Legend of the Midgard Serpent

The Midgard Serpent is a giant serpent thrown into the ocean by a great king. The serpent grew so large that it encircled the planet.

The Midgard Serpent torso clay up and head update

As of today the Midgard Serpent sculpt has undergone almost two layers of brush up clay on the torso. I think 4-5 more layers will bring my wall thickness between 1/8" - 1/4".

The tongue has been introduced, I liked Brozar's idea; therefore, incorporated his concept of a thick base and pointy tongue. The plastic eyes were removed and replaced with the clay eyes. The eyes will not be secured until the serpent's head is attached to the torso and Thor is place back in the scene. We what the Midgard Serpent focusing on Thor's mighty hammer.

Here is a profile view of the Midgard Serpent's tongue.

The clear plastic wrap between the head fins and head will be removed after I have finalized the crown. I am still tweaking the head fin's pose.

My daughter stated that the serpent looks like he is wearing a shower cap. Leave it to the peanut gallery to critique ones art work.... LOL

The serpent's skin texture is still up in the air. I do not care to give it a scale texture. I prefer wrinkle skin look.

Here you can view the aluminum rod that will help guide and secure the fit to the Midgard Serpents head. Both sections that will join have been coated with clay. The clay on both the torso and head will be melted just before the are squeezed together to secure a tight bond.

Thor's Midgard Serpent gets the first clay layer

Birds-eye view of Thor and the Midgard Serpent. As you can note, the head fins on the serpent received the first layer of clay. The serpent's body also received its face coat of clay. I will apply the clay to the inner section after I remove the Thor sculpt from the stand. Right now there is not enough room to maneuver.

Here is a frontal image of Thor and the Serpent. I am still fine-tuning the head and fins posture. Currently I am still in doubt.

I will adhere the Midgard Serpents head and body after I find the correct head pose. I am thinking of tilting the head a bit more.

Thor will be approximately four inches off the base (ground) in order to give the viewer the impression that Thor is about to take flight. The Serpent's tail, head fin and segments of the Serpents body will be welded to Thor in order to secure the bronze.

Thor and the Midgard Serpent's armature fabricated to hold the battle pose

This image exhibits Thor restraining the Midgard Serpent by the cranium fin/wing. The pose is a fairly accurate; however, I may alter it after I had time to digest the stance.

The rear view… Thor’s hand will be revised once I figure out what he will actually be holding on to.

The Midgard Serpent’s head fins will be adapted to flow with the action.

The Midgard Serpent’s body will undertake the clay up within the next few days.

The Midgard Serpent is large enough to consume poor Thor… LOL…. (moremagic/Mike) one of my ustream.tv viewers declared that the composition is making it look like Thor is the villain.

My wife is taking pleasure in the serpent’s disposition.

Here you can see the green garden hose, which will be covered in clay soon.

Thor 3D movie scheduled for release on May 4, 2011

Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Hopkins as Odin and Tom Hiddleston as Loki from director Kenneth Branagh's upcoming "Thor" adaptation.

Midgard Serpent head fin wings

The Midgard Serpent gets wings.... hmmm sounds like a red-bull ad...

The head wings/fins or whatever they are called were fabricated using 1/8" aluminum wire, cotton shirt; wood glue. To learn the process, you will have to tune in to my live-broadcast. Currently working on the Thor God of Thunder and The Midgard Serpent.

Here is a birds-eye view of the Midgard Serpents head. The fins/wings have been dry fitted before the clay is applied.

I am thinking of having Thor take hold of the Serpent’s left fin-wing. This way it looks like Thor is able to control the serpent by means of a sensitive part of the serpent’s anatomy. It would comparable to restraining someone via an ear. Try it; it’s painful.

The fin-wings will be modified to better streamline the look and feel of the composition.

I have not quite determined which way to point the head fin-wing.

Be patient my friends, the piece will improve over the next few days, for right now it is still in its rough phase.

Thanks for viewing...

Midgard Serpent begins to take shape

The Midgard Serpent third day of progress begins to give the serpent character

As you can notice the head appearance is now beginning to get that ferocious pissed off expression; therefore, I think Thor may be in trouble.

The nostrils were enlarged in order to give the beast a facial expression of being battle beaten.

The hand on the Midgard Serpent's head is the hand for the Thor model. I will make the hand part of the head; later the wrist section will be welded to the Thor lower end of the forearm once the composition is in the metal stage. The hand is still very sketchy and will need many more hours of detailing.

Midgard Serpent sculpture update

Today I spent time modeling the Midgard Serpent's head. It was broadcast on http://www.ustream.tv/channel/tutorial%3A-how-to-sculpt-in-clay---artistsculptor from noon to about 6:30 PM PST.

It looks like Leonard my apprentice recieved a fright from the serpent. Leonard is the little guy wearing the beret.

The head needs several more passes in order to capture the correct somewhat likeness of a moray eel. Right now I am not sure if I will add fins/wings to the head area. However, Brozar a regular viewers thinks I should.

The eyes pictured are temporary until I insert the clay eyeballs. Since I want the Midgard Serpent staring at Thor, I will create the iris and pupil with a highlight.

The teeth at this point seem a bit too small; therefore, I will add length to them.

History of the Midgard Serpent

The Midgard Serpent, Midgarðsormur, or World Serpent, is, in Norse mythology, a sea serpent, and the middle child of the giantess Angrboða and the god Loki. According to the Prose Edda, Odin took Loki's three children, Fenrisúlfr, Hel and Jörmungandr, and tossed Jörmungandr into the great ocean that encircles Midgard. The serpent grew so large that he was able to surround the Earth and grasp his own tail. When he lets go the world will end. As a result he earned the alternate name of the Midgard Serpent or World Serpent. Jörmungandr's archenemy is the God Thor.

Here is my armature for the Midgard Serpent. The clay model will measure roughly 11 feet, head to tail. Since Thor is sculpted in 1/2 scale, this would make the Midgard Serpent roughly 22 feet.

The armature consists of a waterholes I cut into segments. Next I inserted a 10 foot, 1/4 inch diameter aluminum rod to aid in the coiled pose. I double up on the rod for the first three feet to help support the weight of the head. The hole was then wrapped with bubble wrap in order to give it the correct girth. In the next step, clay will be brushed on the bubble wrap.


The Midgard Serpent's armature consists of styrofoam in order to ease on the weight of the clay. This image depicts the first layer of clay I brushed on.


I will be using the moray eel as a reference, since it is the closest creature to a sea-serpent I can think of.

Who is Thor - God of Thunder

Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of...
THOR - GOD OF THUNDER

Thor is the red-haired and bearded god of thunder in Germanic mythology and Germanic paganism, and its subsets: Norse paganism, Anglo-Saxon paganism and Continental Germanic paganism.

Most surviving stories relating to Germanic mythology either mention Thor or focus on Thor's exploits. Thor was a much revered god of the ancient Germanic peoples from at least the earliest surviving written accounts of the indigenous Germanic tribes to over a thousand years later in the late Viking Age.

Thor was appealed to for protection on numerous objects found from various Germanic tribes. Miniature replicas of Mjöllnir, the weapon of Thor, became a defiant symbol of Norse paganism during the Christianization of Scandinavia.

THOR GOD OF THUNDER

Today I decided to goof with Photoshop and create a flyer. For a detailed image, you can click on the image.

360 view of the Thor clay sculpt

Thor's hair was given an additional three inches in length.

I believe I will keep the current pose.

The Midgard serpent will be added to the composition. The serpent's head or neck will be held by Thor's left hand as he summons the thunder in order to gain strength and do some serious booty kicking.

The rear section of the loincloth is not show in this image. Due to the pipe, entering his back, I was unable to dry fit the rear section.

My daughter viewed the sculpt today with all the accessories added and she stated, "this is your best work to date and I don't even like comic characters!". That was nice of her...

The sculpt measures 36" from toes to head. From toes to top of the hammer we are looking 45".

The hands still need to under several hours of detailing.

Sections of the cape will be supported by the serpents body; otherwise, the weight of the cape may compromise the welds.

UP, UP and away! The sculpt will be about one inch off the ground in order to give the illusion of flight.

Hope you enjoyed the images. More images will be available during the Midgard serpent sculpt.

Images of the (wip) work-in-progress for the Thor bronze sculpture

The helmet wings were given an update, the previous wings did not flow with the action.

Here you can see the detail that went into the helmet. Thousands of dimples, created in order to emulate a forged helmet.

Thor's mighty hammer used to summon the thunder!

Detail image showing Thor's torso. The loincloth still may need some additional work.

This image shows some of the detail that went into the legs and sandals.

Thanks to the viewers on ustream.tv I was able to create a cape that works with the Thor sculpt. Thanks guys!

The Thor model was put together for this photo shoot. The cape, helmet wings; braids are being held together with pins.