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JamieDMac In reply to Zyanny [2009-01-08 15:26:20 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much! I'm really pleased you like this little guy
I actually recommend trying Fuse wax over Casteline as Casteline these days isn't as good as it used to be. The people that make it changed the formula a couple of years ago, to make it cheaper to produce
Now it's not as nice to work with, feels sticky and has a horrible pungent odour to it... not the kind of thing you want when you're sitting next to it all day long.
Fuse wax though is much better and works in the same way as Casteline, just much smoother and easier to sculpt with. It takes some getting used to but is really good fun once you get into it.

...nearly forgot... here's the link for it by the way if you ever want to try some out [link]

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Zyanny In reply to JamieDMac [2009-01-09 15:20:29 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome^^ Thanks for the tips and the link~ I'll try them one day.

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JamieDMac In reply to Zyanny [2009-01-11 17:02:19 +0000 UTC]

My pleasure!

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Zyanny In reply to JamieDMac [2009-01-12 07:17:34 +0000 UTC]

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JamieDMac In reply to N-eXu-S [2007-11-02 17:11:48 +0000 UTC]

Thanks very much mate!! Really? Cool! I still need to watch that film. Is that the Neil Jordan one set in the cave with the all girl cast... or was that The Cave? ... haven't seen that yet either I've got some catching up to do

And thanks so much for the kind words, you flatter me Absolutely, it really is rewarding in that sense It can also drive you crazy when your working on a piece because you know it's going to be judged from every conceivable angle But I guess that's all part of the fun

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N-eXu-S In reply to JamieDMac [2007-11-03 18:14:01 +0000 UTC]

you are welcome

yep you are right, and it is a very good one when they first introduce the creatures, its done on a night vision cam, so it has the same green effect that your modles have well worth watching

you are more than welcome mate, you really have an unmatched talent. its incredible and i haven't seen anything like it before and yea you are right it is something that has to have the right proportions from every angle... i have no idea how you do it. i suppose alot of time must be spent just looking at it and trying to visualise it.

but yea it really is great and my girlfriend was raving on about your work too she is very impressed

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JamieDMac In reply to N-eXu-S [2007-11-26 23:47:10 +0000 UTC]

Hey mate, sorry for the late reply

Oh cool, I'll definitely have to check that flick out then I likes me some creatures

Thanks again mate, you really are too kind! I'm crap though. If you want to see some real sculptors you should check out these guys just for starters [link] [link] [link]
Here's a wicked site with some of the best in the biz [link] Really inspiring and humbling when you see the level of skill of what others can achieve.

Yeah, it depends on the subject though. I usually have some form of reference printed out to the size I'm sculpting and take measurments from that. Which helps a great deal with proportions and so on. Your eyes can be deceiving so it's useful to have something like that to work from as a guide. Sometimes I'll place the sculpt in front of a mirror to check for symmetery (sp?) It's amazing what you notice that you didn't before when you look at it in a mirror You think it's looking okay then notice one eye's on the wonk, a side of the face is too far back or whatever... can get a bit a soul destroying when you realise how much more you still have to do and change

I rambled on a bit there, soz

Aww, that's very sweet of her Well I'm really pleased you both like my stuff, means alot

Cheers.

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N-eXu-S In reply to JamieDMac [2007-11-30 13:32:28 +0000 UTC]

don't worry about it at all, i am always late replying lol

hehe yes it is well worth watching

OH WOW!!! there are some true masters out there i love them all!!! and i am being totally honnest but i think your work is just as good, i can truely apriciate the skill that is needed to do something like that and you sooo have it i will have to bookmark that last site too thats a good one

hehe yea but everyone has there refernaces and i am sure that is soo much easier with them, and i know all about the eye being deceiving, it can be the same for line art, and you hold up a mirror and its all totally wrong lol. and yea i know that feeling far to well, the thought of having soo much to do when you have already done soo much so i sympathise

lol don't worry about it all lucky you only ramble about interesting things you are not like those people who go "oh i was over at sams place and she was like whatever and i was just no but yea and don't go there girlfriend" lol that gets annoying

we do and if we got a house together i think we would have to commission a sculpt to go in it and we know who to call

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JamieDMac In reply to N-eXu-S [2007-12-05 00:13:29 +0000 UTC]

Hey, I watched The Descent last night on the tele And I see what you mean now about the creatures and the colour effect Great stuff! I thoroughly enjoyed it... quite tense and a bit depressing... which is probably why I liked it so much

Yeah, those guys are truly amazing Boggles the mind what they can do I dunno about that though, but thank you
I love that site Go there regulary for a good dose of inspiration... most of the time it can make me feel like crap seeing all that stunning work in one place

The eyes and mind are indeed deviously deceiving things I also find it helps if you walk away from it for a bit. Leave it for a day or two, if time allows it, and then come back with fresh eyes. Which can help you notice any mistakes or whatever. Is a pain in the arse though

So anyway, I'm like round at my mate Dave's house and he says to me like why don't you tell Saz that she ain't no way interested and stuff. Then I'm like, you what? And then would you believe it but that Jez turns up outside in his old beat up Cortina with none utha than Saz in toe, innit. I says they're 'aving a larf, ain't dey?

...couldn't resist, sorry

Aww, I'd be honoured to sculpt something for the pair of you to go in your home... when you get one that is

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N-eXu-S In reply to JamieDMac [2007-12-06 23:18:42 +0000 UTC]

oooh yea it was on telly wasn't it i was gonna watch it but i got it on DVD its an awesome film isn't it! and i know what you mean about depressing, it leaves you right at the end with that "all hope is lost" feeling, but yea thats why i liked it too unhappy endings are so rare, they really make an impression, like blair witch

hehe you are welcome and you have to have faith in yourself even if it is quiet confidence

lol i get the same thing from DA its soo inspiring but it makes me feel like a really bad artist because there is just soo much talent out there!

oooh yea i know exactly what you mean, when you work on something non stop, you start to accept the flaws and they just blurr. its when someone comes and points it out after you are all done and suddenly it is soo obvious lol, but then i have trouble stopping when i am on a roll, i don't like to leave things un finished....

lmao!!!! for a second there i wondered what the hell you were going on about! i thought....wait this guy isn't some kind of closet chav is he?!? lol

hehe that is soo cool well trust me mate, when we are all settled i promise we will pay you a visit for some of your work

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JamieDMac In reply to N-eXu-S [2007-12-13 17:25:29 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, I really like films like that No wonder I'm such a miserable git Alien 3 is a good one... even from the start you've got that feeling of "all hope is lost". Underated film that, im my humble opinion anyway

Ha, no chance there... I've got zero self confidence, and even lower self esteem. I hate myself as much as I hate my work... there's no hope for me either

I'm the same way with not wanting to leave things unfinished. Does my nut in having half finished worked lying about If I'm especially struggling on a piece what I normally do is box it up and hide it out of sight, try to forget about it. Then maybe come back to it some other time... by that point though I've lost all interest in it and rather work on something new instead

Hehehe, I messed with your mind "closet chav" If you were you'd never want to come out

Well hopefully by the time you're both settled I will be too... at the rate I'm going you'll likely be visiting me in a box under a bridge somewhere

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N-eXu-S In reply to JamieDMac [2007-12-14 13:53:00 +0000 UTC]

yea i know, lol its odd the appeal to sadness.... but there you go. yea Alien 3 was amazing and terminator 3 that hits you right at the end sooo well and war of the worlds had it too

harsh! thats a bleak outlook lol mate seriously you are rare, there are not many decent people left in the world, don't be the one that just fades into the background. new years day is comming up. make a plan of where you want to be in life and make it all happen by this time next year cos trust me i have been there, i was soo close to suicide in 2006 because i had such a hard time from everyone and then at new year i decided i wasn't gonna let that happen and i made plans, i was going to travel the world selling art online. so i joined DA at the begining of 2007 and met my girl friend, and since then my life just keeps getting better you only get out of life what you put in. if you think their is no hope then there is no hope. make 2008 the best year ever

soo soo true! i have a draw full of unfinished pictures, sometimes i go through them and complete some of them, but usually it is a good idea but i lack the skill to give it life so back to the draw it goes until i am good enough i hate that draw soo much lol

HAHAHA yea that is soo true, "hi my name is dave and im.....a chav...." lol chavahollics annonomous

mate you will never be like that not with your tallent you could to film props or something like that, casts for prosthetics your art has real life potental. problem with photos is there soo many who can do them.... you have a skill that you can actually use to make money

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JamieDMac In reply to N-eXu-S [2007-12-19 12:45:29 +0000 UTC]

I've never seen Terminator 3... don't really want to either incase it ruins the other two for me. Didn't seem like much point in making it. I like the fact at the end of T2 the future is left uncertain. Was far more dramatic and they should have just left it there. Plus Jim Cameron, Linda Hamilton or Ed Furlong weren't involved. Doesn't feel like a Terminator film without them... that was a bit of a rant, sorry about that

Anyway, yeah, I am a rather bleak individual at times. That's just me I'm afraid. Life continually kicks me in the bollocks when I'm down. Doesn't matter what I do or how hard I try to better myself nothing ever happens. I'm ever persistant though, I'm not a quitter. I keep working away and try not to think about it all too much. I used to tell myself that every year, this year is going to be better than the last. Never happens though. I've been trying to make a go of this for seven years now and feels like I'm going nowehere. Most of the time I wonder why I even bother. Seems like such a complete waste but I love to sculpt stuff. I get withdrawel symptoms if I go too long without making anything and get really depressed. Probably sounds kinda stupid.
Things recently have slowly started to get better, just wish it would happen a little bit quicker. This year began positively enough but then everything went to crap like years previous. You need money in order to make money. And when you're not earning any it makes it all the more difficult. And having to deal with people who want you to work for nothing and not getting paid for jobs after you spent weeks working on a piece really takes it out of you after a while. That's when you begin to question it all.

I persued the film route for years. The best I ever did was a small gig on the first Potter flick working with the creature crew. Problem with films is that so much of it is being done with computers so the need for practical effects is becoming less. Plus the companies only ever hire the same crew members for each job, or they take on students who will work for free or graduates for next to nothing. And there is always someone willing to work for nothing thinking it will get their foot in the door. Sadly though most of the time that just doesn't happen. Film and effects companies can very exploitative when it comes to working hours and wages. A few of my mates still do the occassional film/tv prop and model work but they have a real hard time finding work. A couple of them have given up altogether. Sucks but that's the way it is. I used to work for a model making firm in London but they never had enough work either. That was mostly exhibition stuff and window displays, for certain high street shops and fancy places like Harrods Doing all there christmas window guff and the like. I had to spend weeks sitting in large trays of glitter

I'm just going to be doing my own thing from now on and see how that works out. I've found a place that can mould and cast my work so soon I can start selling stuff Hopefully people like it enough to buy it, but we'll see

Take it easy mate!

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N-eXu-S In reply to JamieDMac [2007-12-19 13:14:44 +0000 UTC]

hmmmm well i thought it was quite good from the feeling i got, and it has alot of nice machines in it too, but yea there is alot of cheese in there that kinda ruin it, and there is some hollywood crap in there... like the teminator can remotly control cars using microscopic robots.... thats just stupid... so yea if i were you i would avoid it if you don't want to ruin the first two otherwise it is worth watching once.

i know how you feel mate, and i know how life can really be a bitch at times, cos that was pretty much how the first 20 years of my life went. but its good that you are not giving up because it WILL work out in the end. and its good that you keep sculpting, i think that will pay off and you will get your big break soon just hang in there

wow working on the happy potter films isn't bad but i can understand it being really hard, tho i am sure they would want you to make sculptures to use as molds for prosthetics that go on actors or something like that. maybe you could chose a different route like just open a gallery and put work in there. it might sell. or you could try talking to the guys that to wallace and gromit? or maybe models for games workshop? i am sure there must be work out there. but i know how it is when they get people who will work for nothing, those people don't realise how they are damaging their future.... i think if you do any commitions then you should ask for money up front. dont let anyone screw you over.

ooh now there's an idea, if you can replicate your models then you can mass produce and sell to shops. then it's their problem trying to sell them after that.

you too mate, and good luck, i am sure it will all work out in the end

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JamieDMac In reply to Patteee [2007-09-15 23:48:48 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much!!

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JamieDMac In reply to sculptart31 [2007-08-12 16:04:56 +0000 UTC]

Hey Cyril, thanks man! Good to see you over here. You're work is awesome! I can't wait to see the Dragon Ogre sculpt you were working on completed. That thing looks amazing!!

Thanks also for the watch and the fave

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JamieDMac In reply to EricNocellaDiaz [2007-08-02 21:59:03 +0000 UTC]

Thanks man! Ha, yeah, it's a pain in the butt trying not to mush it. I found it sort of helps if I keep hitting it with a flame if it starts to become too soft so it crisps the surface up a bit. I've tried putting the sculpt in the freezer but never found that to be much use... and it makes the casteline give off a rather pugent odour.
I need to try and work faster so I'm not handling the sculpt so much. I spend half my time picking out bits of dirt due to my grubby little fingers.

Many thanks for the fave, appreciate it!!

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EricNocellaDiaz In reply to JamieDMac [2007-08-03 16:15:05 +0000 UTC]

Your definately coming along with that Castelline for sure. Looks great. How do you ship a sculpt in that stuff and not have it get busted up? Does it hold up good in shipping? Curious.

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JamieDMac In reply to EricNocellaDiaz [2007-08-06 22:08:27 +0000 UTC]

It's not too bad but anything thin and pointy on a sculpt always seem to break off no matter how well I pack it. The Spidey sculpt I did though amazingly (no pun intended) arrived at the mould makers intact. I triple boxed that sucka and surrounded it with just about every type of packaging material I could find and placed foam inserts around the sides which seemed to do the trick. I didn't do that on the last sculpt I shipped, only used bubble wrap thinking it would be enough but it snapped in two places.

Even when I'm working on a sculpt though I end up breaking parts off so I have to insert some armature wire for added support which can be a nuisance. I'd like to try some harder waxes. I got some of the Willow waxes [link] to play about with, haven't tested them out yet. Think I might need to get a wax pen to use on some of them, they're pretty solid. A couple of them are meant to have the same qualities as Casteline so it'll be interesting to see how they compare.

Thanks again!

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EricNocellaDiaz In reply to JamieDMac [2007-08-07 12:12:41 +0000 UTC]

I cast and mold copies of everything if I can - shipping wax with thin parts is a sure guarantee of breakage.

I've been looking at the Willow waxes for sometime now as well. I may order some to see how they work.

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JamieDMac In reply to missfreeman [2007-06-30 11:48:22 +0000 UTC]

Hey thanks!
He started out as a quick little doodle in my sketchbook, which actually looks nothing like this. lol But I kept playing about with the design as I went along. For inspiration I looked at stuff from Lord of the Rings... the teeth were inspired by the Mouth of Sauron - that dude is way creepy. hehe I also looked at Gollum for reference as I wanted similiar anatomy as he's got. And also looked at the works of a whole bunch of different artists for inspiration. I've got folders filled with print outs of various artists work that I'll rummage through for ideas.

Yeah, I'll definitely come and check out your Pan piece.

Thanks again!

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JamieDMac In reply to AprilRyan [2007-06-29 19:26:56 +0000 UTC]

Peltzer says to April...

Thanks very much! Yeah, that last one wasn't working at all. The clay that I used on this one I find much easier to use, that other stuff drives me crazy trying to get it do anything.
The inside of his ears are full of wax. ... d'ya get it?... WAX ... because he's made from wax ... yeah ?... yeah? .... nah ... I'll get out of here quick before people start throwing sharp heavy objects at me ... ...

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JamieDMac In reply to letmefragyou [2007-06-28 23:24:37 +0000 UTC]

Cheers mate!

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JamieDMac In reply to sueded [2007-06-28 23:23:54 +0000 UTC]

'ello stranger! I've been meaning to comment on your journal but keep forgetting. My brain's been like mush this week. I have that zombie feeling going on. I've been so spaced out I accidently nearly broke one of my fingers, it's all split and swollen... just thought I'd share that wit' ya.

Hope you're doing okay though... Oh, and thanks! Glad you love it.

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JamieDMac In reply to mushonastick [2007-06-28 22:26:26 +0000 UTC]

Cheers mate! Funny you should say that as the teeth were inspired by the Mouth of Sauron, with some Gollum thrown in there too.
Was that the painting question? Hopefully, if I can get it moulded and casted.

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JamieDMac In reply to lawlessComics [2007-06-28 22:17:45 +0000 UTC]

Thanks man! I'll need to get him moulded and casted first... which may or may not happen. I hope to though because I would love to be able to slap some paint on the little sucka... biter.

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