Thorvald Needs Your Help!

Would you like to be a part of Thorvald's journey? Thorvald and the Slimy Things now has its very own page at Kickstarter.com, and we have until Wednesday, March 23 to raise $1,000 dollars to finish the film. Click on the link below to see a small "making of" featurette and learn about all the lovely rewards you can get for pledging as little as $5. Thorvald cannot reach his goal without you!

Kickstarter.com: Thorvald  

The Ethereal Beauty of an IKEA bag

What's this? An IKEA bag? Are you wondering what a carrier bag from a furniture store is doing on a blog devoted to stop motion animation?

But take a closer look... See how it catches the light, how it glitters and exudes blue sparks that dance on its textured surface. Isn't it beautiful? It has a mystery, a charm that lends itself to inspiration. It seems to bear an uncanny resemblance to the scales of a sea monster that I know well...

Don't you think so?

The Birth of the Stoorworm

My design for the Stoorworm's head was actually influenced by this 15th century painting by Paolo Uccello, depicting the battle between St. George and the dragon. Though much later stylistically than what I am doing for Thorvald, this image is linked thematically with Thorvald's story. I was also really interested by the shape of the dragon's nose and the structure of the skull. It seemed somehow oddly appropriate for a Norse-inspired environment. The body of the Stoorworm will be heavily ornamented, featuring the type of curly intertwined designs that appear frequently on Norse metalwork.

The Head of the Stoorworm

While I'm still in the "head zone", here is the head of the fearsome Stoorworm itself. There will of course be a large-scale version as well, big enough to swallow poor Thorvald together with his boat, but that will come later, together with the sets. This model of the Stoorworm will be just barely longer than a foot and will be used for independent and distance shots. Now it needs to be painted and to grow a body and some scales. It's no good being a terrifying sea monster if you have no glittering coils to crush your adversaries into dust.

The Face of Thorvald Part II

 Here, finally is the fully renedered face of Thorvald. The natural tone and porcelain-like feel of his skin are created using

unpainted FIMO (oven-bake clay. His helmet was a challenge, as it needed to bond with  the surface of his head, but could not be oven-baked as well, because it goes over his hair, which would catch fie in the oven.I finally decide to do it using an air-drying substance that also allowed for some nice carved deails.  The rust-coloured underpaintig is highlighted with a rub-on metal sheen to create the sense that the helmet is very old,dented, and somewhat flaky. Poor Thorvald will have a lot of polishing to do...