I’ve Been Making Alternative Posters For Horror Films And TV Series In The Form Of Clay Sculptures (30 Pics)

In terms of inspiration for my creative work, I’ve always loved the character design of Morph, created by Peter Lord, along with Jim Henson's Muppets and Jim Davis' Garfield. I’m definitely drawn to bold cartoon styles, and I think you can really see the DNA of those creative influences in my own character design.

Each of my models will usually take at least two days to make, depending on the amount of detail required, but I think Pennywise, of course of the horror movie IT, took around 4 days as his outfit, in particular, required a lot of work. As I work with colored polymer clay, the sculpting process tends to take longer than, say, working with a neutral tone to then paint over with acrylic paint, as color contamination can be a real issue, so there’s a lot of building and baking processes involved! I have got a YouTube channel where I often upload process videos where you can see how my models come together.

I’m hugely inspired by pop culture, so most of my personal work tends to focus on well-known people from film and TV, along with art and music, and I’ve also created a series of polymer paintings inspired by well-known artworks. I enjoy making 'polymer paintings' from time to time as they’re made in an entirely different way from my usual model making, and they can be a little more challenging to produce.

I think most artists tend to suffer with a bit of creative burnout here and there as it all forms part of the creative process, so when I’m going through a bit of a hump, I try to get inspired by perhaps changing my environment (long country walks are helpful!), looking through old sketchbooks or getting stuck into a new film or TV show. I also follow a wealth of amazingly talented illustrators and designers on Twitter, whose work I love to look through whenever I’ve got a spare moment, and it can really help to formulate new ideas of my own.

In general, people have reacted pretty positively to my work, and I suspect it’s because my characters tap into childhood memories of claymation films. However, it certainly doesn’t appeal to everyone, which, believe it or not, is a good thing for an artist, as it helps you to recognize who your audience is.

I tend to enjoy most of the processes in my work in one way or another, but I really enjoy tinkering around on Photoshop to edit my posters, as it gives me a break from making models. Sculpting, which can be a little hard on the hands at times as polymer clay can be tricky to the condition as it comes in hard blocks, and mixing colors takes way longer than you’d imagine!

Although I work exclusively with polymer clay these days, I’ve worked with various creative mediums and spent many years drawing cartoons; I could never arrive at an aesthetic that I was happy with. All that was to change when I discovered clay. I was really drawn to the material and its potential for illustration work, and after a good few years of experimentation, I’ve finally arrived at a visual style that feels uniquely my own.