Revisiting Lady In White with a Frankie Scarlatti Sculpture
If you’ve been following this blog and our YouTube channel (sincere thanks to all nine of you) then you might have caught on to the fact that Frank LaLoggia’s Lady In White is one of my favorite Halloween movies. We’ve done an ink and watercolor illustration of the movie’s protagonist, Frankie Scarlatti. But this week we decided to enter the third dimension and sculpt Frankie in polymer clay.
Getting strong Headless Horseman vibes from Frankie.
I’m a self-taught sculptor. I’m still learning to work in 3D (clay, foam, wood, wool, etc). My lack of experience means things can go off the rails pretty easily when I start smooshing and shaping clay. Sculpting a little boy in a Dracula mask is a bit outside of my comfort zone, regardless of how much I love Lady In White. But Robert Browning said a man’s reach should exceed his grasp. It’s the only way to level up. I’m not sure Browning ever sculpted (so what does he know?), but we decided to give it a shot anyway.
Using Great Aunt Esmerelda’s pearls for the eyes. Don’t rat me out.
By way of sharing what I’ve learned, I’ll say that it took me way too long to understand how important silicone shaping tools are to getting a nice smooth surface. I used to try to do it with the metal spoon tools and loops, but the tool marks can be a bit aggressive. The fleshy tips of your fingers do a pretty good job of shaping and smoothing, but you’ll end up leaving fingerprints. My advice is to embrace the silicone tools, experiment with them, and see what comes of it. I’m still not able to get things just the way they look in my head, but practice makes progress.
Why should the Lady In White get all the white? Airbrushing a primer coat.
In the movie, Lady In White, Frankie is attacked by a shadowy figure on Halloween, 1962, barely escaping with his life. This event sets him on a path of mystery, discovery, horror, and wonder that changes his life, and the town he lives in, forever. I sculpted Frankie wearing the clothes he wore to school that Halloween, his Bela Lugosi mask, and gave him the jack-o-lantern his father helped him carve the night before.
You can practically smell the dead leaves and woodsmoke in this photo.
I made the cape from black fabric and tied it around his neck. As much as I like sculpting things from clay, I’m a sucker for the sympathetic movement you get when a slight breeze blows through glued-on hair or fabric, so I made Frankie’s Dracula cape from some cloth I found in my workshop. Here’s another how-to tip: When needle and thread fill you with dread, fabric glue can pull you through. Yeah, I just made that up. The trademark is gonna make me millions.
Luckily I had some black fabric, but I was prepared to steal a napkin from the Olive Garden if the need arose.
So, how did Frankie turn out? I see some opportunities for growth. Some of the shapes could blend into other shapes smoother. Some of the details could be a little more precise. But I also see a figure that, a year ago, I know I could not have sculpted. It’s all about jumping in the deep end and trying things you’re not comfortable with. Eventually, you get better. And in this case, the guy who created the character and wrote the story happens to like the sculpt so…that’s all the encouragement I need to keep going.
“Have you ever seen a dream walking? Well, I did.”
No, I’m not name-dropping in a gauche, celebrity-worship way. I’m reveling in the fact that an artist whose work I’ve respected for years, whose stories have touched me emotionally and dazzled me artistically, has looked at something I did and given me a very humbling thumbs up. Frank LaLoggia has come across my Lady In White fan art before and he’s generously reached out to tell me how much he enjoys it — so much so that he’s actually linked some of my project videos on his new website — and you can imagine what kind of boost that would be.
Can’t tell you how happy it makes me to see my stuff up on Frank’s official site.
Which brings me to the other reason I’m up past my bedtime on a Wednesday typing this post. Frank LaLoggia recently launched a new website that collects all of the scattered media, news articles, press releases, photo galleries, interviews, and behind-the-scenes video from Lady In White (as well as his other films) and puts it all in one easy to peruse place.
If you’re a fan of Lady In White, or film in general, visit franklaloggia.com
It’s a deep dive into Frank’s artistic life from his early short films, to his acting gigs on tv pilots, on up through his studio-backed horror films and more. You can dive in at franklaloggia.com and I urge you to do so because it’s an amazing journey through decades of one man’s dedication to, and love for, his art.
And if you’d like to see me throw a little love in that direction, you can watch Michelle and I put together the Frankie Scarlatti sculpt in the video below.