Tim Bruckner

by Arnie Fenner

Dan's post about Jordu's Schell's stunning Grand Moff Tarkin bust was extremely popular some weeks back, so I thought I'd go back to the subject of 3D today and call your attention to the work of Tim Bruckner.

Tim's been a heavyweight sculptor for the comics field for a number of years and has created a mind-numbing array of macquettes, busts, and action figures for DC, Dark Horse, and Marvel among others. He'd originally worked in the music industry before embarking on a sculpting career (and if you corner him at a convention sometime, ask him about his experiences with George Harrison and Graham Nash), but quickly became one of the most innovative and creative pop culture sculptors working today. He's even co-authored a how-to book (pictured below) and has a blog that features many tips and tricks.

Some years back we produced the "Ghoul Queen" statue based on a Frazetta cover for National Lampoon. Tim gave me a painted resin prototype and I ran it by Frank for his input. Tim routinely has interpreted other artists' 2D art into sculptures and he's often been left to fill in the "blanks" on his own (since there are no 180º views for him to follow)—and "Ghoul Queen" was no different. Since there was no rear view for him to follow, he looked at other examples of Frazetta's figure work and did a sort of guess-work extrapolation as to what the reverse would be like.

Frank was tickled when I showed it to him, but as he slowly studied the prototype, he suddenly looked at me and asked, "Do I really draw women with butts this big?" I thought for a second, then answered, "Yeah, Frank, you do. All of your women have very generous behinds." He got a big smile on his face and said, "Good! Then Bruckner got it just right!" (Frazetta's original art is below.)

Tim is currently in the process of creating a line of "garage model kits" (the "Nosferatu" above will be one) as well as fitting in private commissions between commercial assignments. Check out his website for more information.