BEST DECKARD FIGURE EVER thanx to kind eBayers!

[mindbook]

I would say there is a good bit more painting that just the eyes and hair, you use dark blue/green colors around the eyes and mouth and sometimes other places and the nose and cheek areas are painted as well.



This I think is misleading because you told others when your recast heads where up on eBay and started to gain notoriety, that the technique was pretty much a happy accident, That a friend at an FX house gave you a semi-clear resin in unmarked containers and you just added alkyd paint to it and the effect came about from that.

If you want to protect a technique (and I total understand that!) just say you don’t want to give it up. If you start coming out with different stories and trying to make out like something is more than it is you’re going to lose credibility.

With that said I don’t want you to think that I’m busting you balls...I like what you can do and I look forward to seeing more of you painted castings in the future.

No offense taken, THANK YOU for bringing this up.
I don't remember using the term "alkyd paint" I do remember telling an eBay member or two that story, so that in my own "NICE" way I was saying "I don't want to share my technique" I didn't want to be an Ass about it, but I couldn't find a nice way of putting it, so I told him that story(shifting the secret to my friend)which got me out of explaining more about it.OK, having said that, I think it is unfair to hold this against me.....Haven't you ever been to a party where you wanted to leave, but didn't know how to say it in a NICE way??? Well, that's how I felt everytime someone asked me about my technique on eBay. I struggled between being really nice about it(telling that story), and just saying I'd rather not tell you(then getting nasty things written about me because I didn't want to share)My friends were all saying to me "You don't owe anybody anything, you shouldn't feel guilty".......So I finally came out on this forum and told the truth.My Father was a chemical engineer, and he used to make me work at his business(factory)during summer breaks, and I'd mess around with all kinds of mixing agents, inks, paints etc....ALL TRUE! Yes even my statement about the ONLY real painting is in the eyes & hair 100% TRUE.The key word to remember is "PAINTING".If you knew my technique you would agree.This is not a mislead, trust me. I don't "PAINT" those areas(under the eyes, cheeks,mouth)look again! NO brush strokes!Everything I do is a composite of things I observed in my Fathers factory, Art School, Living in Paris(going to museums) and my passion for realistic miniatures. What I said to that eBay member, is a white lie I admit, but I just wanted to be nice.Everything I said in this forum 100% TRUE. I hope this clears things up,I feel so guilty when I have to tell people, I'd rather not share my technique.....

 

[mindbook]

Hello again,
I also wanted to add; There is no school or training course on how to make 1/6 scale skin, or facial hair. I created this all on my own, nobody taught me anything. The concept of translucent skin is not a new idea(you can see it in any wax museum)all I did was reduce it to a smaller scale, and added texture and facial hair to it. If I can do it, you can too.If my stuff inspires you to make your own life-like heads, even better! I don't believe forums have to always be about sharing secrets, it can be about pushing the envelope, kinda like what magicians do........All customizers are magicians. That's what makes all our stuff unique, by the secrets we keep.

Anybody agree or disagree with this???

 

[Entropy]

All customizers are magicians.

I certainly agree, I'd go so far as to apply this to all artists. There are different thoughts on sharing techniques. Some artists like Dick Smith, Alex Ross, Michael Caine, etc care to share their techniques, insights and experiences with others in their fields demystifying the "magic" as it doesn't take away from their talent and knowledge if they educate someone else, other artists choose to keep their techniques exclusively to themselves, other artists tell some things and keep other things to themselves. None of these I think are the "right" or "wrong" choices, simply choices and hopefully the artist's fans and peers will understand that.

Your friends are correct that you owe no explanations to anyone. But when anyone is impressed with something they see they will inevitably ask "how did you do that?", when the answer is "I'm not going to tell you" there are bound to be some who are frustrated and annoyed by that answer. The creator then gets annoyed by the negative reactions - especially when it keeps happening. I'm sure the custom painters here, Les, Darren, Josh, etc have similar experiences and stories. Try not to let it get to you, just goes with the territory in any field when you have skills and knowledge that others also want. Just keep up the good work, keep showing your stuff, as you said hopefully inspiring others to produce their best, and any pointers or tips you may care to share along the way will be appreciated.

 

[DarkArtist81]

Hello again,
I also wanted to add; There is no school or training course on how to make 1/6 scale skin, or facial hair. I created this all on my own, nobody taught me anything. The concept of translucent skin is not a new idea(you can see it in any wax museum)all I did was reduce it to a smaller scale, and added texture and facial hair to it. If I can do it, you can too.If my stuff inspires you to make your own life-like heads, even better! I don't believe forums have to always be about sharing secrets, it can be about pushing the envelope, kinda like what magicians do........All customizers are magicians. That's what makes all our stuff unique, by the secrets we keep.

Anybody agree or disagree with this???

Well said Mindbook. And I wholeheartedly agree. Customizing is not an exact science, and the way we go about making our "magic" can not be written down and shared in a simple formulaic description... mix 1 drop part A and 3 drops part B. It's a very crazy process born of many many nights of practice and near madness. And all of the work I see from my fellow customizers inspire me to create what I create, as mine sometimes inspires others to push the envelope in their work.

It's this fact that makes me enjoy this hobby all the more. The fact that some secrets are truly secret, some very "The Prestige"-like in their mystique.

Your work is like that to me, very mysterious... but VERY mind blowing. I almost DON'T want to know just because that would take away from the magic of it. If we knew, ALL of us would take this technique and it would not be unique to you. And that would be a real crime.

Just the same way in which no one can take my inner darkness, the twisted soul that lets me create the way I do. Or the artistic genius in Les, or the skin techniques of Custom Mikey. Darren, Phil, Icruise, Small Studios, Spenser... they all have skills and magic tricks of their own that make them unique and talented. Those things should remain secret and held close.

Art will always inspire art, push others to destroy boundaries and find new skills... And that is what customizing is all about.

 

[Mark Hazard]

This happened to the guy over at OSW as well. People get really bitter when an artist opts to not share their techniques. As he's not selling these heads, I don't quite get why he's not divulging, but as he's (again) not selling these heads, it's really none of our business why he's keeping it to himself. The guy comes to share pics of his work and gets taken to task.

The other option is to not share pics of his work, and I like seeing pics of his work.

 

[mindbook]

Actually I do sell some of my OOK heads....I just get so attached, that it's hard for me to part with them, you guys can understand that right??? I put a lot of effort in making them, and each one is TRULY unique to me(because of the skin texture, like a fingerprint)they're like the children I don't have!.......Anywhoo, I was planning on selling an Android Hunter custom figure, when I get it done. I redid the original head.

I don't quite get why he's not divulging, but as he's (again) not selling these heads, it's really none of our business why he's keeping it to himself. .

 

[bwayne]

I was planning on selling an Android Hunter custom figure, when I get it done. I redid the original head.

Let the bidding begin!

 

[Entropy]

Well said Mindbook. And I wholeheartedly agree. Customizing is not an exact science, and the way we go about making our "magic" can not be written down and shared in a simple formulaic description... mix 1 drop part A and 3 drops part B. It's a very crazy process born of many many nights of practice and near madness. And all of the work I see from my fellow customizers inspire me to create what I create, as mine sometimes inspires others to push the envelope in their work.

It's this fact that makes me enjoy this hobby all the more. The fact that some secrets are truly secret, some very "The Prestige"-like in their mystique.

Your work is like that to me, very mysterious... but VERY mind blowing. I almost DON'T want to know just because that would take away from the magic of it. If we knew, ALL of us would take this technique and it would not be unique to you. And that would be a real crime.

Just the same way in which no one can take my inner darkness, the twisted soul that lets me create the way I do. Or the artistic genius in Les, or the skin techniques of Custom Mikey. Darren, Phil, Icruise, Small Studios, Spenser... they all have skills and magic tricks of their own that make them unique and talented. Those things should remain secret and held close.

Art will always inspire art, push others to destroy boundaries and find new skills... And that is what customizing is all about.

Good points DA, but I personally don't think that knowing the way a thing is made, the techniques used to produce it, in any way diminishes the magic of the thing. https://www.michaelzulli.com/progress.htm for instance is still an amazing, inspiring painting, even more so perhaps, with each step of the process shown.

 

[bwayne]

I thinks both sides make good points, but mindbook isn't going to share his technique no matter how much people badger him. It's his call. I don't find anything wrong with him keeping a "trade" secret. I think we should just move on.

 

[Entropy]

Very True. Back on topic.. Blade Runner !!!

 

[Master Monkey]

Please dont take this the wrong way, but I cant understand why someone would want to hide this. Why would one hoard and hide something so great? To put all your efforts to waste?

You have obviously found a superior technique to anything else out there. This is better than any other customizer or manufacturer to date.

You should either be making a living off of this or sharing it with the community. That way, the only thing it could possibly do is improve the figure collecting community and industry. By increasing the quality, you increase the competition, thus creating better products. I bet any of the major 1/6 companies would hire you or buy your technique for massive amounts of money. Or you could make a killing as a professional customizer.

To hide something for the sake of hiding it, benefits no one, not even yourself. Im not trying to give you a hard time, but I think its a tragedy to have such an art fade away and be lost, which it most likely will.

You are sitting on a golden opportunity, and making the choice to let it slip by.

 

[mindbook]

Please dont take this the wrong way, but I cant understand why someone would want to hide this. Why would one hoard and hide something so great? To put all your efforts to waste?
/QUOTE]

No Offense taken.....I'm not hiding or wasting it, I have done custom work before, but I found that the effort I put into it was not worth the payment.My free time is very precious(weekends)and I don't do anything half-assed,so for me to produce a head, and have it be reasonably priced, is not possible. Furthermore, I also get slammed by people, accusing me of recasting, sooo coupled with that, I'm not really inspired to do more custom work. On the other hand, I could do my own sculpts, but the problem is, I don't have enough time to sculpt & paint. As for sharing it with companies...I consider my stuff art, and I can't imagine that it could be mass produced anyhow, nor should it be,there is a randomness to it, that cannot be reproduced consistently, and that's what makes it ART to me.The companies will probably cheapen the quality to lower costs, and ultimately you will probably just get a slightly better version of a painted head, and they won't look like my examples(Some of you developers know exactly what I'm talking about)so what's the point???Why bother.The idea of translucent skin is not new, the hobby will thrive with or without my technique(trust me). My purpose is to inspire somebody else to push the envelope! That's what ART is about, and I am a working artist.I appreciate your appreciation, and concerns.

 

[mindbook]

I think we should stick to the subject though.......BLADE RUNNER.
Hopefully I will put my Android Hunter on eBay(whenever I get it done)

 

[amarcord]

I think we should stick to the subject though.......BLADE RUNNER.
Hopefully I will put my Android Hunter on eBay(whenever I get it done)

Interesting, what will be the price if I may know?

 

[mindbook]

The custom figure would be $99(same price as a regular Android Hunter figure)

 

[Spenser]

In an effort to do a better Deckard figure myself I started re-sculpting a head for my custom, I wasn’t happy with the first sculpt. However I haven’t been able to get back to it to finish it off, I didn’t know I would be painting Wesley Price heads for the next few months.

 

[mindbook]

In an effort to do a better Deckard figure myself I started re-sculpting a head for my custom, I wasn’t happy with the first sculpt. However I haven’t been able to get back to it to finish it off, I didn’t know I would be painting Wesley Price heads for the next few months.

I know what you mean about getting back to finish it off............It looks GREAT though!

 

[mindbook]

Has anyone ever seen a sculpt of Eldon Tyrell??? Or Rachael???

 

[Spenser]

Has anyone ever seen a sculpt of Eldon Tyrell??? Or Rachael???

I'm working on a Rachael, but had to put her on hold also. I'll post a picture later.

 

[TheObsoleteMan]

I didn’t know I would be painting Wesley Price heads for the next few months.

That Deckard sculpt looks amazing, you've definitely got those elusive Ford features down.