Lead Adventure Forum
Miniatures Adventure => Call of Cthulhu => Topic started by: Malebolgia on October 14, 2016, 01:10:23 PM
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Jeremy Bonamant has a new Cthulhu sculpt for sale, sculpted by the awesome Allan Carasco, one of the best miniature sculptors around. I think the sculpt is absolutely fantastic.
(http://www.figone.fr/wp-content/gallery/figone_cthulhu/Figone_Cthulhu1.JPG)
(http://www.figone.fr/wp-content/gallery/figone_cthulhu/Figone_Cthulhu2.JPG)
(http://www.figone.fr/wp-content/gallery/figone_cthulhu/Figone_Cthulhu3.JPG)
(http://www.figone.fr/wp-content/gallery/figone_cthulhu/Figone_Cthulhu4.JPG)
€49…not cheap, but so good.
Link:
http://www.figone.fr/en/cthulhu-le-dormeur-de-rlyeh/
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I really like the sculpt, particularly the head, but at 68mm it is a little small - more of a Starspawn at 28mm.
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Great figure but the 49 Euro price tag means it will be a figure I will never own. I'm never sure why Euro manufacturers think that GW pricing should be the norm.
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Actually the price is pretty much what I'd expect for something of that size and complexity. Not sure why one would expect it to be ignificantly cheaper. Maybe if you're comparing it to a gaming vehicle or scenery bit that's cast in filler-extended resin using open-backed molds, but for a figure that's going to have to be cast in lots of parts with two-part molds (plus likely in low numbers), that price is pretty normal.
Re: the figure itself, The sculpting is fantastic, but stylistically it doesn't work for me. Waaaaay too anthro IMO. Which is a nigh-ubiquitous problem with Cthulhu renditions, for some reason. Dunno why, but sculptors and illustrators are always trying to make Cthulhu look like a cartoony-proportioned human wearing an octopus hat.
It's a Lovecraftian outer-god. The anthro-ness of it's anatomy should really be limited to "four primary limbs and a head, arranged bilaterally". I've seen a lot of Cthulhu sculpts that showcase amazing technique, but none that I can recall which looked like a legit attempt at the subject. Everyone's tripping over each other to do yet another cartoony pop-culture Cthulhu-lite, seems like no-ones ever interested in doing an actual serious alien Chthulu.
Not really holding it against this sculptor in particular, as looking across his portfolio, whimsical/humorous fantasy is just a big part of his style (I actually have a Figone Minotaur, and it's very nice). Just sort of generally wish we could get at least one or two "serious" Cthulhu's peppered in with all the cartoon ones from time to time.
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Actually the price is pretty much what I'd expect for something of that size and complexity. Not sure why one would expect it to be ignificantly cheaper. Maybe if you're comparing it to a gaming vehicle or scenery bit that's cast in filler-extended resin using open-backed molds, but for a figure that's going to have to be cast in lots of parts with two-part molds (plus likely in low numbers), that price is pretty normal.
Re: the figure itself, The sculpting is fantastic, but stylistically it doesn't work for me. Waaaaay too anthro IMO. Which is a nigh-ubiquitous problem with Cthulhu renditions, for some reason. Dunno why, but sculptors and illustrators are always trying to make Cthulhu look like a cartoony-proportioned human wearing an octopus hat.
It's a Lovecraftian outer-god. The anthro-ness of it's anatomy should really be limited to "four primary limbs and a head, arranged bilaterally". I've seen a lot of Cthulhu sculpts that showcase amazing technique, but none that I can recall which looked like a legit attempt at the subject. Everyone's tripping over each other to do yet another cartoony pop-culture Cthulhu-lite, seems like no-ones ever interested in doing an actual serious alien Chthulu.
Not really holding it against this sculptor in particular, as looking across his portfolio, whimsical/humorous fantasy is just a big part of his style (I actually have a Figone Minotaur, and it's very nice). Just sort of generally wish we could get at least one or two "serious" Cthulhu's peppered in with all the cartoon ones from time to time.
that's a really interesting comment and a much more eloquent "how my head views it" too - I'd be really interested to know if you've seen artwork/sketch/sculpt that you thought more fitting? I keep toying with something more twisted but wonder if everyone has now got so used to the "human in octopus hat" that there's little point
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I certainly see where you're coming from in bringing up anthropomorphism in monster sculpts & I too would be interested to hear how you'd envision the Lovecraftian bestiary - Cthulhu in particular.
As I see it, it's a little difficult to step away from an anthropomorphic treating of the subject, in what is a fairly small scale - as you said two arms/legs, one head & bi-laterally symmetrical, without it leading you in a particular direction (humanoid in this case). Lovecrafts descriptions are, necessarily, pretty vague/open to interpretation, his Cthulhu is vaguely humanoid though gelatinous & ever shifting in size & outline (not an easy thing to achieve in a sculpt o_o).
The fact that existing sculpts tend to have an identifiable musculature, hinting at the supporting skeleton does indeed not appear to be in the description - but achieving the absence of such without having a mini that resembles a balloon sculpture seems quite a task.
I don't know if you've seen the RAFM version - it's always seemed to be the most 'alien' to me, with it's many eyes & odd proportions (too many other versions give old squidly too humanoid a face - with a beard of tentacles) though I admit I find the tiny legs a little comical.
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I like this style of approach personally http://www.deviantart.com/art/Cthulhu-557388244 (http://www.deviantart.com/art/Cthulhu-557388244)
sorry to derail the original thread, lovely sculpt and a big fan of Allan's work - sorry if it sounds like I'm suggesting otherwise!
A lot of the sculpts out there seem to miss "vestigial wings" and the extra limbs
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It is a very well done sculpt but I tend to agree with Connectamabob.
Interestingly enough Lovecraft's own description mentions 'vaguely anthropoid' and his sketch looks quite unimposing, sort of like Cthulhu on the toilet.
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The problem is that HPL specifically described Cthulhu as man shaped with a tentacled head - I'd have to check the exact wording but I read the story CoC again last night so that's pretty close. So the issue isn't hat all of these sculptors are sticking too close to the original text.
For what it's worth, my favourite rendition has a,ways bee the Nightmares of Lovecraft action figure collectable thingie; squat and heavy.
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Regardless if it is 'correct' it is masterfully sculpted...those arms!!! And all that gross detail!!! This thing will be a joy to paint...although I really dislike the trident...seems like mixing metaphors...still, just a beautiful thing. Also, painting those eyes will be a treat! 8)
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You're right, nothing takes away the fact that it is a stunning sculpt.
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As I see it, it's a little difficult to step away from an anthropomorphic treating of the subject, in what is a fairly small scale - as you said two arms/legs, one head & bi-laterally symmetrical, without it leading you in a particular direction (humanoid in this case). Lovecrafts descriptions are, necessarily, pretty vague/open to interpretation, his Cthulhu is vaguely humanoid though gelatinous & ever shifting in size & outline (not an easy thing to achieve in a sculpt o_o).
The fact that existing sculpts tend to have an identifiable musculature, hinting at the supporting skeleton does indeed not appear to be in the description - but achieving the absence of such without having a mini that resembles a balloon sculpture seems quite a task.
I don't really think that's the case. I mean, we don't have that problem with many other creatures. Elder Things, for example, are nothing like humanoid, but they remain highly identifiable. I think it says a lot how myself (and many other Lovecraft fans) immediately recognized the Elder Thing cameos in the Hellboy II movie, despite them being seen only in blink-and-you'll-miss-it background glimpses (in which IIRC you don't even see the whole creature). People are always finding new and creative ways to interpret Elder Thing anatomy without turning them into vague balloon animals. Same with Yithians.
I think it's more that some modes of description have a tendency to short-circuit parts of people's imagination like a dog-whistle phrase. As Vindice mentions, Lovecraft did use some variation of the phrase "vaguely man-shaped". He didn't get more specific than that IIRC, and given what else is said (and Lovecraft's general approach to such things), the strong inference should be that "man-shaped" is very vague indeed. However the moment you liken a creature to a known IRL thing, no matter how tenuously, 99% of readers are going to fixate on that to the exclusion of the rest, no matter what.
Larry Niven's Kzin are another big example of this problem. The text descriptions always take pains to explain how they are anatomically very clearly alien and not literally felid, but rather "cat-like" in sort of instinctive hind-brain impression sort of way. But no-one even attempts that. literally every illustrator out there, both pro and amateur, just blanks out at the word "cat" and shorts right past everything else. If you google "Kzin", you just get pages and pages of straight-up tiger-furries. Look up the cover art for the books: amazing, highly skilled paintings... of tiger furries. You could say "oh but it's hard to imagine something alien", except people do that all the time with stuff that's described without the easy-out of "like X animal".
The moment a description says anything approaching "is a bit like X real creature/plant/object", that seems to create a teflon-lined imagination-bypass chute that even very imaginative people apparently find difficult to avoid.
Another example:
Hounds of Tindalos: N-dimensional monsters that pursue their quarry with hound like tenacity. Not N-dimensional monsters that look like hounds.