Superman Homepage

2012 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News Archives

November 21, 2012: Superman Statues by Hobby Sculptor David James

Sculpt David James is a hobby sculptor working out of Sacramento, California who has created some great-looking Superman statues for his own collection. The Superman Homepage contacted David to ask him about his hobby and to share with our readers some of the Superman sculpts he's created over the years.

Note: David's sculpts are not for sale and are purely created for his own enjoyment.

Q: How long have you been sculpting for? Is it something you do professionally in any capacity or is it just a hobby?

A: I just do it as a hobby. And I didn't really get seriously into sculpting until about 12 years ago. Before that, my main interest as a kid was in drawing and painting, and so that's what I mainly focused on in school. But eventually, after college, I got bored with painting pretty landscapes and trying to be a "serious artist," and decided that sculpting superheroes and movie characters was a LOT more fun!

That's about when I started noticing all the cool statues and collectibles in comic shops. Since most were way too expensive for my wallet, I decided I would try to make my own instead.

Sculpt Q: How long would an average statue take you from concept/design through to painted completion?

A: If I'm feeling really motivated, I can finish a statue pretty quick. I threw together the green Reading Girl for a friend of mine in about a week and a half. But typically, like with the Supergirl and Bruce Timm girl, it takes me about a month to finish. That's assuming of course that I don't lose interest in what I'm working on halfway through, or get inspired to start an entirely new sculpt instead. Sadly, that kinda happens a lot, and as a result I've got a LOT of unfinished sculpts sitting on my shelf right now (which is probably another reason I should stick to doing this as a hobby and not a profession!)

Q: What materials do you use?

A: Just super sculpey that they sell in hobby stores, mixed with a little black sculpey to make it darker and easier to see. And for some odd reason I like to use just one wooden tool for the whole sculpt (unlike the real, professional sculptors who will use a whole bunch of different tools).

Sculpt Q: With the statues that you've created, are they all just one-offs for your own personal collection?

A: Just my own collection. I get a fair amount of requests for commission work, but frankly with my office job I only really have time to focus on my own projects. And I already have way too many of those I'm dying to start on.

Q: Do you ever sell any of your statues? Perhaps list them on ebay or other places?

A: I did briefly entertain the idea of kitting my stuff, or having a third party kit everything and sell it. But I just didn't feel like dealing with the hassle and the constant back and forth with clients and customers and the like. Not to mention the whole copyright issue.

And anyway, the main reason I sculpt these things is to have something cool to put on my shelf. The idea of putting all that work into something, only to sell it to a stranger on ebay, just seems a bit strange to me. Maybe at some point I will, but right now I'm fine just showing them on my blog for people to see.

Sculpt Q: Have you ever been approached by DC Comics regarding your statues?

A: About 3 years ago I did hear from someone at DC Direct, asking me to send in a portfolio and some samples. But I never heard anything back, which is fine. I didn't think my work was really strong enough at the time anyway. And plus the big companies require their sculptors to work with wax (for that extra, super fine detail), and I just haven't had any practice with that yet.

Who knows, maybe someday I'll get the chance to do something for them. But until then I'm perfectly happy working on my own stuff, on my own schedule!

Thanks David!

You can check out more of David's work at his personal blog.


2012 Merchandise & Miscellaneous News

Listed below are all the Merchandise & Miscellaneous News items archived for 2012.

Back to the News Archive Contents page.

Back to the Latest News page.

DISCLAIMER: SUPERMAN and all related elements are the property of DC Comics. TM & © 2024

This Superman Homepage is Copyright © Steven Younis 1994-2024
All Rights Reserved

Dedicated to Andrew J Gould - the original keeper of the Superman Homepage!

Since May 2001, the address is www.SupermanHomepage.com

Our Privacy Policy.