The Blackest Black is known as Vanta Black which is so black that it freaks out our color sensors. We know something is there but it's so black that you can see no detail. It kind of creates a paradox in your mind that your brain has a hard time processing. A great example of this is Attack The Block which is a great horror monster movie. This guy below gives a great analysis of the monster if you have or don't care to watch the movie. ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Prr9WufxA6A.html
Hullo! Associate of CultureHustle here!! (Small business that makes Black 4.0). In my experience, Black 4.0 works best when applied using a paintbrush in one thick layer, no cutting and no airbrushing. Obviously that wasn’t really an option in this case, and the sculpture is fantastic, but for _maximum_ results, that is what I recommend. The paint works by basically having hundreds of thousands of microscopic ‘probes’ that stick out from the paints surface, once dry, to absorb light and create a matte effect. These tiny projections from the surface work best the taller they are (hence- if a thick coat is applied), so any disturbance of that (aka, water, projection through an airbrush, or a varnish that would absorb into the surface and destroy its light-trapping effect) will be detrimental to its ‘blackness’. However, we are absolutely thrilled with this sculpture and the idea behind it, as the whole ethos of the paint and the business is that the paint is used by artists and sculptors and creative minds for all and any ideas they have. It turned out marvellous, thank you for sharing your experience!
I was going to say the same thing. I haven't used any of the black.0 lines, but I know how they work. The thick single coat and slow drying are required to cause the nanoparticles to raise from the surface so they can gobble up all those photons.
Another thing is strong direct lighting will show the dimensions. Having the back light be more abrasive than any direct lighting will assist greatly in the effect.
If it has sheen (light reflection) it's not the blackest black. It would have to absorb everything and send absolutely no light back to your eyes otherwise.
Wouldn’t it be a terrifying idea if the closer to the prey/hungrier The Long Shadow got, the face changed, from the baby, to the mask, then the fangs when it’s spotted/allows the prey to see it?
Your understanding of the muscular system is so amazingly accurate. Especially considering the odd pose, but still being able to maintain accuracy.. so cool
All those extra little details actually paid off really well (on camera) because It looks like just a void until I notice a little hint of the bone structures and it is definitely creepier when I can notice that
That black is pretty darn black. I really like the way it turned out. I actually think its a good thing that its not so black that the whole thing turns into a void because depending on the light and shadow if you look real hard you can see some of the features of the muscles where light is hitting it. However where the shadows hit forms a void where all you see is the silhouette which is really neat and adds to the creepy factor. Very very cool!
they arent that dark in real life. they just mess with the video contrast. believe me, i was thoroughly dissapointed when i got some. its just a little darker then normal black paint.
Faces being able to be switched is pretty incredible. I love how you did the creature's legs being halfway in the ground, it reminds me of scp-106. Very cool piece
I so desperately would love to see you make your version of a necromorph from dead space! Would love to see how you would make that come across with the body horror.
This is so incredibly impactful. the deep black really is something else. The face with the regular teeth is most effective to me because it has a certain normality to it but is so wrong at the same time, which makes it super creepy. I hope I can get the black 4.0 at a local art shop or online. I would love to try it.
Faces are such an interesting concept to show its different phases. I LOVE this so much. I adore the changing face masks, it changes the mood so much. The baby face is my favorite, it’s so unnerving. Amazing job omg
Black 4.0 I think works best when brushed on, the aerosolizing of the paint probably perturbed and damaged the additives in the paint that give the paint its iconic look to some degree. My guess is it some sort of carbon nano tube, which are well know for being brittle at macroscopic levels.
there is no carbon nano tubes in there, its a matte paint mix. nano tubes need to be grown and applied electrostaticly, thats how velvet black works. its a huge marketing stunt what CultureHustle does.
@@Mawyman2316 yup. Basically he wanted to create unusual paints after he found out about Kapur owning vanta black. Then again vanta black wouldnt really make a good artistic product anyway. It is incredibly difficult to apply and fragile and expensive. Now of course some of the claims are... maybe slighly exaggerated for marketing but the stuff is still way darker than most black paints.
"I'm working on being less of a perfectionist" that's so important when you dedicate yourself to this, I applaud you. This search for perfection, otherwise useless, is what distances us most from enjoying what we do and doesn't allow us to be satisfied with our results, no matter how good they may be, nor with the idea of celebrating our successes, which often tend to be many. It's an excellent driver towards excellence, it helps us go very far and polish our skills, but over time it's better when we know how to let it go along the way. I celebrate your journey, Art, and I really enjoy seeing your work 👏🏻♥️
I really appreciated this, even if it wasn't directly to me. I've struggled in every area of my life to just enjoy and be grateful, but it feels like I spend the majority of my time being dissatisfied and distant. Thank you for sharing this perspective, it is very helpful :)
This may not help everyone, but something that helped me was redefining "perfection" and recognizing it as an inherently subjective concept. What may be perfect to me may be imperfect to someone else. Perfection has the meaning you give it. It's been so helpful to me to remind myself that my work will always be perfect to someone. It doesn't need to be _my_ perfect, but even if it does, I can choose to let my perfect be whatever I have. It also helps to change the idea of perfection with context. (Ex.: First time? Wobbly lines are perfect for learning.) As a writer, this has changed my life, as silly as it may sound or as poorly as I may be explaining this.
@@TheIncognitive If my comment helped you in any way, then it was meant for you. I'm glad you found some comfort in my words. Personal standards are something I have struggled with my entire life so understanding this is something that has helped me a lot. Being grateful or kind to yourself is a craft in itself, and like any discipline it's difficult to master. Good luck to you.
I would just like to say I hope you continue making videos as long as you feel like it. I know you may have been through a lot in life and it's taken its toll on you, but the art you create is breathtaking and you can genuinely feel the connection you have between yourself and the sculptures you make. You are so underrated and are by far one of my favourite artists to watch to unwind. I hope life isn't too harsh on you, as you seem like an amazing, empathetic individual. Please keep being as you are. Thank you for all the content you've created.
What an amazing project! The way you started with the skeleton, and formed all the muscles and tendons was astonishing, it's really interesting to see how well you understand how muscles stretch and deform in various poses. The final piece reminds me of the SCP-096, really cool. Also, 'Broken Vessel' was a great choice for the reveal, it fit the vibe of the sculpt really well. :)
Your channel inspires me in my deepest levels to do the same. I'm thinking about this for a long time, but your channel gave me the final push. I already ordered sculpting tools previously for other projects, so i just need the clay and the work could start. Thanks from Hungary, mate!!! Waiting for another, wonderful video of yours! Also, a personal note: i really love how you show the try & fail errors of the work you do. That's what makes this channel more educational, than you think, i guess.
You said that you cut the Black 4.0 with water. And I have to wonder unless, you were using distilled water, if that had something to do with the paint not being as black as you had hoped. There are impurities in the water, unless it was distilled, that will alter the color of the paint once it's dry because those dissolved particles are left behind.
I love all of the masks but I think it actually looks best with no mask!! The flat cut off with weird holes in it gives the monster an incomprehensible horror vibe!! Great work!!
A few thoughts on my end. First of all, don't apologize for taking longer on the detail, love it whenever artists take their time to refine their works, makes the end product all the more impressive to look at. Second, it feels kind of funny for you to make something like this since one of my characters in Champions Online is more or less exactly this character, only completely blacked out with red pupils and fangs. And third, looking at the fanged version gives me heavy Nausicaa vibes, almost expected to see little nuclear beams bursting from his mouth at the end like a more demented version of the God Warriors.
i actually really like the level of detail and the time you put in, even if that wont be obvious in the final product. it’s like watching someone make an écorché
bro im not into sculpting but this popped up in my algorithm. i am into dark horror type art. This is amazing and definitely a piece of artwork i would buy.
I just LOVE this Omg Truthfully I like the fuzzy shadows that you did Sort of makes me feel like this thing gathers itself from the dust and ether, that it’s not a solid permanent mass as much as something that can shift and dissolve
I truly think that it’s just shows your passion as an artist that you spent the time to carefully sculpt all those small details that even with a regular paint job may not be fully noticeable, but especially with this black paint. The fact that you still wanted to make sure those details were there, make sure that it’s something you’re proud of and enjoyed the process of, even if the viewer may not notice those details, just makes you all the more impressive of an artist! Beautiful piece! So glad I found this channel on a late night RU-vid deep dive!!
Do you think the reason the black paint on the body wasn’t like the paint in the mouth and eyes of the mask face because you watered it down? Because to apply the paint on the mask you used the actual paint and it looked like expected but in the body you watered it down and used an airbrush so maybe you watering it down made some sort of difference? Anyways, aside from that, this is quite the horrifying and spine-chilling sculpture. It looks incredible!
RU-vid decided to suggest me this video and I ended up watching all of your content. Thank you so much for sharing your creative process, reasoning behind your choices, as well as your mistakes and troubles. It's been a delight watching you grow your skill. Waiting for the next video, whenever it may come up < 3
I've never seen a sculpture repaired, reinforced, and even re-posed with epoxy sculpt. Definitely adding that technique to my toolkit. Love the sculpture!
This is amazing. Its so wonderful to find the little corners of youtube with genuine, thoughtful, intelligent, and creative people sharing and thinking about their work. Looking forward to watching more of your videos.
ur work always makes me so happy Art, whenever I find myself losing drive and creativity I turn on one of your videos and it always gets me back in the game. I’m working on my most difficult sculpt yet, and the energy your videos give me is so helpful. Thank you and great work!
I'm astounded how much the process of making this sculpture was relaxing to watch and how terrifying the final result it. Great video and fantastic artwork!
I'm also a sculptor, although I mostly make fantasy/ LOTR sort of creatures. Honestly I tend to put in details that only I would notice and know the story behind the scene that the sculpt takes place in. Always absolutely amazing work Art Chong! Also most of the time when you get cracks in a polymer clay piece, it's because of trapped air pockets in the clay itself, most of the time you can just poke around the sculpture and see if you can find any spots that "dip down" and then spring back up. You can use something like a needle tool or a sharp blade to "pop" them, you could also just poke a hole into the sculpt until you reach the tinfoil layer, so that any possibly trapped air pockets can escape. Hope this helps.
would've been super cool if you went with a sort of drama mask direction with all the faces, but this is extremely creepy and beautiful in its own right. awesome job!!
this is fantastic!! deliciously creepy. love the fanged face. i thought the concrete turned out pretty cool too - makes it feel like he's emerging out of the basement of an abandoned building or something
i put this video on to see if your channel worked well as background noise for gaming and you ended up getting 20 solid minutes of my attention, consider me subscribed because holy crap this was awesome
Great sculpture and mesmerising video! I used to work with clay when i was in high school, and i remember it was a pain to work with because we used only natural earthy clay, never polymer nor epoxy. We seldomly used armature too, because we made "whole" structure to dig empty later. Your videos, along with others', really rekindled my interest in trying to sculpt on my own terms. Also, don't worry about the time over quality thing, the alghorhytm sucks, but humans enjoy when people put great carr in their art! Still hope you can gain greater traction
Heres my little story/idea for this monster that I came up with (im not very good at writing lol) : The masked things used to be a normal humans. All of them had their own issues and trauma. One day, they find a strange blank white mask. They pick it up curiously, and began to hear the masks voice in their mind "I can make all your wishes come true" it says "I can give you what you desire... all you have to do is put me on" Entranced by the masks promises they all put them on. As soon as they put on the mask their bodies distort. Their arms and fingers elongate, along with their torsos and legs. Their body isnt the only thing that changes, their minds become twisted and they are now just a shadow of their former selves. Here is the more individual stories for each mask/monster The baby- Was a young man with abusive parents. Because of his parents, he never really got to experience a happy childhood. So when he found the mask he asked to be able to relive his childhood. The mask changes his mind and he sees all the humans as childrens toys. He plays with them like toys too. Im on a time crunch writing this right now, and dont have time to write the stories for the others. Sorry! I might come back and edit this later though Side note: the sculpture is really cool, and thank you for giving me inspiration!
This video got recommended to me out of the blue and I am very glad that I did! A week or two ago I picked up some Musou Black for painting tabletop miniatures and since then have been looking for ideas for more things to use it on, and this might well be a great inspiration for some kind of demon or similar creature. The design makes me think of an analog horror series called Vita Carnis, one of the monsters in that has a form similar to The Long Shadow's but with a more fleshy face, but I adore everything about this absolute monstrosity, job well done!
You sculpt either the hole or the key first, rub some petroleum jelly in it and apply epoxy clay to the other side. Squish them together and they will fit perfectly while the PJ keeps the parts from bonding. It's a very similar technique to what garage kit modelers use to fill gaps in their parts
Love this! The talent involved is insane!! Well done!! 👏👏👏 I don't have a favorite face because they all rock the extra creepiness. Try using a blacklight on it and it will truly make that black sink into the void and the white pop!
I’m pretty sure I watched the whole video with my mouth agape! As someone who has recently started sculpting with wire, cloth, glues with my latest combining broken glass pieces….this was extremely enjoyable to watch! I love monsters an read, listen to horror almost daily. This was right up my ally! The paint looked very fun to use too! Excellent work!
I can vouch for 3:35 by saying you spending more time to make it look good no matter what. It’s so satisfying watching people shape with clay and it’s so satisfying to work with. It’s your channel! You do you!!!
I kept seeing this in my recommended and finally gave it a watch, and thoroughly enjoyed it. I know nothing of sculpting or clay but you just make it very entertaining and relaxing to watch as you create ungodly horrors. I would absolutely crap myself if that thing appeared from the ground.
When you said you do more clay just because you like it, i hit subscribe. As someone that posts gaming stuff because it makes ME laugh, I appreciated that.
this is really really sick dude and im so refreshed to finally see someone who knows what their doing using this stuff cus most of the TikTok's vie seen that use this paint just slap it onto some glossy piece of plastic giving the paint basically no chance to cover properly
Honestly, watched this from start to finish i found myself amazed. As an artist, after watching this i feel like sculpting is just drawing but in 3D, and im speechless. Seeing you put so much detail and effort into such little things, things that probably wouldn’t even matter in the final cut, was just so…fresh. The fact you’d go out of your way to enjoy the process even if it came at the cost of speed was something i could really feel for. since i tend to do the same and value it a lot.
