I've been told Sam Simon likes my handiwork...

Sam Simon with his Mercy For Animals award plaque

If your first thought is 'who's Sam Simon?' I'm rather embarrassed to say that was mine too, although I should have known better since I've been a big fan of a lot his work over the years!

A bit of a creative powerhouse, as it turns out.

He is one of the original three creators of 'The Simpsons', and also worked on Taxi, It's Garry Shandling's Show and Cheers. Wikipedia describes him as 'an American director, producer, writer, boxing manager and philanthropist.'

Here's a link to his Wikipedia page.

One of the award plaques I recently made for Mercy For Animals was honoring Sam for his contributions to animal rights and welfare causes, including theirs, of course.

Like Bob Barker, he paid for one of the Sea Shepherd ships that  have been preventing a lot of whales from being killed by a Japanese whaling fleet for so called 'scientific' purposes. You may have seen some episodes of 'Whale Wars'.

The front looks better than the back! Bob Barker with Sam Simon and his Mercy For Animals compassionate leadership award (Bob already has one!)

He started out as a storyboard artist (I'm a storyboard artist), apparently has an official Rodin Thinker cast (I've spent a lot of time studying Rodin's sculpture, even traveling to Paris to visit the Musee Rodin on my way to the States), and has created, written and or directed some of my favorite TV shows.
That's where his creative rocket boosters kicked in and propelled him beyond anything I can relate to!

Writers have always impressed the hell out of me since they have to come up with a world from scratch, rather than merely figuring out how to tell the story visually (which is a large part of storyboarding).

So when I did find out who he is I really hoped he'd like his plaque, purely on its artistic merits.

Here's what I was told by the person I deal with at Mercy For Animals.

'Oh, I also wanted to share something with you. Sam Simon told our staff person that his award plaque is the most exquisite, beautiful award he has ever gotten (and he has MANY, including several Emmys!!) and that it is his favorite. I thought you would like to hear that'

As it turns out, I loved hearing that.

Sam Simon's Mercy For Animals award plaque by Steve Worthington

Click these links to visit my website...SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille

Jousting toads - let the tournament begin!

The jousting toads of my mind - the standing toad is your's truly

Looking a bit more like chocolate than bronze (my rendering skills in ZBrush are still pretty basic)

Fairly finished

Here they are, toad and turtle combined and fairly finished.

I say fairly finished because I'm sure to tweak something sometime.
Anyhow, I finished my toad and turtle, made a nice jousting saddle and lance (complete with boxing glove on the end!) so now my critters can have at it!

Some details

Jousting toad - Steve Worthington

I'm going to make an opposing jousting toad that looks heftier than this one (turtle too).
I figure this one can have nimble speed working for him, while the other will rely of brute force.

Mental picture

I like the faded background in the photo's at the top because it kind of highlights how I often see the world through the filter of my imagination.

Especially when I'm in parks.

Just a big kid I suppose!
But I have a whole world waiting to be born, and now I am getting a pretty decent handle on ZBrush I can finally unleash it on you at least in the form of photoshopped pics.

Here's where I step away from my computer to indulge in a hearty James Bond evil super villain maniacal laugh attack...




OK, I'm back now, great, got that out of my system.

Be prepared

The thing I'm really excited about is that I can indulge myself in a serious body of work of a certain substance and heft, if you will, and have it all ready to go at a moment's notice should the opportunity arise to get it 'made real' (what is real anymore, anyhow?).

They say luck is when opportunity collides with preparedness (or something), so my mission now is to be prepared. So I'll be beavering away with a frenzied sense of purpose in my spare time for the next while I'm sure.

It has been quite frustrating keeping lots of ideas pushed down simply because I haven't had the space and financial clout to make them at the kind of scale I have in mind to properly capture the imaginations of others.
I've been told by locals that kids especially really enjoy my big grumpy toads in Benson Sculpture Park in Loveland, Colorado (they guard the entrance to a bridge over a pond).
Some even kiss them, to see if they will turn into princes I guess!

Besides just allowing you to sculpt, ZBrush also has lots of other bells and whistles to explore. I'll be checking them out too, so I can use it as an illustration tool if I ever need to.

Click these links to visit my website...SteveWorthingtonArt.com - Sculpture that loves you back
or my Etsy store, CritterVille