Cody Goodin - The artistic and spiritual journey of Cody Goodin

I wanted to post that the Essex Studios here in Cincinnati will be hosting it's first studio art walk next weekend.  So, for all my local friends and fans please stop out and say howdy.  There will be plenty of new art,wine, snacks and other funs stuff to experience.  I will be showing off some new work as well.  It goes from 6-11pm both Friday March 5 and Saturday March 6th.  If you need directions you can map quest it or email me at codyart@fuse.net  if you need more info. I am still working on the rabbit piece.  He has been sculpted and first base coat of paint.  I also made his carrot.  Hope to have him done by the end of the weekend.  Oh, and I treated myself to two new things.  One was the sculpting character figures DVD by Wendy Froud.  Excellent for picking up some new tricks and techniques.  I couldn't afford her latest class so, I opted for this DVD since I did not know her teaching style.  She seems to ...

Well, it was a fairly productive weekend overall.  I was able to finish my pickle goblin.  But, first let me show you the first paint layer.  I know the green looks a bit off.  You have to remember that the primer or base coat is always a little cartoonish.  Anyway, I then paint several layers of glaze of several different colors.  Glazes by their nature are transparent so, bits of color from beneath show through.  Once I have the shading and glazes just right, then I antique with a light bit of walnut stain.  This helps to bring out details.  Oops, I just gave away one of my secrets.  No, not really.  I use a variety of stains depending on the project. So, let me introduce you to Gerkie the pickle goblin.  Wouldn't you just love to find him in your big pickle jar?  He stands about 9 inches high.  He will make his debut at my studio open house in a few weeks.  If no one adopts him, he will hang out in my ETSY ...

I thought I'd show you all a bit of the progress I have made.  Here is a post baked sculpt of the pickle goblin.  He has since been given his first texture coat of glass beads medium.  Now, I just have to begin the multi step process of painting him to look like a pickle.  This has been one of my more humorous characters.  I did this kind of as a joke.  He doesn't seem that sour or bitter.  But, I think most of my little guys enjoy being who they are too much to be grumpy. I am still trying to decide how to approach the rabbits construction.  I am not sure if I want a soft body or a hard sculpted one.  He seems rather indifferent to it all.  All he wants is a carrot to torment.  Hope you all have a great Sunday.  Oh, and the Celtic music I went to see last night was awesome.  I heard a group called FinTan play.  Very nice  people to boot.

Well, I think I have finally gotten out of my slump.  I took a few ideas from the little napkin sketches I did the other day.  Thought I'd see if I could actually bring them to life.  So, here is the rabbit head I made inspired by the sketch.  Not exactly as I had drawn it but, at least I did one.  I like the first head.  I didn't even have the sketch handy for reference.  Laziness got the best of me and I didn't want to hunt for it.  So, this guy is polymer clay over a foil and wire armature.  It's a technique I will be teaching in March for the Waynesville group.  They wanted to have me teach them my goblin head or character sculpting technique.  So, this is a front view of the baked head. This is a side shot of the head.  I plan on making a wire armature for the body and do a wrapped body using a batting and cloth wrapping technique.  Once I get the body the way I want it, I cover it with fuzzy fibers.  He wil...

To comply with my self imposed posting of at least once a week, I have a rare treat.  Well, hopefully you will find it interesting.  I have scanned in some little doodle sketches I made at lunch yesterday.  I was waiting there and had a few blasts of inspiration.  What to do, no paper or pen.  Then I remembered I had a Sharpie marker in my coat pocket.  The waitress had left me a stack of napkins.  So, I made my own sketch paper with napkins at hand.  The above fella is an idea I am working on for a series of rabbit themed pieces.  Of course it will have my spin on it.  I am thinking of rabbit goblins or something along those lines.  I am not sure yet.  As with many of my fellow artists out there I have Alice in Wonderland fever.  Rabbits are one of those animals that I find fun to play around with artistically. The next sketch above is an idea I had for doing a pickle themed goblin.  I was eating pickles the othe...

I couldn't resist showing off my buddy Sammy.  He is the supreme goblin hunter.  He helps me sniff out the little buggers.  He doesn't catch them to hurt them just so I can catalog and identify the variety of goblins that live in the area.  Most goblins are a bit pissy about my method at times.  But, I tell them at least he doesn't eat them.  To which they reply, yeah but we'd give him bad heartburn.  That I am sure is the truth.  Poor Sammy suffers from a very sensitive stomach.  So, he knows better than to eat the goblins.  We are still a bit snowbound but, making the most of it.  Have a great week all of you out there in bloglandia.

So, in order to keep to my posting at least once a week, I am giving you a sneak peek.  These are a couple of prototypes for a piece I am working on for a special show.  I have been invited to participate in a show whose theme is dedicated to all things chocolate.  Our work is supposed to be inspired by or in some way promote chocolate. So, the first piece I am working on is a box of goblin chocolates.  These guys belong to a newly discovered class of goblins called mimics.  They camouflage themselves to look like a common object so in order to hide from or trick humans.  These are chocogoblins.  They resemble a chocolate candy. This first offering is one whom can bite back.  So, I am not sue I would be sticking my fingers into that box.  But, they do this to unsuspecting people. They are all created from polymer clay over a foil and tape armature. The pieces were then painted with a brown paint to resemble the ...

Just a quickie post to announce the winner of the great monster giveaway.  Chosen by random number generator is Karen Mallory Thanks to everyone for playing along./  I really enjoy these giveaways.  I will have to find a good reason to do another. Happy February and have a great week.