Thread: Skeletal Wall Sconces - large images

Tweet

It's been a while since my last prop post so I thought I would post my latest creation.

I loved the look of skeletal hands holding a torch or candle so this is my version of those. I still need to figure out what I am going to put in the hands; torch with fake fire or a candle with a flicker LED?




Different view

Nice work! those hands need a torch

Oh I like them just the way they are! How did you achieve the effect and what kind of materials did you use?

I had 2 skeleton arms/hands from an old bucky, then I found the wall plates(wood) at a thrift store. I sanded the "elbow" portion of the arms until they were flat. Then I screwed them on the wall plates.

I used the the latex skin/muscles and painting technique from the skull video below. Very good video btw.

Materials used were:
Latex
Cotton balls
Super Glue
Brown, brick red, black and green acrylic paints.

Here is how I created the effect:
I first looked at anatomy books and memorized the "basic" structure of the arm(muscles, tendons and skin)

Tendons: spread out latex on a flat surface(about 9-11" long), once dry I rolled up sections of it until I had 9-11" long tendons. I glued those to the fingers and down along the hand into the space created by the two arm bones.

Muscles: unrolled cotton balls soaked in latex(see video). It took about 4-5 rolls to create the arm muscles near the elbow. Then I took latex coated cotton and created the muscle between the thumb and fingers.

Skin: panty hose(knee-highs) pulled tight over the arm after the muscles were dry. Tacked down the hose at the elbow with super glue so it would stay. Then I just brushed latex over the hose until it was completely coated.
Once dry I trimmed away the "skin" to create fingers. Then I started tearing the hose to create the ragged/ripped effect
I used the extra latex I had laying around to fill in the palms and finger area with a little "meat", just so it looked a little more filled in.
2nd Skin Layer: spread out latex in a rectangle-ish shape. Once dry I rubbed it until it created random holes and tears(see video,"nurnies"), then I powdered the latex and pulled it over the arm and parts of the hand, tacking it down with super glue every so often.

Paint: I painted using acrylic(craft) paints. I made a very runny mixture of brown paint and water and painted the arm. This "wash" goes into all the valleys and crevices. Then I painted on a second layer of darker brown wash. After that I created a muddy green(brick red and green) wash which I flicked on over the arm(see video). I did this with a darker red as well. This created spots to break up the surface so it's not all flat colored. Once that was completed I made a really runny wash with straight green. I painted the green wash in all the holes created between the skin and 2nd skin layers. I was going for a molded look.

That's it. The longest part was waiting for the latex coated cotton balls to dry.


Here's the video:

YouTube - Scary Skull in 10 minutes

Gulp, ummmmm are you sure you made these or did you dig up someones grave, hmmmmm?

Latex or rotted human...whatever works! Digging them up just takes more effort.