This was my entry for a custom contest. Please let me know what you think and critiques please no matter how harsh! I want to get better.
You might be able to see him coming for you in the dark, but your chi will still be his...
Some background info:
I wanted to do something unique with my entry that people typically do not know of and hopefully can learn and appreciate. And so chose to use 2 Chinese myths in my work. One is the Jiang Shi (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiang_Shi) They are Chinese zombies/vampires who fed on the Chi energy of the living to sustain themselves. Their limbs are stiff due to rigor mortis and so they have to hop to move and their arms are always outstretched. They only dwell and come out in dark places. They also tend to have long while hair, blue-green skin and have talon like claws/nails for their weapons. (read the wiki article to get more info, interesting stuff). I also wanted to emphasize the Night aspect of this entry and used Glow in the Dark paint.
The second myth is the belief in Jade in ancient Chinese culture, to be the key to eternal life. Such was the belief that rich nobles would create "Jade Burial Suits" for themselves (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jade_burial_suit). Or more often draughts were created using Jade but were very poisonous, the First Emperor was thought to have gone mad due to taking these draughts.
The Story:
Long ago during the Warlord era in China, one particular Warlord was obsessed with the idea that Jade would grant immortality. He crafted his very own armor, helmet, and a set of Claws made of Jade. Because of this his enemies knew him as the Jade Warlord. Believing himself invincible on the battlefield he wanted to defeat the ravages of time and become immortal. He hired alchemists and magicians much like the First Emperor had to come up with a potion that would give him everlasting youth. It did not have the desired effect...The Jade Warlord began foaming at the mouth and keeled over dead after he took the potion. His minions buried him in his Jade Armor inside a Jade Casket in an unmarked grave in the mountains. Treasure hunters and grave looters in the years to come would search desperately for his grave in the promise of the lavish Jade within. Many of these people never returned...Rumors in the area were that the Jade Warlord would rise at night and slay those who would invade his domain...that his search for immortality had succeeded, and he seeked a life of solitude in the mountain. It was even rumored Cobra had sent a viper squad to the mountain side to obtain this key to immortality. What they found was not what they were looking for...The Jade Warlord had become a Jiang Shi, a zombie, his flesh and orifices oozed the Chi energy he steals from his victims in a vibrant glow that can even be seen at night. His eyes have the appearance of burning fire and the air holes in his helmet when emitting this glow give him an evil grinning like appearance. The Jade in his armor had begun to fuse with his body and his trade mark Claw weapons became part of his body and odd flesh/jade combination...They were deadly and can cut the very life energy of a person out. Your soul and chi will be his...
Parts:
Head is Slayer Design.
Upper arms, Torso, armor is POC SS
Lower arms is Serpentor, the Talons were sculpted on the lower arms, and used a sculpting tool to make the stretch marks for the transition from jade to flesh.
Legs are Serpentor's also.
Paint:
I tried to simulate a marbled look for the jade with dark and lighter greens. The Glow in the dark paint was very difficult to work with. It goes on very very thick, I decided to use that to an advantage in making it look sort of like chi blood, and it gave it a nice oozing texture which turned out great. The eyes and mouth were hard to paint but luckily the sculpt had those indented so I put the paint in the crevasses.
Time:
Took about 2 nights to do. Around 5-6 hours total. Took a while to get the idea.
Pics:
Note, the glow in the dark shots were really taken in the dark, so it actually looks like that in the dark! It looks really really cool in person, the pics dont do it justice.
Did you hear something?
Your Chi is Mine!
Thanks for looking.