World of WarCrafts: Moonkin taxidermy by Cid Snook

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including fan art, cooking, comics, cosplay, music, fan fiction and more. Sample the whole spectrum on our Arts and Crafts in WoW page.

Today's World of WarCrafts is certainly one of the more unique submissions we've ever had here at the column. While some Warcraft fans create art in the form of drawing or painting, and others create art in the form of sculpture, I think this can safely be called the first time I've ever seen art in the form of a taxidermy-style head carefully mounted on a wall. A unique piece of sculpture, indeed -- and the detail on the piece is absolutely stunning.

Cid Snook, otherwise known as Masoret from the guild Vanishing Point on the Hydraxis server (US-H), is no stranger to Warcraft-related arts and crafts. In fact, her artwork has been featured on the official World of Warcraft website; one of her pieces was listed as a "tasty leftover" in the monthly Warcraft comic contest. So what drives a person to make a replica of a Warcraft race and mount it on her wall? We had a chat with Cid to find out just that. Take a look at Cid's gallery below, and follow us after the break for more from Cid!

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World of WarCrafts: Hi Cid, thank you so much for your submission! Can you tell us a little about yourself?

Cid: I'm a stay-at-home mom, and I work doing artwork commissions out of my home. I've been playing Warcraft now for about four years since my sister introduced me to it. I started out Alliance, but then my sister switched sides to Horde, so I followed. My favorite class has to be hunter because it's what I started off with and I'm the most comfortable with it -- plus you have cool pets!

I became involved in art because growing up, my brother was into comic books, and he was always drawing and I looked up to him a lot. I studied art in college, and I do it both for work and for fun now. I do a variety of things including traditional art, digital art, sculptures, dragon costumes, and plushies.

I really have to ask because we're dying to know -- why make a moonkin head to mount on your wall?

I've loved the art of taxidermy for some time, and I had wanted to sculpt something really big for a while, so that's when the thought of making a moonkin came up. When I excitedly told my husband what I was planning on making, he gave me a blank stare and shook his head -- he doesn't play WoW, and when I start talking about it his eyes usually start to glaze over. My guildies, on the other hand, thought it was a pretty nifty idea. I've always liked the design of moonkins; they somehow pull off being creepy and cuddly at the same time.

The detail on the head is amazing. How did you go about making it?

The moonkin I made was built on a wooden base with a large wooden dowel acting as the "vertebrae" to support everything; foam was then added and carved over top of it. The base was then covered with faux fur that was airbrushed with dark blue and gray tints. The ears are actually a set of night elf cosplay ears that were painted and attached with wire and glue. The beak was carved out of styrofoam and then covered with air dry clay and painted. The horns are made from vinyl and painted. The eyes are a set of hand-cast resin LED eyes I bought from a fellow artist. I luckily had help from my dad on making the wooden plaque that it is mounted on. The time it took to make is probably about a week all in all!

I see you have a few other busts featured on your deviantART page. Can you tell us a little about the production of those?

The murloc and Alexstrasza were both made from Sculpey clay with taxidermy glass eyes and painted with acrylic paints. The murloc's teeth were made from clay called Fimo that turns slightly translucent when baked -- perfect for teeth! After it was all painted, I used a clearcoat to make the Murloc look shiny and wet. Both of those small busts probably took about a day apiece to make.

Do you have any other projects on the horizon?

I've been thinking about and planning to work on a large black dragon bust with light-up LED red eyes -- inspired by all those black dragon heads on pikes around Dragonmaw Port in Twilight Highlands. I would also like to make additional busts of the other dragon aspects to go along with my Alexstrasza bust.

Well I certainly can't wait to see what you come up with! Any advice for those who would like to try their hand at sculpture?

If anyone would like to try their hand at sculpting, my advice to them is to pick a project they will enjoy. Do research, study references of what you would like to make and keep reference pictures in sight while sculpting. Starting out with an armature made out of wire and aluminum foil will help the stability of a clay sculpture, as well as cut down on the weight and amount of clay used. The internet is also a great resource, and many artists have tutorials and videos filled with tips and tricks on how to do things!

Thanks again for taking the time to chat with us Cid -- be sure to let us know of any future projects!

If you'd like to see more of Cid Snook's Warcraft-related and other work, you can check out her page on deviantART.

World of WarCrafts spotlights art and creativity by WoW players, including arts and crafts, fan art, WoW-themed recipes, comics, cosplay, music and fan fiction. Show us how you express yourself by emailing anne@wowinsider.com with your not-for-profit, WoW-inspired creations.