In Sculpting Perfection

[baogur]

Shamoke has interesting shoes. The heels have a sort of graceful stitching pattern, and the soles have a stripe of brighter color on them. At least, that's what it looked like for the figurines. The foot shape in general was narrow yet thick, and his ankles were healthy for sure. Obviously the feet couldn't be too far apart. No, the stance must be firm with conviction. Every part of this must convey this resolve in some manner; the feet are no exception.

*Bao turned away from the massive collection of stone, gazing down to the Thunder River. He imagines himself as the statue in the future, standing before the crossing.*

Surely at this scale, it will be easy to see this statue, even from Thunderstone. This is enough stone to sculpt a frost giant. It's a wonder how Shamoke arranged for this, but it's not like that matters. Here, at the edge of the Hullack, Bao would recreate the Shamoke figurine at a much grander scale as requested. The angle is beautiful here, for sure.
Now then, Bao needed to be careful with this. He could easily capture Shamoke 's handsomeness, especially given how much practice he's had doing it. The real trouble was the order in which details would be chiseled. At first, some fine details wouldn't be needed, as he would sand down any miscut rough edges. The normal procedure would call for starting at the top, but Bao felt that at least some progress needed to be made on the feet first. That's it. He would cut out the negative first. The stone on the outside of the feet, and some of the stone between them- only a little bit. Too much, and the whole thing might fall over. A few inches of shaping should be enough.
Ok. Time to get chiseling.

[baogur]

So far so good. Now that that little concern was taken care of, Bao had plenty of time to work on the head.
The hair was quite fun to sculpt. Shamoke's hair has this wonderful quality where the locks fold down over each other in just the right manner, which allows for a sculptor to glide his tools downward in simple lines. In fact, the process was very much like combing hair, gently parting waterfalls into a smooth stone curtain. The way his ears would only just peek out from the hair gave the perfect angles to trace the rest of the face.
Now the face. He had already consulted with Shamoke about the face. The smile needed to be charming, yet arrogant. Not as arrogant as some patronizing overlord. No, this was the classic arrogance of a casual Shamoke Smile. The slight smirk would only barely show, and the face would tilt a tiny bit to the side and upwards. Not only would this bring the smile into focus, but it would also allow for more room for the beard to come out.

Ok. Let's touch up those eyes a bit.

[baogur]

Most people don't realize just how crucial it is to get the chest right. At first people think it's all just a matter of having the person's measurements, which is quite helpful for sure. But the truth involves much more! Apart from the face, the chest expresses a large amount of the model's emotion, and it dictates how emotive the arms truly are. The more open the chest is made, the more breath the statue has, an
Most of the quality here would depend on the shoulders, and Bao knew this well. After sculpting Card last night, he learned that the details of the chest are very easy to overlook when the shoulders are in a more domineering position. So for Shamoke, he would give the shoulders power by angling them inward, while also pulling them back so the chest would be equally prominent. This will set up the arms for a nice relaxed position with the hands sitting sassily on the hips. Ok!

After spending time shaving out the shoulders, Bao stopped to look over the collar. Shamoke wasn't wearing any sort of fancy collar, but there was enough of his shirt showing out from his suit jacket to suggest that an ascot could be worn. Should an ascot be sculpted? Bao had seen a few on mannequins in shops, so he knew how to make it stylish on this sculpture. Still, adding an ascot might be too loud. A simple necklace, or an embroidered pattern over the breasts - either of those would do the sculpture more justice than something thicker. Besides, the lapels of the suit jacket had fancy buttons, which would draw enough attention to his chest as is. Yes, the chest needed no further additions. With that thought sorted, Bao began working on the forearms. Awkwardly shaped triceps are unacceptable!

"Those big chunks I just cut off... I should make them into gears later."

[baogur]

Yes, the torso was the most enjoyable part. Every detail here drew out all of Bao's passion in sculpting. The lapels of the suit gave the statue a whole new dimension of regality. Shaving out the smooth swells in the folds, then adding the forceful disposition in the texture of the shirt showing from between - Bao would top off the mood with the small embroidery along the edge of the lapels. Everything flowed magnificently like poetry as the work moved down the buttons of the suit.
Oh, the buttons! Bao truly loved working with small parts and fine details. It always brought personality and color to the toys he made; sculpting such was just as elating! The buttons on the suit had this wonderful swirling pattern on them. It was like a fingerprint, but with spiraling, dancing textures. To make things more exciting, each button's pattern was different! All these little chips and cuts and brushes let loose many daydreams in Bao's head.

"I should make more those posable dolls sometime... Maybe I'll put a music box inside them!"

As he worked downward, Bao shifted his focus to the belt. Now, the belt had many wonderful details as well. The belt Shamoke was last wearing had sections dedicated to special sections of leather. The stitching in these spots coiled around itself, forming a tightly woven spiral reaching toward the center buckle. The center buckle itself had thin, graceful engaging along the edges. Normally, Bao would sculpt this exactly as he measured; but it wouldn't be right for the belt to have more detail the the face. Since he had already sculpted the hands resting on the hips, the belt needed to be made simpler in order to bring more attention to the head. By softening the textures of the leather and reducing the depth of the engravings, the belt would become much less distracting. Not only that, but this would also allow Bao to bring out more of the details of the shoes and ankles.
Alright! Let polish up the sides...

[baogur]

When sculpting a person, the pattern of stitching on their clothes isn't normally something to be considered. Such small details are easily weathered away, so most people keep the stone smooth.
Where's the fun in that?

The stitching in Shamoke's pants is definitely something to make clear in this piece. A long stripe ran down the outside of each leg; the stitching of the stripe looked like it was braided hair. Braids were always interesting to sculpt. Much like waves in the sea, each part of the braid rose and fell, swelled up, then tucked itself under the other parts, all in a calming rhythm. To add to this, Bao also added extra character to the clothes with a few small wrinkles and folds. These are the kind of folds that naturally pop up on clothing when someone sits a lot, or stands in different poses. Like the stitching, the wrinkles and such were too small to be considered, but they were still a necessary part of the sculpture.

...
And with a few touches to the lacing of the shoes, Bao was finished! He stepped back and looked up at his Shamoke. The proportions of his body really were quite beautiful. It's rare to see someone with a physique this balanced, and the pose here made everything have such vibrant chatacter. Still, it was the face that truly gave the statue that unique, charming aura of Shamoke-ness. What a truly graceful piece this was!

"Ok. Just have to carve out a placard to place underbeath, and then I can move on to the next piece!"

[CourtJester]

Shamoke is seen passing by the entrance to the Hullack, noting the statue.

He is then rumored to have had an imaginary argument with it about who is more handsome.

Word has it the statue won the argument.

[baogur]

The beard of a dwarf is truly an artistic wonder for those who truly understand them. Beards in general are not simply "features of the face." To many who understand, the beard is a symbol of pride: a monument to the character and philosophies of the wearer. Regardless of how their beards are groomed, recreating such beauty is not something many sculptors can handle.

Manus' beard truly was wonderful. Bao couldn't help but sculpt it first after he carved out the general shape. Besides, sculpting the beard first would allow Bao to add a touch more of realism to it as he worked on the rest of the sculpture. Anyhow, the beard was his primary focus.
When sculpting beards, many sculptors use one of two methods. The first is to, after carving the general shape of the beard, sanding it into one smooth shape that rests upon the body, displaying the strength of the beard's fullness.. The second is to cut patterned lines in the beard and edges, using symmetry to express the majesty of the finely groomed hair. Both of these methods have good merit, but their drawbacks outweighed any merit in this case.
For the first method, portraying the beard as one smooth shape is an efficient means for sculptors to craft in a timely manner, and it opens possibilities for more geometric or avant-garde styles. However, how frail, FRAIL that is at this moment! Reducing a dwarf's beard to a simple, featureless chunk is an insult to its very being. Hair brings truth and soul to sculptures; omitting such detail surrenders the work to abstraction! This style would not be acceptable here.
The second method had more merit to it, for who isn't charmed by the symmetry of lines and patterns? A slanted lattice of woven braids, a chain of spirals in circles of curly locks- However, even those patterns would not be enough for this. The true beauty in the beard is the asymmetry scattered throughout the mass. A stray curl from twirling a finger in the hair, frayed ends from working, breaks in the curl patterns, and an occasional knot all give the beard a personal, realistic touch. Besides, Manus' beard was a mix of curls and wavy hair. That natural asymmetry adds much more depth and charm to the body than patterns could.

At least, that's how Bao felt. This statue would be a great example of such.

[baogur]

The hammer is a simple weapon, but within its simplicity lies a grand purpose and meaning. The blunt instrument serves more than to crush or break. It molds, reshapes, flattens, bends, fortifies- the very essence of crafting, smithing, and building resides within the hammer. Through strength and focus, the hammer creates.

As the famed "Sugarsmith," it's only natural that Manus' hammer should be somewhat resonant with the title. The hammer is double-faced so both end would need to be accented properly. Bao had been requested to make the hammer glow with a soft light, which was a tricky thing to pull off on a sculpture. Thankfully, he had amassed enough quartz crystals to make the hammer have something close to a glow. As Bao carved out the hammer' head, he left numerous small indentations in it, mostly around the top, which would be filled with tiny pieces of quartz that Bao had cut himself. They were small enough to make the hammer not look weird, but large enough to catch light and shine outward softly at almost anytime of day. He had also crafted two thin bands of silver that he would fit around silver the rims of each hammer face. These, combined with the bits of quartz scattered sparsely around the hammer head, would create the illusion that hammer is glowing.

And of course, it wouldn't be bright enough to disturb the town at night.