Halloween and Beyond: The Thorn Rebuild Project

 Fall Greetings, 

The seasons have officially changed and we are now plowing headlong into the Fall season. This year for Halloween, I want to do something different from previous years. In the past, I've developed entries in the long-running story of the Faceless Summoner. While I don't intend to abandon that project, this year will be the start of something I haven't attempted before.

Long ago, when I first started creating Papier Mache monsters, one of the first I ever posted anywhere was a gremlin-like creature named Thorn. He was a full-sized monster covered in spikes and lived in my work office for a while. When I moved in 2018, I packed up all of my sculptures, dragon heads, masks, and full-sized pieces and took them along. Many of them are in storage with the dragon heads hanging in my garage. The move was not kind to Thorn, however and the following pictures shows his current state:

It might be tough to make out in the pictures but most of his spikes were broken and his overall position sort of sagged down to the ground. For comparison, here is what Thorn looked like when I made him:

As part of an experiment, I plan on "rebuilding" Thorn. I will be completely revamping his spike concept in addition to adjusting his position. The plan is to reinforce his body and limbs, add new details, and then re-skin him entirely. Finally, this will result in a brand new coat of paint. Unlike the original, the idea this time is to incorporate the blackwashing effect to give some better shadows.

While this project is officially launching this month, I don't know if it will be completed by Halloween. I plan on capturing all the phases of the rebuild and will compile them into a full video for Youtube. This format tends to be better than smaller sporadic updates so the next time I post here should be with the finished piece. 

I don't plan on going back to rebuild all my old works but this project will be a good test to see how effective it ends up being. 

Stay tuned!

~Zan

The Summer Update Post

 

Greetings,

It's nearing the end of Summer. I live in the states on the west coast and while it's been warm, I feel for people in other parts of the country that are experiencing scorching temperatures right now.

Updates have been slow here on the studio's main site. A couple of large-scale papier mache projects I hope to complete have been delayed due to some real-life obligations. I am still working on things though and plan on posting a different type of project by Halloween. While the activity on the main site has been slow, I continue to post regular content on Deviant Art, Youtube, and stream on Twitch. 

I was recently asked why I create content on the internet. Specifically, why I choose to create things on the main platforms listed above. While I do not consider myself a high-profile content creator and do not actively make money from any platforms aside from our Redbubble store, I have always been driven by the desire to make things. Things like profit or fame have never motivated me. I just have ideas that I want to get out into the world. This ends up resulting in me experimenting with many different mediums for creating things which can be a double-edged sword. I sometimes think I've taken on too many hobbies.

That being said, Drakenwrath Designs is the face of my content creation brand. Even though activity may slow or become sporadic, I don't intend to ever stop. The only thing that will stop me from creating content is when I no longer enjoy it. Once I feel it's become a job, I will probably move on to something else. 

To date, I have posted on this site for over a decade with the first entry being in 2012. Things have evolved from a mere art blog to a collaborative place with other artists, to multi-media creation on many different platforms. It's been an interesting ride so far and I thank everyone who's come along with us so far.

So, what's next? I plan to continue the regular posts on the usual platforms but I also want to push some new updates to our Redbubble store. There are many designs that have been posted but not included in the store, including the recent Hunting Fleet series based on Monster Hunter. I also want to do another Redbubble product test with some of the more recent designs so that may also be coming in the future. As far as why I don't post Let's Plays or commentary video on Youtube any more, it started to become difficult to manage the volume of recording, editing, and posting of that content. I don't know if they'll ever make a return though I wouldn't mind picking up on the Drawing Commentary series at some point.

I think that will do it for this somewhat lengthy update. Things will continue here and I hope you'll join us for the ride.

Thanks for visiting,

~Zan

Taking a Content Break This Month

 

 

 

Greetings,

With Winter winding down, we're already headed into Spring. While I haven't had a ton of updates lately, I did want to confirm that I'm still creating content, mostly in the form of videos on Youtube and streaming art on Twitch.

Starting on March 17th, I will be taking a break from creating content for about 3 weeks. When I return, the regular content will resume and I plan on bringing back the somewhat frequent Papier Mache projects. I've got a couple interesting ideas lined up that I will be posting.

Thanks for stopping by!

~Zan