National Treasure 2

Started work on National Treasure: Book of Secrets this week and we're jumping right in hard and heavy. 11 hr days and 6 day weeks and the sets we are building are HUGE. Looks like Bruckheimeris going big to compete with Indy 4.
We're at Universal so the commute to and from Pasadena is almost as good as it gets.

Here's a pic of Akiko and I at the Otter Hole Falls back in NJ. At the Hughes' later that night we got to witness Matthew's first taste of independence as he was let let loose for the very first time in his own back yard.

Flew back from Oahu on Thursday and then flew back East to NYC Friday morning to spend the weekend with Akiko's parents, Nazuki, Steve and baby Matthew.


















After a big sashimi dinner Saturday night at the Hughes Compound, Akiko and I headed into Manhatten on Sunday. After reading "Forgotten New York" Akiko had mapped out a walking tour of cobblestones and alleys. We walked next to the Hudson river, through SOHO, Greenwich Village, Tribeca and the Lower East Side.

As my time was winding down on Lions For Lambs, I got a call from Jim on Lost.

The very next morning I was flying out to Hawaii to do some sculpting for the season finale (sorry, can't give any details yet). It was a week of hard work, but Oahu was beautiful and the people on the crew were very friendly (like Freddy below there).

Akiko and I went on a whale watching boat out of Dana Point. Did get to see a whale, but highlight was cruising through a swarm of about 1,000 dolphins.

The "Blank"

At this point I have sculpted the figure without the costume and hair. The maquette in this stage is referred to as a "blank" because it could be customized to represent different characters. The next step is to make a mold, cast several copies of the blank and then add the Warlock hair and costume.

Couple of different views.

After getting the sculpt where I was happy with it, I brushed it down with lighter fluid. This step smooths the Pro-Clay. Have to be careful or you could lose some of the detail.

The Starlin illustration, the rough and the defined versions.
The material I'm using here is Pro-Clay hard grade. Pro-Clay is a mix of non-hardening oil clay and wax. I've really grown to love this stuff.

Latest Project

While inbetween jobs, I started a new maquette based on an illustration by Jim Starlin.
This is the armature.