Dalton man excels at sculpting figures from fantasy to sports

DALTON — Ten years ago, Kevin Sexton took up sculpting.

The result? Well, there really wasn’t any.

“I started on three sculptures and didn’t finish any of the three,” said Sexton, a Dalton resident. “I was that horrible at it.”

Fast forward to today. After producing comic books, paintings and short films over the years, Sexton has revisited the hobby of sculpting. He’s started a business — even in these down economic times — and hopes to pitch his work to major comic book companies and to the residents of northwest Georgia.

About five years ago local filmmaker Mark Hannah encouraged Sexton “to get off my tail and make things happen as an artist.” Following Hannah’s advice, Sexton produced a series of comic books about vampires and several short films titled “Dalton Vampire Nights.” In early 2006, Sexton bumped into Dalton resident and comic book artist Rob Brown, who has worked for powerhouse companies such as Marvel and Chaos. Brown gave Sexton pointers on his comics.

“If he tells me I’m messing up or doing something wrong, he’ll point it out but he’ll tell me how to fix it vs. just giving me a bad comment,” Sexton said.

Then one day last year Sexton decided to make two statues for Brown based on his “Bane of the Werewolf” comic.

“I didn’t tell him because I wasn’t sure if I could do it,” Sexton said. “I thought, ‘If I screw up, he’ll never know.’”

When Sexton finally showed his work to Brown, he was “blown away.”

“He told me to quit drawing, quit painting and spend my time sculpting,” Sexton said.

So he did.

Four months later, Sexton has churned out 17 sculptures, from a massive Conan the Barbarian piece to Bigfoot to a statue of his friend holding a severed vampire head.

He averages one piece a week — since he still has a full-time job — and said a six-inch scale figure takes about 20 hours to complete.

Sexton has received no formal training in sculpting. He’s done plenty of research on the Internet, and trial and error is a learning tool as well. About 80 percent of each project “is thinking about it ahead of time,” Sexton said. He starts with a base of metal wires, then builds the sculpture with clay. After letting the piece dry, he adds paint and the bells and whistles (backpacks, helmets, shields).

The statue of Conan battling an enormous serpent in a dungeon took a painstaking 47 hours to complete. Sexton plans to send pictures of the piece to Dark Horse Comics, which owns the Conan character, to gauge the company’s interest. The sculpture weighs more than 20 pounds and has a sturdy base made of concrete. The large snake that coils around the piece has 5,000 scales. The intricate detail can be monotonous, Sexton said.

“Well, when you’re three hours into making your 2,000 diamonds, you’re really sitting there and getting pretty aggravated,” he said. “When you get to that point, you get up, get a snack, get something to drink, walk around. This is the type of job that you sit for long periods and get numb.”

The works caught the eye of A.J. Kocher of the Fantasy Factory, a downtown Dalton comic book and gaming store. Kocher has been a comic book fan for most of his life and is impressed with the quality of Sexton’s work.

“The sculptures in the window, we sell a lot of them,” Kocher said. “And his work is better than a lot of the pieces that are out there. The ones that are better than his, he’s not that far behind.”

Sexton has teamed with Eric Blaylock, president of the trophy and award shop Total Recognition in Dalton, to offer hand-made sports statues. Sexton has already made a six-inch football player featuring a ripped jersey and gritty detail that he is shopping to local school systems and athletes.

“They’re getting something that’s hand-crafted,” Sexton said. “It’s not machine made. That’s something different.”

Each statue in the numbered, limited run is hand-painted with school colors and the player’s number is also engraved on the jersey.

“Every now and then something unique, new and appealing comes along which brings excitement to the industry,” Blaylock said. “I believe that is what has happened regarding the custom handmade resin statues offered by Kevin Sexton. Kevin is a hard worker who strives for perfection in everything he does, especially in the artistic world. This dedication to ‘getting it right’ shows up in every piece Kevin produces.”

For information, contact Sexton at sextoncreations@yahoo.com or Kocher at The Fantasy Factory at (706) 259-3315.

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