"Tentacular Delights" - Hellmouth Tentacles

The Kraken stirs.

And ten billion sushi dinners

cry out for vengeance

- Terry Pratchett

Hello fellows all and welcome to another Friday on The Art of Caesura!

Today on the blog we have a tentacular delight: the smaller appendages of the Hellmouth!

A couple years ago (almost to the day) I painted the main maw of the Hellmouth. I used that model for an appropriately epic base for Brokk Grungsson. Today I have the smaller "arms" of the Hellmouth...and we'll have to see what I plan on using them for...(nudge, nudge, wink, wink).

Before we get going, I was looking back at my blog thinking "I feel like I've done quite a few tentacles on the blog" and bizarrely, I have! We've had the Hellboy Doom Tracker, The Hellmouth, the Tentacle from the Necromunda Underhive starter, the tentacles from the Conan kraken (including bonus "Day of the Tentacle" tentacle), and finally Brokk himself! 

That doesn't even include the actual kraken or the Dreadmaw (both of which feel tentaclly) or The Illuminated (who is puking tentacles) or Huggy D (who is basically a big tentacle). And I'm sure I've missed a few. Anyway, point being, I was surprised by the number of tentacles on the blog! And today we are adding three more to that number!

I started these tentacles by shaving off the rocks at their bases (they're originally subterranean terrors a la Tremors) and I sculpted some waves with milliput. 

For the colour scheme, I pulled out my Brokk model and went back and looked at my original Hellmouth post for reference on the colours I used. I really wanted these new tentacles to match the 2 year old Hellmouth as closely as possible...for no particular reason (tune in next week...smirk...shifty eyes...), so I followed the guide I had laid out in that post. 

I painted the fleshy side of the tentacles Bugman's Glow then Cadian Fleshtone then Druchii Violet. After the Druchii Violet I worked it up again with Cadian Fleshtone (plus Lahmian Medium) then mixed in more and more Light Flesh and finally Pale Flesh (from Scale 75). I wanted the underbelly to be nice and bright to contrast the dark skin.

 On to the rough "skin" then, I started with a 50:50 mix of Mephiston Red + Abaddon Black then Druchii Violet. Once the wash was completely dry, I then drybrushed with Evil Sunz Scarlet, mixing in more and more Yriel Yellow as I dry brushed closer to the edges. 

The only thing I did differently is that I used to use a hard-bristled brush as a dry brush (for the texture on skin of the tentacles), but have since changed to a super soft make-up brush. I actually found that this was giving a worse result in this case (it was making a smooth blend, when I was looking for it to pick out the texture of the tentacle skin a bit better as I'd done on the original). So I dug out my old brush and tried again to better effect.

I painted the hard carapace Ushabti Bone -> Agrax Earthshade -> Ushabti Bone. And the barbs / quills at the end started as Incubi Darkness and, through blended highlights, ended Lothern Blue. 

For details on my wave bases, check out my tutorial here. 

Finally I gave the whole lot a healthy coat of gloss varnish.

Now lets look at these creepy tentacles under suitably low lighting. 

I think they turned out pretty well, and importantly, next to Brokk's base they don't look too dissimilar. 

Thanks for popping by. I hope to see you back next week on The Art of Caesura!

Reading: Paradise Lost - John Milton

Watching: The Queen's Gambit (2020)

Next Week:

Look to the skies...