Wednesday, October 9, 2024

Painting Part 4 - Custom FUNKO POPS!

Are you familiar with Funko Pops? They're little vinyl figures with giant heads (sometimes bobbleheads) made in the likeness of various pop culture characters and personalities. Virtually every fandom has Funko Pops: movies, tv shows, video games, musicians, anime, athletes, the list goes on and on. They're fun little collectibles for your favourite pop culture content, and a rather large collectible industry has grown up around them. Some rare figures can sell for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

So, combining my love of making custom presents (see Christmas books) and painting small things, this year I've started making custom Funko Pops as birthday presents for my family. My digital sculpting skills aren't that great yet so I don't design them from scratch, but there are many websites where you can buy custom Funko Pop components. I mash them together, print them on my 3D printer, and paint away!

This is the first one I did, for my father-in-law. He's a handy guy and he's worked as a carpenter for years, so he got a little hammer. He told me I gave him too much hair.


This is my wife. I liked this one for the detail on her tattoo, which of course you can't see in this picture. She loves to bake cakes (you can see her cakes in the background of several of these picture). This is one of the first models I had to physically re-sculpt, because her classes didn't come out properly. I had to use clay to repair the glasses frames and her hair, and I was pretty happy with the results:


This one's my daughter. It's not in the official Funko Pop style, but this one fit her perfectly. She loves the devil horns and demon wings. And at least she got to have details on her eyes.


This is my sister in law. She loves band t-shirts, and David Bowie is her favourite artist, so she got a little "Bowie" logo on her shirt.

Everyone loves the dog the most, of course. I had to repaint it, because I originally used a photo of her as a puppy, then saw her in person and realized her colours had darkened and changed. 


This is my older niece. This one is actually a repainted version of a character from the old Dungeons & Dragons cartoon. I painted her as her D&D character (she loves cloaks), but her hair really is electric blue. She also got the nicest base so far.


This is my brother-in-law, and it's my favourite one so far. The logo on the hat was some of the first free hand painting I did at this scale, and I think it turned out pretty good. I was really proud of the stitches on the baseball and glove, but of course you can't see them in this picture. There's also a really nice salt-and-pepper effect on his hair and beard. 


So that leaves my mother-in-law, son and my youngest niece (and me of course, if I feel like making one of myself). I've started work on my niece, her birthday is the end of this month. I may do my son and mother-in-law for Christmas, though realistically I'll probably do them for their birthdays early in the new year.

Anyway, back to work/painting/writing/preparing for the Annual Halloween Haunted House.

Hugs & kisses,
-CDGK


Wednesday, October 2, 2024

The Webber (#IWSG October 2024)


October Question - Ghost stories fit right in during this month. What's your favorite classic ghostly tale? Tell us about it and why it sends chills up your spine.

My favourite ghost story is one you're probably never heard of, as it's specific to the area of my hometown of Stephenville, Newfoundland. It's a variation on "The Hook" horror story of the killer chasing a couple of canoodling kids on a dark highway. Campers love to tell it at Camp Ashanti, the old Boy Scout camp, gathered around the fire, or while trying to sleep in their bunks on a cold and snowy evening.

In the lake besides the camp lives The Webber. It's a creature with webbed feet and long, claw-like-fingers. People say it was once a human, born with a hideous deformity and abandoned to live in the wilderness. It has grown hateful and insane during its long isolation, and so when humans stay in the camp near its home, sometimes it creeps up out of the lake to take revenge. It sneaks up to the cabins and murders unwary campers while they sleep.

So, kinda like this? But not really.

There are variations of course, about where the monster comes from and how it kills. Some storytellers like to add embellishments like it leaving wet, webbed footprints on the cabin deck or floors, or scratching at the doors and windows with its claws. Particularly creative (or cruel) older campers will sometimes sneak around the back of the cabin while someone is telling the story to younger campers, and then tap on the windows and walls to see how far the kids will jump.

I mean, it really is kinda this.

I'm pretty sure the story started in the 70s and 80s, inspired by popular slasher films of the time. I had thought the story was particular to my corner of the island, but in recent years I've learned that it's spread to other parts of Newfoundland as well. It's still used to scare kids at summer camps around the province. I may have to use The Webber as inspiration for a Gale Harbour book one of these days.

Oh, and if the question literally meant a "classic" ghost story, then I vote for A Christmas Carol. 

Scary stuff.

Hugs & kisses,
-CDGK

The first Wednesday of every month is officially Insecure Writer’s Support Group day. Writers post their thoughts on their blogs, talking about their doubts and the fears they have conquered. It's a chance for writers to commiserate and offer a word of encouragement to each other. Check out the group at http://www.insecurewriterssupportgroup.com/

Tuesday, October 1, 2024

GUEST BLOG: Bubba and Squirt Book 5 RELEASE DAY!

Today is the release of the fifth and final book in Sherry Ellis’ Bubba and Squirt series, a middle grade chapter book series with historical aspects published by our friends at Dancing Lemer Press. A five-book series is something to celebrate, so here are the details!

Bubba and Squirt’s Legend of the Lost Pearls
By Sherry Ellis

Journey to the past!

Bubba and Squirt embark on their most dangerous quest yet. Whisked away through the vortex to Japan, they must find two fabled pearls that hold the key to saving their father.

To top it off, they must go back and change the events of the past. As they race against time, the fate of their father, and their own lives, hang in the balance.

Will they outwit the cunning creatures that stand in their way or face their own demise trying to save their father?

Release date – October 1, 2024

Print ISBN 9798988625124 $8.95/ eBook ISBN 9798988625131 $3.99

eBook $3.99 in all formats

Juvenile Fiction - Action Adventure / Fantasy & Magic / Legends, Myths, Fables – Asian

Sherry Ellis’ Bubba and Squirt’s Big Dig to China won the Reader’s Favorites Silver Medal for the Children's Grades 4-6 category.

Sherry Ellis is an award-winning author and professional musician who plays and teaches the violin, viola, and piano. When she is not writing or engaged in musical activities, she can be found doing household chores, hiking, or exploring the world. Ellis lives in Atlanta, Georgia.

https://www.sherryellis.org/
https://www.bubbaandsquirt.org/
https://www.facebook.com/sherryellisbooksandmusic
https://twitter.com/513sherrye

Links:

Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CTWN8PSS
iTunes - https://books.apple.com/us/book/x/id6477321103
Barnes & Noble - https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940167677777
Kobo - https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/Search?Query=9798988625131
Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/206994546-bubba-and-squirt-s-legend-of-the-lost-pearls

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