When I was a kid, my little brother Donald and I saved the world many a time pretending to be Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin from the old tv show THE MAN FROM UNCLE… so it was a trip down memory lane recently when I illustrated a Phil Callaway article and got to do this take on that old MAN FROM UNCLE logo.
Frank Frazetta created a legendary image several years ago called The Death Dealer. As I was designing new board game images, I drew this picture in homage to that iconic piece of artwork… and in homage to my L.S.U. loving daughter-in-law, I named this fellow The Death VALLEY Dealer. He sits atop his intimidating warrior battle hog, ready for action. I fear this image will not sit well with my Arkansas Razorback loving kinfolk…
My stop-motion hedge knight, Sir Duncan The Tall, is now pretty much complete. His head and mouth can move as well as his legs, arms and fingers.
He still needs a few props, so I build him a sword out of Sculpey and a shield out of balsa wood.
I also make him a massive pair of shoulder pads just in case the Kansas City Chiefs decide to take him with their first pick in this years NFL Draft.

Ok, this guy is pretty much ready to make his big screen, stop-motion film debut.

Yesterday I got the feet made to my stop-motion puppet, today I tackle the hands. The first thing I do is sketch out a hand that is roughly the right size on a piece of paper. Using a light gage aluminum wire I build the framework of each hand.
I hot glue a piece of cardboard to the palm of each hand so they will retain their shape. I then add a thin layer of hot glue to all the aluminum wire in order to add strength to it.
Finally, I sew on some fine leather gloves with elegant fur trim. I add some Sculpey painted armor to the top of the hands and they are finished.
Tomorrow… the next step towards finish.