Sea Goddess - Making the staff of Kraken

I got several comments that my new Kraken Staff looked a lot like my Elvish Staff. I might see their point, but when you hold them together I hope you see the difference. 

The method I used is very similar to how I made the first staff. 

The core of a roll of paper cloth (yes I have many of those, because you never know when you want to make a Gatling gun)

The tentacles here are made with strips of foam mat covered in aluminum foil, to help keep it in shape. 

Then you glue them to the staff.

This time I wanted a larger orb with more lights. And I am looking for an easy way all the time. So I used a Christmas orb with integrated light that runs on batteries. The battery pack I hid inside the staff core with the switch reachable. The orb was frosted with a thin layer of white spray paint. 

Test assembly with orb

With the orb glued in place I covered all the tentacles with paper clay. 

For the staff I did not use cheerios, but every sucker is hand sculpted. 

The painting
For the Elvish staff I used a technique where I first paint a light color and then smear a darker color over which sets in the creases, called weathering.

The the Goddess Staff I use a little different technique. I first painted the tentacles a lighter orange/brown color. Then I used a sponge to add and feather a darker brown on all the "highest" ridges of the tentacles. The suckers were painted lighter orange/pink with feathered edges to the main color. Shadows and depth were added with darker colors in and around the suckers. 

The tentacles were blended in with the rest of the staff using a sponge and the weathering technique. I wanted the rest of the staff to have a colder, rock quality, so the tentacles would really stand out. 

Even more details. 
Down the length of the staff I added several details. Like Balanidae and sea stars which I made out of clay, and different sea weed made out of hot glue. 

Summoning Kraken

Photo by: Nils Katla Photography