Tiki don’t lose that number.

We’re not done yet, but I couldn’t wait to post progress from James’ Tiki ring.  This thing looks so fucking cool I can’t stand the thought of giving her away.

But give it away, I shall.  James has been an awesome client and he’s been very patient as I’ve perfected this monster.  I’ve just finished sanding it and it’s in the tumbler right now.

I kinda dig how it looks without a final polish.  I wonder if we should consider a brushed finish on this F’er.  James, drop me a line and let me know what you think.

This tiki ring isn’t the only piece I’ve been filing and sanding today.  I’ve got a preview of the new JUPTER SKULL – the absolute goddamn King Kong of all skull rings.

That’s her right now in two pieces – the master cast of the both the skull and the jaw.  Still have a TON of work to do here.  YOu can see that the jaw still has a big ugly sprue sticking out of her.

The master cast is two pieces, but I’ll fuse them together at the wax phase for clients so they are still cast as one piece.  This also allows me to config this bad boy with an open-jaw if the client so wishes.

I was really torn on even posting these yet because I’m weeks and weeks away from finishing it.  But I couldn’t help it.  It also shows some of my clients why the process takes so long.  These things are UGLY when they come out of the fire.  This one’s already had a LOT of cleanup work done to it by my pal Louis.

I’m hoping to have the Jupiter introduced by the end of July.  We’ll see how it goes.

Stay tuned!

Death and Waxes

Sometimes I get lucky and I get a batch of really cool projects all at the same time.

I’ve got a number of custom skull rings in the works right now.

 

This one’s for John.  A custom sugar skull with sunburst eyes, cherry blossoms around the shank, some text, and gemstone eyes.  Ways to go yet, but it’s fun to work on.  Usually we’d run with Turquoise eyes on something like this, but we’re going to be working on a purple amethyst instead, I think.

Below, we have a piece for Eric.  I don’t always get to sugar up my Little Voodoo.  Honestly there isn’t a lot of room.  Luckily, Eric had some ideas for a modified fleur de lis that will work perfectly.  Damn I love when my clients can draw.

 

I’ve also been hacking at a King Skull for Ryan. Masonic theme.

 

This one’s getting some very cool shank work later on.  I’ll post more pics as we go along.

VERY soon I should have some shots of a cool finished Tiki ring for James.

A little bit of caveman, a little bit of rock and roll…..

Yes, after a whole lotta sculpting and some exceptionally difficult stone setting for some reason, I’ve finally finished Marty’s Austral and the rock ‘n roll ring for James.

This is good, because I’m WAY behind on some waxes I’m supposed to be working on.

Let’s get to it, because I have to get back to work.  Here are some shots from Jame’s rock ring.

 

 

Think it turned out great.  The mic texture on the side is a little tough to photograph, but you can see it peaking from behind the orbital bone of the skull.  I’m shipping this one out in the AM.

Aaaand, here’s the austral.

 

 

 

 

This f’ker is so comfortable to wear (on my pinky) which is crazy because it really looks heavy.  Well, it is heavy….but I kept the shank nice and thick with a good solid bevel so it’s well-balanced.

Now I have some waxes coming out too, so stay tuned for those.  I’m hoping to make another post in the next two days.  See you on Wednesday.

Rock and Roll Skull

I got some feedback from James after seeing his Rock ‘n Roll themed skull ring pics.

He hated it.

Not really, but he did have some great notes on the treble clef in the forehead.

“Looks too much like a & sign, you dick,” he said.  Well, maybe not like that.

Hey, when your’e right, you’re right.  I went ahead and re-carved this symbol and put in some microphone-ish texture on either side of the skull’s head.  I’m much happier with the result.

 

 

 

We’re not quite done with this wax yet, but getting close.

It’s funny how a little bit of ‘english’ on a symbol can completely change its readability.

BEFORE

   

AFTER

 

 

We’re getting to the new year now.  Been busy.  This is what my wax table looks like right now:

Mind you that’s after about 5 hours of sweeping up dust and polishing compound.

 

 

Austra-logy

Okay, I’m back and once again covered in powdered wax, polishing compound and silver.

Made a big dent in the Austro – you can see the anatomy starting to materialize.

 

 

I’ve got the eye holes drilled in along with the nose.  Next step was defining the jaw and the connective bones.

 

 

   

 

 

It looks like we’re close, but we actually still have a long way to go.  Setting up the teeth is next.  We’ll block in some big gnarly caveman teeth and then use the scale of the choppers to finish up the jaw and cheekbones.  Most of my skull rings are so forehead dominant….it’s been crazy to work on one that has so much “jaw” to it.

Speaking of foreheads, I’ve finished up our guitar pick for James’ Big Voodoo complete with treble clef.

 

So that leaves the sides of the ring.  We’re going to try using the mic texture as planned.  This is just the marker, which looks a little funny in silver.  You have to try to imagine these lines clean and recessed.

 

I gotta say both of these rings are going to be hard to part with.  This austro skull might be something I have to offer on my site.  The original ring you see here is just for Marty, but I might do a smaller, slightly different version for sale as well.

So stay tuned through the new year.  I’ve got all kinds of projects on the burner – maybe too many.

Valentine’s Day ordering ends on January 15th, so make sure you get your orders in ahead of time!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rock and Roll and a Caveman

I’ve started a new Big Voodoo for James.  James is a guitarist and we’re going to focus on rock and roll for this ring.

Nothing better than setting turquoise into a skull’s eyes.  We’re going to do big 8mm stones with some bitchin’ spiderweb pattern set into the eyes of this skull, which have been rounded out.

 

We’ve put circles around the eyes as a subtle nudge towards the center of a guitar.

We’re also using a guitar pick shape on the forehead along with a treble clef.  I’m hoping James can take a look at this markered-up wax and let me know if we’re close.  We’ll deal with the sides of the skull ring next.  Thinking about doing a pattern around the side of the shank that resembles a Shure Microphone.

Also put some more hours into the Austro skull.   More and more, you can see that we’re looking a lot like those photo references.  That jaw is HUGE.