Sovereign "sinister" Heath Ledger Joker sculpt

[SovereignStudio]

Finished this today....

 

[plasmid303]

Reminds me of the scene in the trailers in which Joker is in the interrogation room, laughing and displaying his yellow-toothed grin.

I'd like to see your sculpt painted. Most of the Joker's appearance comes from the face paint.

 

[JGouse0498]

Yeah, I'm curious to see it painted too because I'm really not seeing anything of Heath or the Joker in the unpainted sculpt.

 

[Les Walker]

Interesting take on him....
Yes, would love to have one in hand...to see it painted...

 

[uscmhicks]

I would love to see him painted up !.

 

[Buttmunch]

Yeah, needs to be painted to be properly judged. We've all been through how the make-up just creates the "likeness."

 

[drbrad1975]

Definitely looks crazy...would love to see it painted...

 

[creature4000]

I wouldn't call this Heath Ledger...

 

[SovereignStudio]

Painted, tweaked a bit. This has been an interesting sculpt to do. Rather experimental, very open to interpretation. I'm sure it's the end-all, be-all method of critique to look for Heath Ledger in there. Between the make-up and his great performance (what I've seen) I do not see Heath Ledger in that character at all. He really pulled a Gary Oldman with this one. And far as what Heath might look like screaming insanely? Who knows? It's gonna take away a lot from the face we're all used to seeing. An extreme expression is going to distort a person's entire face. Go give it a try look in the mirror a few seconds, then make a crazy face and look again. You'll be surprised how much that other guy doesn't look like you. I had to watch A Knight's Tale and look for frames where he was angry, or yelling to find a few characteristics of his face in that pose. Then I had to combine that with the Joker make-up. I also factored in how those scars might affect facial muscles.

I'm not makin excuses to defend the work, I knew it was rather speculative when I started it. Sculpting study/theory is as much fun to discuss as it is to practice. I think that's why I wanted to do it, the guess work. The only solid stuff I had, the stuff we're all very familiar with, was the make-up, scars and hair.

 

[creecher]

Looks rocking, painted, Shawn. Some delicate sculpting there, doing him with an open mouth. Risky and rockin. I didn't think it was going to turn out this good. Well done.

 

[Imaresqd1]

Here you go, found a good referrence for ya. good work.

 

[SovereignStudio]

Thanks, man! Haven't seen that before. I didn't do too bad, for guessing.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

This is really good. Very expressive.

 

[SovereignStudio]

OK, the final version. Thanks to Imaresqd1 I was able to make a couple adjustments that really stood out to me. I rounded the eyesockets more, widened the nose at the nostrils and softened/beefed up the transition between the bridge of the nose and cheeks. I also made the hair a bit less groomed on the right side, and went a bit broader with the lipstick. I'd like to do a small run, 20 or so. They would be available painted and unpainted. Let me know if anyone is interested......

 

[JGouse0498]

I still don't see any of Ledger in the sculpt. Sorry.

But it really looks like the Joker if he'd been envisioned by Rob Zombie, which would be a deeply disturbing entity in itself!!

 

[customizerwannabe]

Interesting sculpt but the mouth seems to be sunk in a bit. I'd agree with the Rob Zombie take.

 

[Cap'n Cook]

I agree it doesn't look like Ledger, but it is a good comicy sculpt of the Joker.

Suggest toning down the green hair a little though.

 

[JGouse0498]

I agree it doesn't look like Ledger, but it is a good comicy sculpt of the Joker.

Suggest toning down the green hair a little though.

Definitely tone down the green.

 

[SovereignStudio]

OK, have a look at this....


I altered the cheekbones/lower portion of the face. I guess he looked a bit corpse-like, probably what inspired the Rob Zombie comments. I also altered the scars. I had them too low. In the actual still, they come pretty close to his eyes when he smiles.

Digital alterations: I lowered the brow to make his eyes less visible, receded the hairline more and toned down the green. On the sculpt the top teeth are visible, I just took the pic at too much of an angle.

I do need some advice on the eyes. I think lowering the brow makes it seem more accurate, but I'm not sure how keen you guys would be of a sculpt with virtually no eyes. Do you guys think it would look better, or should I leave them more open? Also, do the hair alterations help?