (Here they are, they really are beautiful!) Specifically, they involved making the castings in layers-one for the pupil, one for the iris, and one for the eyewhites (if desired) and painting each one after it set, embedding the paint and achieving perfectly circular and concentric areas of color, in theory anyway. Firstly I found that the resin would almost always crawl up the side of the mold I was pouring it on, making that area somewhat less than perfectly circular (and trying to brush it away would only change its shape to be a different kind of less than perfectly circular, and probably introduce lint besides) and secondly I found that I would not get the desired follow-me effect using this technique. The color had to be entirely on the back of the casting for that to work. (I did, however, come up with some eyeballs that made some very cool props for family photos, as you can see.)


reject resin eyes for fursuit heads worn by Isabelle
So I decided I was done experimenting with new ways of painting eyes and was ready to buckle down and concentrate on getting some good bubble free castings to paint. In theory it looked simple: make sure Part A is comfortably warm to the touch, microwaving if necessary; gently mixing the proper amounts of Part A and Part B together; letting them rest a preordained time in their mixing cup, then scooping off the bubbles which should have obediently risen to the top; pouring the mix gently down one side of the mold to minimize new bubbles; and then checking the casting once or twice during the first twenty minutes of setting to pop any more bubbles that dutifully would come to the surface.

First mistake: not getting part A warm enough, so that the mix would be too thick for any bubbles formed while stirring to rise up and pop. If Part A was too cold, bubbles were also more likely to form while stirring in the first place.

Second mistake: getting part A too warm. The mix would be beautifully bubble free in the mixing cup, but new bubbles would form no matter how gently I poured down one side of the mold and then the mix would set too fast to allow these bubbles to rise up to the top and pop.

Third mistake: mixing the part A and part B as little as possible, so that there would be no bubbles but there would also be unmixed spots in the casting. These would not cure but would remain soft and sticky no matter what.

resin eye blank for fursuit heads with bubbles
bubbly reject resin eye blank for fursuit heads
scratched bubbly reject resin eye blank for furuit heads
At first the owner of Little Windows was a huge help and spent much time by phone and email helping me work out my problems. Her first suggestion was to let the mix stand in the cup as long as necessary for the bubbles to rise to the top before pouring into the mold. This, unfortunately, never happened. Her next suggestion was to adjust the microwave in increments of seconds to see what time worked best for getting the right temperature, but unfortunately my ancient microwave does not have this capability. Her next suggestion was to wipe down my mold with rubbing alcohol or acetone so that bubbles would not stick to its surface and rise more easily after the resin was poured. Unfortunately I found the only thing this did was introduce yet another opportunity to get lint in the mold. She felt bad that I had used up an entire kit without getting a single bubble free casting and sent me a new replacement kit free of charge. Then, she stopped returning my calls and emails.

reject resin eyes for fursuit heads worn by Brian
To be fair, the mold I was using ( the 1 1/2 cabochon mold) is one of the largest mold sizes that is used with Little Windows resin. I'm under the impression that most other craftspeople use this resin to cast smaller pieces, for beads and jewelry and such, and bubbles would have an easier time rising out of smaller amounts of material. I also suspect that if I waited until a warmer time of year when the ambient temperature were higher (it was early spring in VT, and it was in the 60's in the house) I might have had better luck. I also took some comfort reading online that casting clear resin can be tricky for most people to learn.
However...I had piles and piles of bubbly castings, so I decided to keep the ones that had cured properly and use them later to try out new eye painting ideas. I put them all in a plastic baggie and set them on a shelf... and a month later, they had all yellowed. So that, ladies and gentlemen, was the end of that.

I briefly considered making eyes out of other kinds of resin, but rumor has it that Easy Cast, another commonly used resin, is hit or miss in the curing department and also yellows over time, and Smooth On's Crystal Clear- what Dreamvision Creations uses for its eyes- is somewhat toxic and as such is not suitable for a home studio. (Plus, when I asked about it, they told me they also use a vacuum chamber to make sure the castings come out bubble free!) When I called Smooth On's excellent tech department to ask what clear casting resin would be suitable to use in a home environment, they recommended Epoxacast 690, with the caveat that the two parts were fussy to mix and I would need a scale that could measure down to 1/100 of a gram. If I do go back to trying to cast my own eyes, this will be the material I start with. However I decided I had spent enough time chasing this rabbit down the hole and I needed to get back to what I was most interested in in the first place: making masks.
I write my tale of woe here so that either a) you my dear reader can either learn from my mistakes and perhaps achieve a bubble free casting where I could not or b) save yourself a lot of time, money and aggravation and proceed directly to Etsy to buy a pair of blank bubble free resin eyes to paint for yourself. Which is what I ultimately wound up doing.


family photo with reject resin eyes for fursuit heads
0 Comments

    Author

    I make masks. Because art is more fun when you put it on your head.

    Categories

    All
    A Day In The Life
    Airbrushing
    Artemis
    Casting
    Cat Masks
    Color Design
    Deer Mask
    Ears
    Eyes
    Fur
    Garm
    Handpaws
    Head Base
    Horse/unicorn Masks
    Jawsets
    Lips
    Maxine
    Methods And Materials
    Moldmaking
    Moving Jaw
    Noses
    Painting
    Paper Mache
    Patterning
    Photography
    Rabbit Masks
    Resin
    Rip
    Sculpting
    Sewing
    Shaving And Trimming
    Silas
    Silicone
    Strapping
    Studio Announcements
    Tails
    Tongues
    Videos
    Wolf Masks

    Archives

    October 2021
    September 2021
    May 2021
    March 2021
    July 2020
    November 2019
    March 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    December 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    July 2016
    August 2014
    June 2014
    February 2014
    November 2013
    October 2013
    March 2012
    October 2011
    September 2011
    March 2011
    November 2010
    September 2010
    August 2010
    June 2010
    October 2009
    September 2009
    March 2009
    February 2009
    February 2008
    June 2007
    April 2007

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly