Halfway through the video, the Wanderer walks into the Fortune Teller's tent and appears to have taken a seat next to him. Actually we will see the seated version of the Wanderer inside the tent. It's a bit of visual trickery.
His body in-progress. I used another wood, instead of basswood, for his torso, upper arms and thighs. Not sure what kind of wood it is - it carves as easy as basswood but has a coarser grain.
In the middle of carving the hands - challenging, but very rewarding work.
Finished carving..... and filing... and sanding. These probably took about 4 hours to make.
His head after sculpting and baking. I'm pretty happy the way he turned out.
When sculpting heads, I don't have a lot of confidence in my abilities, and consider most heads I've done "happy accidents". Though pleased with the results, I'm always pleasantly surprised by the personalities that emerge.
His body, ready for painting.
Ready to be dressed. I create, and age, the clothes before I paint the figure, so at this point he is ready to be assembled.
Detail of his hands. I used a darker skin color to suggest a Middle Eastern/Moroccan heritage.
His super-fancy shoes.
His finished head. He'll be wearing a hat/headpiece by the way, so pay no attention to his hairline.
His distinctive profile came out a bit like Baron von Munchausen. I rarely use visual references, so his appearance came from deep inside my brain. (I will say it's one of my favorite movies.)
The many, many hats I considered for him. This is a sign that I do indeed have enough found objects to pull from. Each hat or headdress certainly lends a different feel to his character.
My choice for his hat - it goes so well with his outfit and has the perfect feel to it. It's actually a small round wooden picture frame with a small metal cup on top.
He'll sit before a crystal ball of sorts, and his arms will be manipulated by rods from underneath the set.
Another view.
Our two characters as they will be sitting. I'll be building a table for this scene, and the crystal ball and stand are yet to be designed and created. The one in the pic is just a stand-in.
Next the High-Diver..............
