Gravedigger's Head Complete!

I pushed on like a good haunter should and finished up the head of Madog. Oh, I may go back and add some additional small details, maybe a little more hair here and there, but in the main he is done. Now on to the body!

Before adding the hair, I added some facial details. I gave his cheeks some spider veins and some freckles/age spots. Then in the areas I wanted deeper shadows, such as around his eyes and in the crags of his jowls I used a slightly watered down brown paint. I then watered it down some more to hide the edges so he didn't look like a linebacker with dark streaks under his eyes.

Then I went a used a barely watered down brown wash and covered the entire head with it, using an old sheet to wipe off the excess. That's what you see above.

Next it was time to add hair. Using the braid I bought, I cut off small snippets of it, about a half-inch in length and used contact cement to glue them to the brows.

My goal had been to use an electric razor to shave them down so they weren't so bushy, but before that I wanted to blow off the excess hairs. I turned on my heat gun and blew them off, but in the process I also melted the hair. Girls, if you're buying your extensions at the dollar store, be careful! I didn't have to apply much heat at all to have them melt. Fortunately, I liked the effect.

Next I added sideburns, slowly overlapping each row to try and achieve full coverage.

I then used the heat gun to "trim" them.

I then did a similar process for the hair on his head, but left him balding on top since my yard display will be a 12th century monastery.

Once melted into shape he was essentially done. On the HauntForum discussion board, RoxyBlue made the comment that for an old guy with such black hair, he must be getting it out of a bottle! Good point! So I greyed the hair a little and this is what we have.

I'll probably work on my cemetery columns next before moving on to his body, but both might need to wait until I finish my basement laundry room.