what’s on the workbench?

The great thing about having a blog, is that you be able to see updates on my projects!

So this sculpture I’m working on is called, ‘Bábos,’ and he’s the main villain of Gaia.

I’ve battled with this concept on and off for years, and I think I’m satisfied with the end design. I think. So here’s the first lot of ideas I have.

early SKETCHES & concepts (2005-2016)

You would never believe that the first ideas were done all the way back in 2005! Yeah.

He was large and imposing at first. but now he’s still large, but not in frame. He’s skeletal now. I don’t want a Gym Bro type of villain.

I played with the idea of a man transforming into a monster. Like a metamorphosis,

Azazel (2010)

So as you can see, the name says, “Azazel, ‘ here. It’s because that’s what I called the Big Bad at the time. I decided to change it to Babos further down the line. It may change again!

I wanted to make him look thin, with an arched spine, tall with a mixture of body parts.

Babos (First Version)

This is actually a sketch sculpture, made out of Chavant NSP, Medium grade.

I don’t always make a sketch in clay first, but sometimes, when I’m struggling with an idea I create it roughly like you see here.

It’s not meant to be neat at all. but it does show the general idea of what I’m after.

This helps me immensely, in knowing what works, what doesn’t, what needs improving and anything else.

Making Bábos

In late January 2026, after I finished the sculpture project ‘The Piscean,’ I was trying to decide on what I was going to do next. I thought hard about this, even when i was finishing up my last sculpture. It was either start on an Illustration project, or, create the main villain of Gaia, ‘Bábos.’ I thought i’d go with the latter. It took so long in getting the ideas right, and I was finally getting somewhere.

I sat down and done some more sketches. I’ve struggled immensely with getting the face right for so long. That is until I decided to go all out ‘Japanese.’ What I mean is, I love the culture and the aesthetics of traditional Japanese Art, history and well… All of it. It’s so beautiful and rich. I have books on Samurai armour and history. I also have books about Tattoos, the ‘Yokai’ (Ghosts, Demons and Ghouls) and more. I love Films by Akira Kurosawa. I love the Film with Tom Cruise as the ‘Last Samurai.’

Much of the origins of my story was going to be based in two different locations; One being the Arctic. The other, somewhere in the Mediterranean. But, whatever ideas I created, I kept going towards the Japanese Aesthetics. So, I made a conscious decision to move from the Mediterranean to Japan instead. It just feels so right.

This is what my desk space looks like at the moment. It may look messy to you, but to me this is actually organized chaos! (22nd April 2026)