I thought it'd be nice if Goth mermaid had a friend to interact with.
Goth mermaids been having around on my desk for a little while now and you know how the more you look at something you've made the more flaws you see in it over time? Well, the new mermaid gave me the opportunity to improve upon a lot of the things that had began to niggle at me about Goth. Because Goth was unplanned, she wasn't really initially built to animate so a main difference between the two is that Blue mermaid is able to speak.
Also, in stark contrast to the Goth's manic, unrelenting grin, Blue has an air of melancholy to her...blue on the outside and on the inside :(. However, she does has four different mouths so she is at least able to express her upset. Here she is having a grumble to Gothy:
She took me about a day to make. Her head is small and round and her hips are wide and flat. Her pupils are small detachable painted plasticine disks, rather than painted onto the eyeball itself and popping the whole thing out from the back of her head. I'm not sure if this is necessarily a better method though, just different.
Most of all, I wanted to create a more interesting body shape for Blue as Goth has the figure of a Barbie and enviable as that may be, a few more lumps and bumps make for a much more characterful shape I reckon. So Blue has a lovely muffin top and sizeable, unbridled boobs.
Her hair is made from plaited blue/grey raffia which is a nice matt contrast to Goth's shiny angelina fibre hair. I think Blue is a bit wary of Goth. Who can blame her though...
I had been finding the bright white of Goth's skin a bit of an issue to photograph and film because she always looks so overexposed and the details of her face get a bit lost. So I suppose that's why Blue ended up....blue. I also used a sponging technique to highlight her skin to make her look a bit etherial or alien- which I think has worked well.
