
I was at LTUE in March of 2017, when I bumped into Isaac Stewart. He asked if I might be interested in sculpting the logo for Dragonsteel Entertainment, Brandon Sanderson's production company. I of course was super interested. I had met Brandon several times before at various writing conferences. In fact, he was the first professional author I had ever met. I ran into him and David Farland (Wolverton) at a Barnes & Noble in Layton, Utah many years ago when he was on his original Mistborn tour.
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Even though I was acquainted, I had never actually read any of Brandon's books. So after taking on the project, I decided I had better get started. I don't have time to do a ton of reading as I own a software company, and I can only sculpt in my spare time when I am not busy with my family. But I listen to audible on my way to and from my office each day. So I purchased the original Mistborn trilogy and started listening.
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I didn't have any idea what I was in for. I loved all three Mistborn books. I liked how thought provoking they were, and how they delved into faith and religion. The books became more and more epic as they went, and I knew Brandon's books would now rank among my favorites of all time.
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Of course I went on to read the next trilogy with Wax and Wayne. Awesome as well. Loved every bit. Now I have gone on to the Stormlight Archive, and the story of Kaladin, Dalinar Kholin, Jasnah and Shallan. I got hooked on that series as well, and am now listening to Oathbringer.
After looking into Brandon's novels and becoming a full fledged fan of his work, I felt much more qualified to capture the spirit of the Dragonsteel logo. This sculpture came together quickly because it was in relief (flat). But there ended up being a ton of detail at the end. Also, this was the first time I had built in an LED backlight, so that was super awesome.
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And I would be ungrateful if I didn't thank Brandon, Emily, Issac, Kara, Adam and the rest of the folks at Dragonsteel. They were so gracious and hospitable during this process. What great people.
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From Clay to Bronze
I'll go through the steps to create the Dragonsteel Logo Sculpture one by one so that you can appreciate the work that goes into a lost wax bronze casting. As you'll see, there are many people involved that use expensive and at times, dangerous equipment. You may click on the images below for a larger view and description.




Step 1: Design



I was given a reference design for the Dragonsteel logo. I printed this out and traced the outlines in pencil. I played around a bit with the design. Then I sculpted a 1 hour mockup, just as a proof of concept. And yes, that's my iPad Pro underneath. It makes a nice sculpture stand in a pinch.
Step 2: Roughing In the Form

Because this sculpture ended up being done in relief (flat), it didn't require any armature. I traced the logo in Adobe Illustrator, then printed it out at the right size. Then I pressed the clay directly on the paper. For this first version of the sculpture, I matched the logo exactly. If it had stayed like this, it would have been anchored to the wall in separate pieces.
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Step 3: Detailing the Form
I worked with Isaac at Dragonsteel to get a final design. Then I detailed it heavily. In the second photo, I took off the horn to better get at the sword details.
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