The Monkey's Paw - Cabinet of Curiosities

[Coz]

Something I made to get back into the swing of sculpting, and a little item for the Cabinet of Curiosities.

I made a simple wire hand shape, and wrapped it with masking tape to help the clay hold.
I used Das air drying clay - the first time in years, as the last time it proved a pain in the... proverbial (I later found polymer clay a batter bet for me).

Oddly, for this item at least, the clay seemed to work well for me, tho I did keep the stuff quite wet while working it. Once the outer layer is dry, its still wet inside, so the skin can be worked and textured.

Details were sculpted in with a few dental tools, trying to keep to the idea of a dessicated dried-out paw.
Painted a base coat of PVA tinted with a little paint to bring out the detail.

A couple of brown paint washes,gradually darkening the 'skin'. Used a Games Workshop satin sealer, then a final black wash before a final coat of sealer.

Hair was trimmed off of a section of fake fur and applied gradually with rubber adhesive, combing out loose strands as I went along. A thinned wash of PVA & water scruffed up the hair to look a little less doll-like (still a little damp in the pics).

Now, what should I wish for...

Coz.

 

[DARTH SABER]

That looks outstanding!
Ive always liked those vintage cabinet of curiosity oddities.

Are you going to put it in a little wooden disply both with some kind of diagram or something?

 

[Contec]

OH....i WISH i had a monkey hand.......****POFF** aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah get it off , get it off....

 

[Howlrunner]

Very cool - I've wanted a really good Monkey's Paw for a long time now. I have two, but both look a bit too human in their proportions - I really like your elongated fingers. I'd love to see one with the thumb and pinkie finger bent so the print part of the thumb covers the nail part of the pinkie - as if the hand is holding up three fingers ready for the wishes to be made.

 

[Coz]

Thanks guys! Yep, I'm gonna add an exhibit-style tag to it, maybe a vertical stand for it too.
Howlrunner - I originally had the thumb longer, about the same length as the fingers but shortened it (actually cut & shut- lopped out a 6mm or so section) - yeah, would've been too human.
Cheers!
Coz.

 

[Megamicrofish]

The first thing I thought of when I saw your paw was the Ripping Yarns episode "The Curse of the Claw"