"Reborn" - 7.5" Custom Bear Head for Strangecat Toys
Now this, this is my favorite toy so far this year. Literally one day after I said to my other half that I would love to work on a Bearhead from Luke Chueh my PM on IG pinged and there was Cory from Strangecat Toys asking me if I wanted to take part in his show "Bearly, a Custom Toy" in September. And guess what the chosen platform was?! YES, a Bearhead!!!!
I wanted to create something mystical and extraordinary and I think I did. I am happy I sketched this out on paper first or I don't think the end result would have been as good. I also chose to paint the eyes myself as I couldn't find anything suitable. I will be doing this allot in the future. Imagine all the possibilities!
I tried to imagine something very spiritual in a way. And yet again my fascination for mother nature took over. So I thought of the bear head as something dead that with the help of nature is reborn into a higher entity. It's becoming one with mother nature. She gives and she takes....
The easiest part was the head. The wooden base took some time and some planning. I built the base out of foil to get the right shape around the head and then stabilized it with epoxy. Wood is so forgiving to sculpt as it has got no rules or boundaries. You can just do whatever you want with it.
I did the base in three different parts so that I could paint them separately and then assemble them after. This was to achieve a more professional looking paint job. It was almost like making a puzzle. So hard to get all the pieces to match. But as you can see, it all worked out fine.
Now I ended up using just over 1 lb of Sculpey on this sculpt.... Yes that is allot, and as you can imagine this toy weighs quite a bit. 1.5 KG to be exact. It's the heaviest and biggest toy I've ever made.
"Reborn" will be showing at the "Bearly, a Custom Toy Show" by Strangecat Toys at Redefine Gallery, Orlando, FL on September 2nd and 3rd 2016! And I can't wait to see all the other customs for this show. The Bearhead is for sure one of my most favorite platforms so far. Absolutely Amazing! So make sure you don't miss out on this one!