Having discovered I had made an inaccurate armature, I clearly had a decision to make – did I continue on with the sculpt as it was or did I strip off all the clay, fix the armature to be more screen-accurate, and effectively start over?
On the one hand the sculpt was starting to turn around. I was definitely happier with the way things were looking in general and with the head in particular. CJ was starting to look like, well, CJ.
And although I can be quite the perfectionist, I am not, shall we say, an Adam-Savage-&-The-Maltese-Falcon- level perfectionist.*** – that last ¾” wouldn’t necessarily make me twitch. So, in theory, I could keep going. I’d know there was something off, but if I did a good enough job with everything else, most folks seeing the puppet (minus a few super-obsessive fans and/or people who actually worked on the movie) would just go “Hey! Cool! The kid from District 9!” and not notice anything was wrong.
On the other hand – I could strip off all that clay and start over… but at the expense of missing a deadline for the 2nd time…
You see, and I’m kinda embarassed to admit this, I’d VERY naively thought, when I started this project in the Fall, that if I REALLY pushed myself I could get CJ done in time to bring him with me when I went to the International Make-Up Artists’ Tradeshow in London England at the end of my three weeks in Europe. Never mind my day job, all the normal rushing around for Christmas, my preparations for the trip itself, or oh yeah, the fact that as Maid of Honour at my sister’s upcoming wedding I had offered to both a) organize her bridal shower, and b) make her wedding dress. If I REALLY pushed I could get CJ done and oh my, wouldn’t it be fun to have him at the show with me. A real conversation starter for sure…
Well as the sheer enormity of the task I had set for myself by taking on this project set it, it was obvious I was not going to taking a fully functional Prawn puppet in my carry-on to London (my first clue? The 1st armature, something I thought I’d be able to throw together in an afternoon had taken me nearly a week and a half to assemble). But, I thought, maybe if I got the sculpt done then at least I could take some really nice in-progress pics in my portfolio… surely that would be a reasonable deadline to push for wouldn’t it?
Bit of a case of The Tortoise and The Hare really. Did I sprint head long for the finish line or did I go slow and steady but with a chance of winning the race? Well I’ve been the Hare before – MANY times, usually in a desperate attempt to finish a costume in time for a con. And I’ve gotten to the finish line alright – collapsed over it in fact and the only way I managed to stay up and running at all was by sheer momentum, willpower, and a little luck.
And that’s fine for cosplaying. There is a certain element of “talking dog syndrome” to cosplaying at a convention. Sure, fine artistry and craftsmanship are appreciated, but if you pick something really out there and ambitious for your costume you’ll get a certain amount of accolades just because you managed to pull the costume off period (no one cares what the talking dog says - everyone is just impressed with the fact it can talk at all). After all – you’re not a professional, so everyone understands that you have to make due with the materials and time limitations you have on hand.
The problem is that I want to BE a professional. I stated in the intro to this blog that it’s my dream to be a special effects artist one day and “make monsters” for a living. Even though I make costumes and puppets for the sheet love of it, I’m also supposed to be learning my craft so that it can one day be my career. And a “talking dog” attitude just doesn’t cut it for a professional.
The other problem with being the Hare is that you’re not always proud of yourself afterwards. Yes, it’s common for artists’ to be overcritical of themselves and their work but there is always a line where you COULD actually have done a better job if you’d just slowed down, and been more careful. The last time I showed my portfolio to someone I was ashamed to discover I was making excuses for almost every piece. I didn’t want that to happen with CJ…
So I made myself a deal. I would NOT give myself a deadline – I’d give myself a schedule. As long as I worked on CJ at least an hour a day (more if possible) then I’d let him take as long as he takes. 6 months, 9 months, a year – it was all good. The goal is NOT to get CJ done as quickly as possible but to do him to the best of my abilities, and hopefully learn a lot while I do it.
It’s true, if I’d done the whole sculpt and then figured out what was wrong, I might have been MORE tempted to just keep going and hope no one noticed. But I was really not so far along that starting again would set me back all that much. After all a) everything should go faster the second time and b) I’d feel better knowing things were closer to what I really wanted.
After all, he might not be the “real” CJ but he was going to be MY CJ – and I want to be proud of him when he’s all done.
Now I fully admit this might be a big load of Prawn-poop. Heck, I’M half convinced it’s a load of Prawn-poop. I know there is definitely a proper time and place for The Hare method – I’m just not convinced this is one of them. For once I want to try the way of the turtle…
*** If you’ve never watched Mythbuster Adam Savage’s presentation on Dodos, The Maltese Falcon, and The Art of Obsession I highly recommend it. At the very least you’ll get a very entertaining glimpse at what’s it’s like to research a prop/costume recreation project.
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