The Evil Hand of Glory (of DOOM!)

[ars_anima]

Hey there crafty folks!

I recently finished making & mounting a hand of glory reproduction.



A hand of glory, for those not versed much in old creepy talismans or the potter verse (Draco Malfoy uses one to escape the room of requirements!), is the mummified hand of a criminal who died at the gallows.

This was used mostly by thiefs because when the fingers, or a candle made from the fat of the dead man placed in the palm, were lit, the inhabitants of a building would fall into a deep sleep, that only blowing out the flames (only milk or blood used to work, according to some) could arouse them (from their sleep. Not something else. silly.)

I made mine using traditional corpsing techniques, by applying liquid latex and toilet paper on a skeleton hand armature, which I made using crappy, cheap markers, hot glue & string.


Those are the fingers before beefing up the knuckles


Knuckles beefed up!


Now with a newspaper & tape forearm


And here's the beef!


Plastic nails were added


And now a bit of paint...


And here's your hand!



It's looking so much better enshrined in a shadow box.

It took just a few hours to make,  the hand cost tops 5$ in materials, and you can make it cheaper using glue instead of latex, the most expensive part was the shadow box which I got unfinished at a local craft store for 8.99$.

If you liked it, I've got a much more in depth, step-by-step, picture heavy tutorial on my blog, in two parts. Feel free to take a look over there!

Part One: http://darkartifacts.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-hand-of-glory-part-one.html

Part Two: http://darkartifacts.blogspot.ca/2013/01/the-hand-of-glory-part-2.html

I hope you enjoyed!

[WingsOfClay]

just hit "this rocks"!

[corchen]

This is seriously rockin'! There are so many things you could do with this as well - I would be very tempted to make one curled around the stump of a candle, with wax dripping down around the fingers... What was this one made for? Just decorative, as a prop, or part of a larger project?

[dulcet]

Brilliant!

[WideEyedLife]

That absolutely rocks!  (Bam...hit the button...bam...repo rted that your post was AWESOME.)

I love the tutorial.  And I'm not into hands of death or anything, but I seriously want to make myself one of these now!

[ars_anima]

Thanks everyone!

Corchen: One grabbing a candle is a great idea, it would look creepy as hell. I might be tempted to try that later on.

As for the purpose, it's only decorative. I'm making gaffs such as this hand or my shrunken heads ( http://www.craftster.org/forum/index.php?topic=411928.msg4866206#msg4866206 ) mostly for fun, and try to sell 'em afterwards.

WideEyedLife: Please do! the process is really fun, and even if you're not into macabre decor, it makes a great halloween decoration!

[mcbeth]

wow nice work!

[corchen]

I love the head - you have some 'mad skillz' with the macabre. I see you play with latex moulding as well (should have realised when you had latex lying around) - how about a hand of glory candle? Sculpt your master with the fingers pointing upright, take a mould, and cast in wax... It might be a bit fiddly getting five wicks to hold in place, but I'll bet the end result would be worth it. Those might even sell well too.

Oh! Also, if you're not familiar already, check out this website - http://propnomicon.blogspot.co.uk/ I think it might be up your alley. The guy makes some truly amazing props.

[ars_anima]

Haha thanks! I'm already a big fan of propnomicon, it's actually the blog which inspired this hand, if you ever take the time to read the full tutorial! I've already been featured on there once, too. Great guy, and great blog. Thanks for sharing it, though!

I've never tried candle casting, I should try it, though. Sounds interesting. Thanks for the suggestion!

[corchen]

*facepalm* d'oh... Oh well, better to tell someone about something awesome they already know about, than not tell them! I tend to binge on propnomicon every few months or so - I love the dusty, slightly otherworldly aesthetic.

I hope you do try out a hand of glory candle - I shall keep an eye out for one 

[LimeRiot]

This is scary - which I hope you take as a compliment because it's so realistic!! The fingernails are an especially spooky detail .

[ChainCrafts]

Stunning work! I love that the core of the fingers is marker and string

[ars_anima]

Thanks guys! I'm glad you like it!

Corchen: I don't know if you're familiar with Jacob Petersson (at curiomira.blogspot. com), if you're into old, dusty, otherwordly stuff, you'll love it!

[kittykill]

That is all kinds of awesome! So clever!

[Knickertwist]

You are such a clever boy. This is faboo. The nails are just grand.

[ars_anima]

Thank you so much! I'm glad you like it!

[anderlance]

This rocks!  Would not have even imagined you used broken markers to make the frame!

[Wulf]

I made mine using traditional corpsing techniques...

You can't argue with tradition!

This is seriously brilliant, and I'm going to steal the idea for something I have to make at work. I especially like the use of old felt marker shells as plastic tubes and building up the knuckles with string.

The fingernails are very creepy. Another method I've used for this (also for teeth) is to carve them from hot glue sticks. They have just the same sort of translucency and shine. But buying stick-ons from the dollar store is much easier!

I just discovered Jacob Petersson myself this week. Love his stuff!

Wulf

[Knickertwist]

I just discovered Jacob Petersson myself this week. Love his stuff!

Me too! Love, love, love the mummified gnomes and things

[ars_anima]

Thanks, anderlance! That's what happens when you're cheap and can't be bothered to fiddle with wire.

Wulf: Thank you! I gotta agree, hot glue could work wonders! Do you take the time to carve those directly from the stick (I hope not, I'm too lazy for that!) or do you work normally from a puddle of glue?

I know Christian Hanson used drawn-out beads of hot glue as a base for teeth in his DVD on making corpses, (His corpsing method wouldn't work great for a single hand, but the heads it makes look so gnarly!) and it looked amazing, but I don't recall seeing it used for nails, sounds interesting!

Oh, and have you guys seen Petersson's stop motion short? It's all dusty and creepy! a must see.

[EarthboundMisfit]

This is beyond awesome I love it!

[ars_anima]

Thanks, I'm glad you do!