Summoning the Wilds
Created to harness the power of the last precious gem mined from her island’s sacred volcano, the Fire Mage focuses energy through her mage staff to summon a flock of fiery beasts to her side. Lions with flaming manes, alligators that can swim through molten lava, bats who light up the night—the list is goes on. Together they protect their land, sky, and seas from any who threaten the island’s inhabitants.
For this commission, I created the “Fire Mage Staff” to accompany the Fire Mage on her quest to summon every animal imaginable!
“Is it purebred? No, but it’s pure fire.”
— Chandra Nalaar (“Chandra’s Magmutt,” Wizards of the Coast)
Making the Fire Mage Staff
The Fire Mage Staff was inspired by my client’s passion for animals of all kinds. While it was hard to narrow down the list, together we decided on a set of animals that each speak to a personal aspect of her life. The final list included: two bats, a butterfly, a dove, a dragon, a horse, a stag, a dog, two cats, and an alligator. Each wraps around the upper portion of the staff, facing toward the glowing focus affixed to it’s top.
The staff is constructed using a PVC pipe base covered with hand sculpted Paperclay, creating an exaggerated wood texture. The animals were sculpted on top of the Paperclay layer using Apoxie Sculpt. The ever-important Volcanic Gem was an original sculpt in Medium Monsterclay, molded in a brush on silicone. The gem itself was then slush-cast using dyed SmoothCast 325, leaving the inside hollow. USB-powered fairy lights were then wrapped inside, with an extension wire exiting at the base of the gem, down through the length of PVC. A cylindrical, rechargeable USB battery pack powers the lights at the base of the staff, with a leather-wrapped PVC cap to hold it inside. The golden twirl around the volcanic gem is also sculpt in Paperclay around a 16-guage steel wire and tin foil. The mage staff was painted with a mix of various airbrush and artists’ acrylics.
**Full Disclosure: I get credit when you purchase items via my Amazon links in this post. Any profits made go back into my blog posts and tutorials. Thanks in advance for considering a purchase! 
**
