Sailor Superstition 3-D Illustration

In my illustration class, we were given the assignment of illustrating a superstition three dimensionally. After much research on different superstitions, I ended up being fascinated with sailor superstitions. Oh boy! They're pretty superstitious. To narrow my concept even further, I focused on the tattoos that the sailors would have. A sailor's tattoos tell the story of their life. Different tattoos mean different things.

For example, a sailor would have a rooster and a pig tattooed onto him in case of shipwreck so that the God would think he was a land animal and take him safely back to land. Also, a nautical star, compass rose,  or North Star would bring good luck and enable the sailor to always find his way home. Dragons meant the sailor had served on a ship in China. A shellback turtle meant he had crossed the equator. A full ship meant he had sailed around Cape Horn. An anchor meant he had sailed the Atlantic Ocean.

Here are some photos documenting my process along the way:

 I started off with a wire armature which I nailed to a base. I added tinfoil to build up the bulk of the body so I didn't waste Sculpey or make him too heavy! I later switched the base out for a can of baking soda.

Here he is out of the oven for the first time! I baked him at this stage so I wouldn't accidentally ruin him when I was trying to do the details. I baked him at 270 for 20 minutes. I watched him in case he started to burn! 

Details of the paint before tattoos are added. It took me a few tries to get the skin tone I wanted.

The Final!