# Vincent Price - a sculpting project by Mr. Chicken



## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Here's what's in the works currently. The plan is to have a realistic bust of Vincent Price, with silicone skin, punched hair, acrylic eyes, etc. Should be a nice portfolio piece if it works out how I'm envisioning it.

I'm going for a "House on Haunted Hill" era Vincent.










Step 1: armature








The less the better, so it doesn't interfere with the proportions of the sculpture. The only reason to sculpt a head on top of another one is if it's going to be a mask.

Step 2: roughing out the sculpture








I use Chavant NSP Medium clay. This is a few sessions in. Still quite a ways to go, of course, but I thought y'all would like to see this from the beginning.

Incidentally, if you're thinking about doing some sculpting, you may find my Fright Radio segment interesting: You might find my Fright Radio segment on sculpting interesting: http://chickenhaunt.blogspot.com/2014/02/sculpting-tips-fright-radio.html


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## Oaklawn Crematory (Oct 25, 2014)

Looking damn good poultry boy ! You captured his sly "cat got your tongue" look exceptionally well !


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## jdubbya (Nov 6, 2005)

Looks great Jasper. Even had you not shown the photo of him, one could look at the sculpt and tell who it is. Looking forward to the progress.


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## Hairazor (Mar 13, 2012)

Your talent is showing! He is such a classic I can't wait to see the finished piece


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Damn, from a ball of foil to a Vincent in two easy steps

You're amazing, Mr C. One day you shall be rich and famous, and the rest of us will be able to say we knew you when you were just a baby with budding talent:jol:


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## WingThing (Nov 14, 2014)

Lol I want one. Looks great and been a big fan of Vincent Price since I was a kid. You got to post your finished piece. Here is a few of his old radio shows that I sometime listen to when working on props. http://www.fearyoucanhear.com/shows/andromeda.php?q=f&f=/Price+of+Fear,+Vincent+Price


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Even your roughing out version of Vincent looks spot on.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks guys!

That's a great idea WingThing. I couldn't get that link you posted to play, but there's plenty on Youtube that I've been listening to today.

Another few hours in:


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## booberry crunch (Aug 14, 2014)

Wow! Looking really good, Mr. C!


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## Great Pumpkin (Feb 21, 2011)

Very nice Mr C! Loving it!!!


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## deadSusan (Jun 26, 2013)

Excellent!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

You know a sculptor is good when you can see the personality of the figure shining through the piece.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the kind words, folks. Still a long way to go with this guy. Here's a few shots, each a couple days apart of the last week or so of progress



















And then I lost track of the likeness, and he went into a weird Timothy Dalton land for a short time. No pics of that stage, but today I think it's starting to shape back up:


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## punkineater (Apr 26, 2014)

..yes, what RoxyBlue said! Amazeballs :rolleyekin:


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## kprimm (Mar 14, 2009)

Wow! Very nice!


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## Great Pumpkin (Feb 21, 2011)

Awesome Mr.C


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## bobzilla (Nov 13, 2008)

Very haunting Mr. C!
Great work


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Hmmm, he does kind of look like Timothy Dalton a bit....

bobzilla summed it up well with a single word - "haunting".


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## Oaklawn Crematory (Oct 25, 2014)

Looking pretty good !


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## IMU (Apr 8, 2009)

Very nice start.


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## Draik41895 (Oct 25, 2008)

That's freaking brilliant. We have to do a likeness sculpt for the end of this semester and I was planning on doing vincent price as well. And for my big final I wanted to do the same as you. I can't wait to see the finished product, I love it!


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## Spooky1 (Aug 25, 2008)

Looking amazing so far.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

It's been a while since we last saw dear Vincent, so let's have a little update, shall we?

As before, each photo represents another session of sculpting (more or less). I apologize for the size of the pictures.










I realize that the difference between each of these photos doesn't seem huge, but what was actually happening was that, in between each photo here, I'd see something that felt off, and completely change an area of his face to adjust it, then adjust the rest of the face to agree with the new altered area. The likeness would completely disappear in those stages, and then I'd snap a picture when it started coming back.



















What? That doesn't look like sculpting! Actually, I got a little 3D printer to help with some of the more precision parts of my various projects, and the first order of business was making some properly sized eyeball placeholders for this sculpture. The wooden balls that were there before were just a hair too small. Well, a few hairs. The old ones were 24.5mm, and the new ones are 26mm. It makes a huge difference on a face, though.










So then we had a little...surgery.










It's been a great mystery to me throughout this process how Vincent's face can be so structured from some angles, and so full from others. Keeping a variety of shots around makes it easier to keep track, but making forms that satisfy all angles of the reference is really tricky.

http://i429.photobucket.com/albums/qq14/theskeletonshand/Vincent%20Price/IMG_4756_zpsu3wjuxsv.jpg

And that bring us up to date. That last shot was about 2am last night. I had been handling his cheeks all wrong, and it took bringing out the lifecast of a similarly aged actor I had worked with to figure it out. Now we're getting somewhere...I hope!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

Here's the last picture again:










Just a phenomenal sculpt, Mr C!


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the fix, Roxy


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## The Halloween Lady (Aug 18, 2010)

He is looking just spectacular. I am also really jealous of your 3D printer!


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## drzeus (Jun 25, 2011)

*Lifecast*

Wow! Incredible work Mr. Chicken!!!

I have always thought to dabble in sculpting but I wouldn't even know where to begin. I haven't done any since high school art class some, uh, 40 years ago!!

I'm not suggesting that your sculpt isn't nearly perfect but I have a plaster lifecast of a (much older?) Vincent if that could be of any help to you... I could ship it for your reference...

I also have Boris, Bela and Lon Jr. if you have any other aspirations...










Dr Zeus


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

As always, amazing work Mr. C! Love the progress pics and really digging your use of the 3D printer. Been messing with one myself these days. Always good to come back to the forum and see so much wonderful new stuff!


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

Thanks for the feedback, everyone. Much appreciated.
Not much progress lately, but a friend of mine loaned me a really nice copy of a VP lifecast (the one DrZeus has). I think it 's about 10 years younger than the late 1950's Vincent that I'm sculpting, but it gives a good reference for the landmarks and dimensions on his face. I was actually surprised how close I was on the overall proportions. Most of the areas that are off are pretty much what I expected to find. It'll be an interesting challenge to balance this three dimensional reference with the photos that I've been using to capture the "right" version of him.


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## Sawtooth Jack (Apr 9, 2011)

I don't know how many generations of reproductions that life-cast has seen, but I'm really feeling the Mr. Price vibe more from your piece! Maybe it's the nose??? Either way, great work so far.


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## castart (Sep 3, 2014)

I was thinking the same thing that Sawtooth Jack said. You really have nailed something in your sculpture that is lacking in the lifecast. Seeing this makes me miss Vincent, he was almost like a family member.


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## forevermy3 (Sep 8, 2010)

WOWZA! Nice. I will see you at Scare LA ☺I'm taking your class.


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## Mr_Chicken (Nov 26, 2008)

See you there, forevermy3! Be sure to introduce yourself!

Mini non-update: Vincent is shelved for the time being while I work on other projects. I'd been staring at him too long to be able to make any sense of the sculpture. Hopefully that changes when I pick him back up again soon!


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## RoxyBlue (Oct 6, 2008)

^He'll let you know what he wants you to do, never fear:jol:


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## lukeicd15 (Jul 15, 2015)

*Amazing*

Vince...that looks awesome! Have you done this type of work professionally before?


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