I just finished up a custom plush last week, and now i’ve got my camera back i can share some pictures here. Her name is Melek, the client wanted a gift for their goddaughter and requested a plush that embraces my take on an angel. I thought this was an interesting brief for a custom and really liked the idea of making an angel but putting my own twist on it. Usually my work focuses around animals of some kind, so of course i still managed to make her look quite bunnyish :)

The first image that popped into my mind when i think of an angel is that of big wings and a halo and i was sure very early on that this wasn’t the aesthetic i was going for. So i spent some time thinking about what is an angel. I am not spiritual at all, my view of an angel is a guardian offering protection and guidance. My initial sketches revolved around owl-like bird creatures, capturing an elegance, grace, and sagacious. After bouncing some ideas around with the client we settled on a more mammal-like creature, the idea being that she was a familiar of sorts, keeping a watchful eye on things.

I started by sculpting her face from scratch using sculpey, no moulds were used or taken during the entire process. The client liked a previous plush i had created that had a little girls face and requested something similar. I decided to use slightly translucent sculpey to mimic skin and give depth of skin tone, and used glass eyes for realism.  Following the angel theme, for the face sculpt I wanted to create child-like innocence and capture a thoughtful, tranquil expression. After i was happy with her face i added the hair in a translucent white polymer clay. Once the whole face was baked and sanded smooth i painted it using thin layers of acrylic paint, matted it off with UV protective lacquer and glossed the lips and eyelids.

The colour palette for the whole piece was kept muted and pale, with the body being completed in various textures and types of faux fur fabric. The main body from a ever so slightly off-white fur with a varying pile, a pure white long fur section on the tummy, and white bobbly fleece under the arms, she has weighted feet and paws and can stand unassisted. I then graduated the fur in various places to stop her looking like a big fluff ball. Finally I chose the name Melek, which is Turkish for angel.

Tagged: on Monday, November 8, 2010 · 5 Comments »