A quick little deal on how I make my dragon faces out of leather. All of these are baby dragon sized, but it’s the same method expanded to create the big guys.
I then fit each of these pieces together. The end result is the front of the face and the front dome of the head. The back of the head sort of opens up, like a flower. I set the eyes into the head. Sculpting the leather eyelids are vitally important, as this decides the final expression.
To keep the shape and form of the snout, I fill them with a combination of a light weight epoxy and Styrofoam. Too much weight won’t bear the design and actually cause it to have tears, so keeping things super light is vitally important.
![Here's a row of filled faces, curing.](https://waywardleather.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/baby-heads.jpg?w=300&h=224)
Here’s a row of filled faces, curing. You can see the extent of the variety of shape and expression already at this stage.
The back of the head is stabilized with a few arches of leather, to create a rough shape to the back of the skull. At this point, I lay pieces of leather to create a hollow head shape.
Depending on where the head is going to be used, I’ll finish shaping out the neck, then fill the remaining hollow section of the head with lightweight epoxy as well. Most of the ones I posted here later became pocket dragons. These are little carry along buddies, who live in pouches that attach to a belt. Their heads bobble and can be puppeted.
All together, the heads alone for the baby size are a three to four hour project. For a “full size” dragon, getting the expression and forms on the face alone can take more than a day’s work. Of course, the faces are only the first step to making the project, but it’s the most fun!
-Mellie
Nov 05, 2015 @ 15:53:10
“Splodey face”…lol
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Dec 02, 2015 @ 02:27:55
I love these little dragons
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