Forum Replies Created
-
Posts
-
SilverArrow wrote:
I just got a Sea Jewel mermaid and although I’ve seen her in stores before, I liked her better in person when I got to hold her and look at her up-close. I hadn’t noticed that she had intereference pain on her skin before. It really looks nice.
What I really wanted to know is who was your model for the face? She has no eye brows and a very peculiar smile – reminds me of the Mona Lisa.
The Mona Lisa
I didn’t use a model. I just worked on her face until it looked the way I pictured her looking.. I had a pretty firm idea of the face I wanted. I am NOT real good at “humans” and not good at female humans at all, but I’ve always loved mermaids.
The story about how this one came to be is: I had this little rough merm. sculpture sitting on my “put aside” shelf for YEARS. My mother asked me constantly when I was going to finally get around to finishing her. So I did… and my mother said “don’t you dare put stupid seashells or anything on her nipples! Mermaids wouldn’t really wear that stuff!” so I didn’t.
Humans are murder to paint. Especially smooth skinned ones. Things gotta be perfect.I knew painted-on eyebrows would be a disaster, so I made them so they were created with shadow. I did get that trick from looking at marble sculptures of angels.laphon1 wrote:Melody, your gallery has shrunk. 😥 All your sketches, paintings, drawings, and studies are gone. 😯 Will you be posting others for us to enjoy? 😀
Yeah, I did some major pruning. I figured everyone had seen it all. I will be posting more stuff when I get something to post, but without a camera of my own to use, I’m a little hampered right now.
Nytetyger wrote:Melody wrote:Lokie wrote:OK, my first “Ask Melody” question, lol, please by kind. And sorry if it has been asked before.
Have you thought about releasing the Coiled Mother Dragon in a new color? I think the sculpt is beautiful and graceful, but, unfortunately, it is a little out of my price range on Ebay. I know you said you are trying to reduce the amount of things in production, so I just didn’t know if maybe the male might disappear and the mother reappear? Maybe, I don’t think that far ahead! The Coiled Mother is one of my favorites, but the male coiled dragon with the globe outsold her, so she got put aside for awhile. I think she would sell just as well as the male if she had a globe instead of an egg.
You know, if you could find an outlet for a palce that does fake stones in egg shapes, having a mother dragon guarding an egg made to look like a birthstone would be so darn cool… and I think a while back everyone was really interested in something for every birth month. It seems like a neat way to use an existing sculpt, but personalize it with birthstones rather than eggs or globes to make it all new again. 😀 We tried! That was my original intention for the piece, but we just couldn’t find anything suitable that was small enough. So we just cast one out of pewter.
WindstoneCollector wrote:Ahhh. TY I guess I never put the word “cowpie” with the dragons (comes from a farming community) since I have stepped in one a time or two… 😳
Some of the sculptures have nick names that we use. It usually isn’t compimentary. Cowpies are the dragon designs that are shaped like cowpies.Cowpie candle lamp, mother cowpie etc.
I’ve stepped in a few. Once with a cow’s foot on top of mine.Arlla wrote:whippetluv wrote:I always hated to say that. But I agree…it just kinda cheesy to me. I have the sun dragon..and my spouse loves the marble, and I hate it. ha! But I still want all the dragons with them. I would say teh better sales of the male have more to do with the amount of detail and the knotted curls than the “ugly” marble.
I’m feeling cantankerous today, so I’ll say anything. 😈
I can tolerate the marble on the orientals, because I just LOVE the dragons so much. But I really think that’s why I havn’t bought a coiled dragon yet…that marble is just so central to it, since he’s so small, it’s all I can see when I look at him. I guess it’s just that I’ve seen so many of those exact same marbles sold for like 10 cents a piece for fish bowl decorations…you can get a whole bag of them at Micheals for $2…Just seems to bring down the richness and uniqueness of the sculpture. But that’s just my own personal opinion.
They are not marbles, folks!
Look at them closely. Notice they have no flaws, no bubbles, no yellowish or greenish cast…They are optically clear lead crystal globes that we have custom coated with a reflective mirrored back.
The candle lamp eyes are marbles, but the globe that the innerlight cowpie dragon is holding in his paws and the one the Cat Wizard is holding are the lead crystal balls.The frog wizard has a larger lead crystal ball of the same quality but without the coating on it.dragonessjade wrote:this person drawing? http://cgi.ebay.com/Original-ACEO-Color-Pencil-Drawing-Calico-Cat-LPENA_W0QQitemZ120061088915QQihZ002QQcategoryZ20158QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Are they related to you?Not related but yes i have seen these! Amazing. I like photo realism pencil drawings.
SPark wrote:Apparently age does things that temperature doesn’t. I assume you tested the gold you use on claws and spines and such similarly, but every really old Windstone I’ve ever seen has the gold paint looking crackled and wierd. I’ve touched up the gold on quite a lot of my older ones.
The paint we use on the claws is really brass particles, I think, and although it is coated with a clear finish, it will oxidize over time.
Romeodanny wrote:I have an old peacock emporer dragon. He has a large rust coloured chip on his wing. I don’t know how it got there. He’s never been banged around (too heavy for that). Is this what you would call a freckle? We were talking about freckling on another thread. Do you know if humidity would cause this? Or maybe large temperature swings? He is the only one in my collection to suddenly get freckles. While I was dusting him last I found white freckles on the inside of his tail and on his thighs close to his belly. Here is a picture of the chip on his shoulder.
http://i139.photobucket.com/albums/q313/Romeodanny/IMG_0060.jpgFor a while we were dipping the fresh castings into an autumn brown colored stain. We thought it would help to prime the piece for paint, and at the same time color the bottom of the piece so it wasn’t white.
Those chips are probably the color of the stained gypsum showing through. The color usually wasn’t that dark a brown, but it did vary quite a bit. We stopped dipping the castings several years ago, so the gypsum under the paint is pure white in the more recent castings.
He might have lighter freckles where the chips show a stained area that was lighter in color.
We have tested this paint by repeatedly soaking the dragons in water, freezing them and then baking them in an oven. We have never had our test pieces do this. I don’t know why he would be chipping. Acid (even mildly acidic water, such as rain) is the only thing that will dissolve the gypsum.Lokie wrote:OK, my first “Ask Melody” question, lol, please by kind. And sorry if it has been asked before.
Have you thought about releasing the Coiled Mother Dragon in a new color? I think the sculpt is beautiful and graceful, but, unfortunately, it is a little out of my price range on Ebay. I know you said you are trying to reduce the amount of things in production, so I just didn’t know if maybe the male might disappear and the mother reappear? Maybe, I don’t think that far ahead! The Coiled Mother is one of my favorites, but the male coiled dragon with the globe outsold her, so she got put aside for awhile. I think she would sell just as well as the male if she had a globe instead of an egg.
CherylKaufman wrote:Has Windstone ever actually discontinued a dragon statue like they do the colors? Seems like a lot of work to sculpt them only to say “We’re never gonna use THAT one again.”
No, we may re-issue any dragon. We just don’t repeat color schemes after they are retired.
Nambroth wrote:Is it possible ruffian means the coiled mother dragon with the gold egg?
OH! That dragon. Right.
The little coiled dragon’s egg is made out of pewter with a real gold plating on it. It can withstand a good scubbing, just be careful not to get anything too abrasive on the momma.A film? oh-oh. That could be the paint coming off for some reason.
The eggs are made out of the same gypsum as the dragons, and they are painted with acrylic paint.The paint shouldn’t come off, but who knows what has happened to yours. If the film is just tobacco smoke or grease, it should be safe to wash it gently. The only thing that will hurt the paint is acetone or other solvents. Don’t use vinegar or any acid as a degreaser.Those can damage the gypsum underneath the paint.
Wait a minute , I just read the subject line of your question again… Our dragons don’t have golden eggs.. are you sure your dragon is a Windstone?pheonixx wrote:Hi Melody…just curious about a piece. I bought a Windstone figurine today that I’ve never seen before anywhere. It has the Windstone felt and the Pena tag, but even Astral Castle doesn’t list it. It’s a cat playing in a sack with just the tail and rear end visible out the back and a hint of a couple claws coming through in the front. Is it authentic? If so, when was it made? Thanks for the insight! (Or to anyone else who reads this and knows for sure)
Yes, that’s a real Windstone.
