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.

Creating Thor's loincloth

Here is the process I used to create Thor's loincloth...