The Trouble with Trolls…

Troll-Me_01a

Photo by: Avery Salmon

From time to time I take on freelance projects to help keep the lights on, and several have proven to be both extremely challenging as well as genuinely exciting. Given the recent Halloween festivities, I was prompted to share something fun and thought a brief post about making this little guy might be just the thing.

As was mentioned in Videoblog #4: Digital Sculpting and Design, learning to make rubber masks and creatures was one of several rather unique pursuits of my misspent youth.

Troll_CU_01This creepy critter is something I developed for a successful YouTuber (whose upcoming project must remain undisclosed for the moment). It’s essentially a hand puppet created using many common mask/creature production techniques.

Troll_concept_01

The first thing I did was find an innocent animal plushy with the right type of fur to use as a base for the puppet’s body, then Photoshop-ed a new, ugly mug in place of its decidedly cuter face (adding some wicked black claws for good measure). This part of the process is especially fun, and I gleefully combined elements of both Mogwai and Grinch until an appropriate troll-like visage was achieved.

Me-sculpting_02a

Once the design was sufficiently repulsive, I began to sculpt the charmingly grotesque features in oil-based clay. The basic size was determined by the need to have a hand fit inside to operate the finished creature. A variety of fangs were made from oven-hardening clay, but the eyes took a little more ingenuity.

Eyes-and-clay_01

I found some glass forms in a craft store (meant for making those photo/magnet baubles you can display on your fridge), then created the desired iris/pupil/sclera in Photoshop, printed them out and glued them to the back of the glass using clear adhesive.

Sculpture-detail_01

After positioning the eyes and teeth, the skin and all of its detail was sculpted in clay. In the above photo, I’ve started detailing part of the face; you can also see where the lower jaw was separated from the rest of the head to facilitate sculpting the interior of the mouth more easily.

Demolding_01a

Once the sculpture is finished, a plaster negative mold is made. The clay is removed and several coats of liquid latex are poured in (allowing time to dry between each). When the desired thickness is achieved, the rubber casting is dusted with talcum powder (to keep it from sticking to itself) and carefully peeled from the mold.

Airbrushing_01a

After trimming away the excess rubber from the edges, eye holes and back of the throat, acrylic paint mixed with latex was used to color the face with a series of washes to get the layered tones I wanted. When this part was completed, the eyes and teeth were attached.

Clawmaking_01a

The claws were made from the same material as the teeth. They were attached to wire armatures and placed inside the existing toy’s hands and feet, cutting the single pieces of fabric into three separate digits and gluing everything back together with contact cement (a puppet-maker’s best friend). To help connect the claws better, I wrapped the tips of the fingers and toes with soft foam strips, then used cotton and latex to build up the rough anatomy of the knuckles, palms and soles (a fairly crude technique, but since those areas wouldn’t be seen much, it made sense to save time doing it this way). After a thorough drying, everything was painted. The poseable interior armatures also included a threaded mounting point for rods that could extend out and control each of the limbs.

Haircombing_01

The hair for the head was made from a multicolored yarn brushed-out with a pet grooming tool, and then straightened with an old flat-iron. I glued swatches onto the rubber head in overlapping layers and punched-in small tufts along the hairline using a homemade tool.

Troll_Body_01

The face was then attached to the body with a lined passage for the operator’s arm that went from its back up into the head. I also created a fabric ‘esophagus’ that allowed him to ‘eat’ objects directly through the mouth. The teeth, gums and tongue were coated to give them a permanent shine, and there you have it … a custom-made troll puppet to haunt your dreams!

Clearly, this project represents an awful lot of work, but also a tremendous amount of fun. Taking a break from the digital world to get my hands covered in clay, paint and glue again — even for a little while — takes me back to where these dark fascinations began; I hope you enjoyed this demented detour! :)

About Xtopher

Director of The Price, and Owner/Creative Director of Silver Fish Creative, LLC.
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13 Responses to The Trouble with Trolls…

  1. Lorena says:

    What a cool project! He is a perfect mix of creepy and adorable! Thank you for sharing your process with us!

    • Xtopher says:

      You are most welcome, Lorena! I’m glad you found some interest there, and I agree there is a queasy mix of feelings with the little guy — part of you wants to curl-up and watch Stranger Things with it, the other part says you should lock it away in a box somewhere and throw-away the proverbial key! 😉

  2. That’s super cool! What a fun project. I’d love learn how to do something like that. I really enjoyed my time dabbling with miniatures in WH40k with a friend of mine, but it’s so hard to find the time for physical hobbies these days.

    • Xtopher says:

      Thanks Michael! Yeah, I hear you completely, which is why this job was such a wonderful opportunity/excuse to break out the clay! :)

  3. Jordi Kroon says:

    > I know what death looks like
    > It looks
    > Something like this!

    This kind of thing looks like fun to work on. I’ve never been much for craft myself, let alone actually casting a mold, but I can see the love for detail you have put into this.

    • Xtopher says:

      Thanks for saying so, Jordi. I really do try to give every project my very best effort, and inevitably, I learn a ton from each experience. That’s one of the great benefits to “making good art” (as a particularly wise author has often stated).

  4. Kristen says:

    Thanks for sharing this process and the end product with us. The Henson company couldn’t do better – what an amazing result!

    • Xtopher says:

      Now Kristen, you go too far! Jim Henson in particular has been a huge influence and inspiration since I watched my first episodes of Sesame Street (back in the day). Thank you kindly, yet I will always defer to those masters of both Fur and Foam. 😉

  5. Nicoletta says:

    He is absolutely adorable creepy! I’m always fascinated by the process of creature design/production, so thanks for sharing this insight.

    I hope you share the Youtubers name when it’s time, I’d love to see the puppet in action.

  6. Zain says:

    This is so rad Christopher 😉 Missing our hangs man!! Hope all is well.

    Zx

    • Xtopher says:

      All is quite well my friend … but will be infinitely better when we finally get to score this puppy, right? :) Miss you too, brother!

  7. Matt says:

    Nice! Would love to see how his eating ability works. :)

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