Cradle, the exhibition

A few images of Cradle at the gallery.

Creature Mask

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to exercise that part
of my brain where I really get to run wild with a creature design. With
scripted notes and a meeting with the director, I quickly came up with a
few concept drawings.
Once we felt we had a basic idea in mind, I rendered a 3D
model in this amazing iPad app called 123D. It's free, and while it
doesn't do everything it is a great way to further visualize a design before I
started sculpting.
The actor playing the creature is 6 foot 10, so a life cast
was definitely necessary. The cast was done with smooth-on body double and plaster bandages. It was then cast, first with a urethane shell,
using smooth-on's fast-set shell shock, then filled with a rigid foam.
Any imperfections in the cast were chiseled down and sanded.
Or filled in with Magic Smooth (a two-part epoxy that can be smoothed with
water, then sanded when dry), and plumbers epoxy. Because I only had about
two weeks to complete the sculpture, I ended up sculpting the mask in a soft oil based
clay. It took about four days to complete the sculpture. I used some Saran Wrap
against the clay with a needle tool over the wrap for most of the wrinkle
texture. To get the numbers etched into the left side of the mask I made a
stencil. Using a small loop tool, clay was sculpted away, keeping the size and
font consistent.
For the mold, the dividing wall was built with WED clay.
Then a few layers of shell shock and a thick layer of Plasti Paste were
used for the mold. After the mold was cleaned out, an injection hole and vent holes
were drilled in the back of the head. The mold was put back together around the life
cast, and strapped shut.
I made some color samples for the director to approve. Ultimately we
went with pale skin with just a touch of silver flocking to give the skin an eerie pallor.
Small batches of Ecoflex silicone with fuse fx pigment and flocking
were mixed up and injected into the mold. After the silicone cured and was
demolded there was a fair amount of seaming to do. Using platgel 10 silicone
and some Saran Wrap I was able to make most of the seams disappear.
Fuse fx colors and alcohol activated makeups were used to paint
the mask. I kept a very precise log of every layer of paint since my
friend Joe Amella made the suit that our creature will be wearing. He will be
able to follow the painting scheme exactly.
Our actor was very pleased to have such a comfortable mask to wear. For me, it was great to finally see it on during the fitting.

Final Witness

It's been almost a year, but my episode for ABC's "Final Witness" has aired. Check out episode #102 Graveyard Love at abc.com
Being a network show there are not too many fx makeups, but there is some good bruising and a little bit of blood. Plus some tattoos that had been made to match the actual killers. The biggest challenge was keeping the tattoos on with all the sunscreen in hot Louisiana.
To make the tattoos I used the carbon paper that a tattoo shop uses to make actual stencils. (this can be purchased at any tattoo supply) I traced my drawing over the carbon paper onto a piece of tracing paper. This is now the stencil. A little castile soap mixed with water transfers the stencil image perfectly to the skin Then the outline and color was all done by hand with skin illustrator alcohol inks. A bit of powder over the image set it nicely into the skin.

Ugly Americans Online Promo

Finally, the fun little promo is on YouTube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv6DBYqz9gY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Cradle, the Middle

This is the part where I tell you how we made this thing. The hands were sculpted in WED clay with internal armatures. Alginate and plaster bandage molds were made and the hands were cast in plaster. I could then sand and resculpt using a little joint compound. Once finished, production molds were made with Smooth-on Mold Star 25 and Plasti Paste. We had tried to cast the hands in quickcrete, and after a few tests, decided that a 2 part plastic would do the trick with a few coats of spray paint. Amelia fabricated the cradle with found and made objects. There is a charm bracelet with lots of little animals that were cut by hand, and many rings with set stones that were made. Many of the beaded areas were fabricated as well. We ordered a column mold from a garden supply store, vacuum cast styrene. Amelia built a few jigs so we could run a piece of PVC pipe down the middle of each column part in order for a threaded rod to hold it all together. After a few tests with different concrete mixes, we ultimately cast everything in plaster of paris. The bases are fabricated from MDF. A threaded rod was glued securely to each hand, and a nut was secured to the underside of the top of the base. With ease the rod slipped through each section and was easily tightened together. Every piece was primed and spray painted white.

Cradle, the Beginning and the End

Back in January, my sister, Amelia, www.ameliatoelke.com and I submitted a proposal for a show in Portland, Maine called Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been. The guidelines for the show were, it had to be a collaboration between two people at different points of their careers. A perfect fit for Amelia and I. We came up with Cradle in no time at all. It was a perfect mix of our talents, mine with mold making and sculpting, and hers, in metals and construction. We had mapped out the project so I would construct the hands in Brooklyn and Amelia would fabricate what would become the "cradle", in Madison, Wisconsin. Before the install, we would get together and fabricate the columns and the pedestals in upstate New York. I have posted the original drawing from the proposal and the finished piece. We were surprised how it close the sculpture came to the drawing. The show opens at the MECA Library in Portland, Maine on June 1, and will be up for one month

My New On Set System

I finally started using this amazing "grid it" board by cocoon. A friend of mine had given it to me as a birthday gift nearly a year ago. I've been toting it along in my makeup kit ever since. It's the perfect on set touch up kit. I still keep my large set bag near by, with all the other stuff (band aids, straws, more powder, box of tissues, etc.) With this system I no longer have to run though tight sets with a large bag and everything is laid out and easily accessible, no more digging! The show I am currently working on has 2 male leads, one with some fx makeup (I'll blog about that later, closer to the movie release). This is what I have for touch ups.... Brushes for each actor, a small moisturizer, a small vial of blood, eyebrow groomer, tweezers, all matte, q tips, powder puff, small water sprayer, alcohol pen, powder compact with foundation colors spatulated on to the mirror side and a metal palette with alcohol inks in the colors I am using. There is a zipper pouch on the other side with some tissues. I think I might have to buy a few more of these!