Halloween 2010 – Update 12
August 27th, 2010 by John Wolfe
I’ve been focusing on really gettin’ nasty and raunchy this last week! And no, I’m not talking about spending the previous seven days in a state of debauchery. 
Instead, I’ve been working hard on applying mache. I just like using words like raunchy and nasty to describe the look I’m trying to achieve when creating the corpse’s skin. Here’s the twelfth installment in the Angel of Death’s update vids:
Related Posts
Halloween Cam Running in Shop
Halloween 2010 – Update 10
Halloween 2010 – Update 9
Halloween 2010 – Update 8
Halloween 2010 – Update 7
August 27th, 2010 at 5:15 pm
Looking great. I have been slacking on checking the site recently do to simply being out and not using the computer much so I feel like I’m getting behind on here, haha. Are you doing the cam in the shop each night still?
August 27th, 2010 at 7:06 pm
John,
That is really amazing. I get chills just looking at it. You really should be working in Hollywood, buddy. He is coming along very very nicely. I can’t wait to see the screams of the children.
August 27th, 2010 at 7:33 pm
John, your prop looks absolutely delicious!!! Not as a taste but rather in how it highly pleasing to my senses on all levels your Angel of Death is turning out. The neck is just fantastic; truly stunning work. I would fully expect our skin to look just like that as it decays in the Earth. Yet again your eye for attention and fine tuned detail is most impressive. I’m really excited to see him put all together….he’s going to be just massive and make for a wonderful new addition to your yard haunt on Halloween night my friend.
Stunning work, as always my dear
Thank you also for another great update video. It IS most appreciated.
P.S. – I really like the photo you took of the neck and the illuminated pumpkin in the background. Very nice touch and I can finally see the face on the pumpkin
Very artsy picture in my opinion. You have an eye for photography my friend.
August 28th, 2010 at 3:22 am
Ha! raunchy. I love that word. Sorry, I have some long term sleep deprivation. This looks like it is coming along nicely. I would love to see one of your creations first hand. How durable are they? How long do they last? I don’t use paper mache because we have a very humid environment and heavy dew. I also have a need to move my creations to several locations in one season. I use a lot of chicken wire, duck tape, expanding foam, and cheese cloth. The core structure is copper wire, PVC pipe, and wooden rods. It gets more complicated, but that is the core of it.
August 28th, 2010 at 8:50 am
great work! can`t wait to see the finished product
August 28th, 2010 at 1:24 pm
Doug,
Thanks. Great to hear from you. Yeah, I’ve been running the cam for a couple of hours each night since last Friday. The feed starts at 8 PM (mountain). It might be more enjoyable to watch paint dry than it is to see me doing mache work
, but the cool thing is there’s always Halloween music playing on the feed and from time to time there’s good conversation taking place in the chat box, too. Stop by when you have a chance.
autumnforest,
Wow! Thanks, autumn. That’s very kind. And when it comes to reactions on Halloween night: I think the parents do more screaming than the kids… lol! Well, they seem to appreciate it more anyway. As a child, I would totally trip out over displays people had setup — candy was always just an afterthought for me. But, I guess I was weird that way.
Goldie,
Actually, your use of the word delicious got me thinking how cool it would be to see a skeleton/corpse cake with torn, sinewy texture that actually is edible. Yummy! Thank you, Goldie! I so appreciate your nice comments and I’m glad you like the look of the prop. Honestly, I never know how these guys are going to turn out when I begin. I have a rough idea of what I want to achieve, but it always changes as the process goes along. I’ve found working with mache to be very different than other mediums I’ve used like watercolor or pen and ink. Working on a three dimensional object with a medium that sometimes has a mind of its own regarding how it wants to behave (especially when I shred it) is always a new and fun adventure.
Just as there’s a great teacher in my backyard (the garden), there’s also a great teacher in my workshop in the form of the mache and paper towel combo. I do my best to guide the application process in the way I want it to go, but ultimately I have to release my own judgment and sort of let it stand as it is once everything dries.
Glad you enjoyed the photo, too. I couldn’t resist putting the pumpkin in the image, especially since the details of its face are lost on the webcam.
Thanks again.
Ethan,
I’m right there with you when it comes to loving that word! Here’s a little grocery store humor I know you can appreciate: When I was on the graveyard shift working stock crew, we always used to come up with alternate (and usually dirty) names for products. Since I was responsible for stocking the condiments aisle, I used to call “Hidden Valley Ranch” salad dressing “Hidden Valley Raunch.” Probably not all that funny, but you know how stuff like that strikes you at 2 AM when you’re locked in with a bunch of other guys and everyone’s bouncing off the walls from a caffeine high. Anyway, that’s one of the cleaner names and cleaner stories I can share with you publicly.
My props are pretty sturdy, especially due to all the multiple layers of glue-soaked towels I apply. Once they’re dry and paint has been applied, they sort of taken on an almost plastic feel, but the skin looks matte and not at all like a glossy plastic finish. I do the same thing with my guys regarding moving them around. They get hauled back and forth quite a bit. I like the list of items you’re using. I’ve been thinking about getting into shaping some bodies with chicken wire one of these days myself and maybe applying some Monster Mud type material over them.
Thanks for watching and for your kind comment, Ethan.
ssflipo13,
Thank you!
August 29th, 2010 at 9:20 am
I hope you don’t mind my asking, but what kind of glue do you use? I have a photo of the mummy I made last year as just framework if you want to see it sometime. I put the head on this years project and started the hands the other night. It is really developing a personality now. I am very excited.
August 29th, 2010 at 5:18 pm
::laughing::
A dismantled turkey carcass?!? That is so funny!! It’s a perfect description!
We had so much fun watching you work last night (Sat.)!! I’ve been “off my Halloween chow” the last few weeks and lost my groove a bit prop building-wise but watching you has re-lit the spark for me! With just 30 days until we start our outside build it’s time to get back into the vibe! Thank you for spurring me on!
Kieran says: “Hi John, it’s Kieran! I’m making you another drawing today. This one is of something we saw the last time we went out to get EVPs. It was running, we could see legs moving but not much of anything else because it was dark. It was near our graveyard so I’ll draw that too. We couldn’t see where the weird running thing disappeared to. The place that it ran to just opened out onto a field so we should have been able to see it there but it was just gone. The legs seemed about the same height as mine. They started right here.. ::he points to his hips:: Weird, huh?”
August 29th, 2010 at 5:28 pm
I hate to sound greedy but…I was wanting to ask…
Is there any way that we could have an archive of your live feeds for people to watch at a later time? We can’t always tune in as much as we’d like since we’re not usually online at night but we’d love to catch more of your live feeds. I know it’s asking for a lot at a particularly busy time of year but maybe for next year???
August 29th, 2010 at 9:04 pm
Ethan,
I don’t mind at all. I just use Elmer’s Glue. Normally I run a three parts glue/two parts water mix for my “dipping sauce.” But this time around I’ve gone three to one, so I’m almost using straight Elmer’s.
I’d love to see the mummy photo! If you have it online, please feel free to post the link here. Glad to hear your prop’s coming together for this year. I know how that feels when it really starts taking shape.
Camile,
Glad you liked that turkey description — it’s what comes to mind every time I work on shredding towels. It’s great to hear you and Kieran enjoyed the feed, too and I’m happy to know the cam provided some Halloween inspiration. Your Halloween creations are so cool, though, I’m sure Halloween inspiration runs in your veins naturally!
Thanks for asking about archiving the feed and no worries, that’s not being greedy at all.
Justin TV automatically records every broadcast I do, but I haven’t been saving them in my video collection (on my Justin homepage) this year. But I’ll make a point of saving some of the recordings from now on.
Kieran,
Thank you SO much for making a new drawing for me! As soon as I get it, I’m going to hang it right next to your other beautiful drawing of the garden. And what a spooky drawing this new one sounds like, too. I can’t wait to see it! That’s quite an experience you had with whatever that was running around. Do you think it was a ghost? You’re a lot braver than me. If I saw only a pair of legs running near a graveyard, I would have been running the other direction to get away from it.
That’s very weird.
August 30th, 2010 at 2:40 pm
The dedication to your craft that you exhibit and the level of detail that you achieve are nothing less than awe-inspiring! AMAZING! I never miss an update!!!
August 31st, 2010 at 2:49 pm
Victor,
Great to hear from you! Your kind words mean so much because I know you’re a “details” guy too. All the fantastic work you put into your sauce, their labels and the display coffins has me super impressed! That does it, I’m gonna have to do another Haunted Hot Sauce post soon.
Thanks so much for your extremely kind comment and for keeping an eye on the Angel’s progress.