Here’s a detail on the skull showing the redesigned headphones, and is pretty much exactly what I had envisioned from the start.  There’s a distinct 70s, mechanical quality to these ‘phones that I believe just goes perfectly with the rest of the scene.  In fact, they bear a scary resemblance to these quadraphonic headphones that I found in my closet (I must have taken these from Dad at some point, but could never use them without a quad decoder and actual quad sources!)  The next version should see the return of the materials mock-up, but for now a line art-only version is necessary to confirm that the design works.  The earmuffs are officially gone!

A day later, and I already have a revision.  Most striking is the lapis rendering for the shirt.  I think Mica grabbed some dark and light lapis, polished it up (a fetid process), photographed it, and worked it into the mock-up.  The use of this natural material certainly adds to the realism of the scene.

The ground has changed a bit, and is something Mica continues to develop.  Today, the chair is on a bed of grass, courtesy of some dyed Burl Maple.  Darker Burl Maple creates a path at the very bottom.

I’ve been told that Susan has drawn me some new headphones, so I’m hoping to see them in the next revision.  We’re getting pretty close to something I can approve.

After a few weeks of inactivity, I’ve finally got something new to share.  This is the first try at a materials mockup for the medallion.  It is rough, incomplete, and subject to change.  The pipe and headphones are still shown without materials, and the leaves and shirt have only solid color placeholders.

The shirt is going to be made of lapis – a semi-precious stone that in ancient times was used to make scarabs and amulets.  The leaves will actually be little pieces of the mineral gasparite.  The buttons on the shirt may ultimately be represented by bone or the shed antler of a deer.

The tree and Adirondack chair will be actual wood.  The moon and bones look like they’ll be comprised of Mother of Pearl and Tahitian Black Mother of Pearl.  The grass-like ground at the bottom is Abalone.  The darker material that the chair is sitting on is Burl Maple, but that’s probably going to change.  Dark Gabon Ebony will provide the night sky backdrop.

This version of the medallion has not yet incorporated all of my requested design changes (but the apple is already gone), so I expect another round or two before I can approve it for cutting.