Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!

Not really miniature related, but something I made for my sister for Christmas. She and I are both fans of H. P. Lovecraft. I saw something like this offered commercially, though it was only 3.5” tall and didn’t come with a box. The photograph for the item DID display it, packed in moss and nestled in a beat up crate and that pic is what inspired me.

The idol is of great Cthulhu, variations of which are mentioned in The Call of Cthulhu. I sculpted the little monster out of DAS clay. I read a few tutorials because it's been decades since I've messed with the stuff. There was lots of advice on avoiding the surface cracking as it dries - I wanted this thing to look ancient, so I did the opposite of what they said to do!

After beating the lump into the rough shape I wanted, it was really just a matter of patiently gouging out some straight lines. It took a few to get the knack of producing these without leaving crumbling edges, but I soon had the hang of it and it went rather quickly after that.

After letting it partially dry (so the paint would soak into the material, not just lie on the surface), I used Citadel shades to add color...

I produced a letter from a 'colleague', explaining the reason for sending the strange thing to my sister and packed the whole into a box I purchased from a craft store (and subsequently battered and painted).

I'm really happy with how this project turned out! My girlfriend says she is really glad the spooky critter is going to someone else's house...

Right, back to more serious work soon...

Oh, Merry Christmas, everyone!