Help with sculpting lower jaw

[Odi.et.amo]

Hi guys

I've been trying to sculpt everyday for like a month now and after a year of just wandering around I've managed to get used to some of my tools and the clay and I finally feel I'm moving somewhere. Sure, my work is horrible but I hope that will change some day. Anyway to the point. I've been practicing human face and I have general idea of what should it look like but I have big problems with sculpting lower jaw. I've been folowing a guide from this video (it starts at the end.) but with no chance. It always ends up nasty looking, i won't even send you any pictures because my work is terrible indeed at this point and I feel embarrased just by asking you. Is there any other way of doing lower jaw than in this video? I would be so happy if you could help me.

 

[garyhiggins]

Hello Odi, I know this is a boring answer, but I think you would be best served by getting yourself some good ARTISTIC anatomy books. Good ones to look out for are by Jeno Barcsay, Paul Richer andValery L Winslow
Hope this helps, Garyhiggins

 

[Odi.et.amo]

Hi Gary,

thank you for you answer. It's not boring as you think, actually it may be quiet helpful. I got some anatomy book so i will look in it and see if it goes. But the thing is i was doing it completely wrong, so i changed my "style" and now i get some results. I also got some Chavant NSP clay and it's great! I feel i get better result with it so i might stick to it. Only thing that bothers me is that the master will get destroyed in the molding procces. So i might get to Super Sculpey again.
So is life of a sculptor

 

[garyhiggins]

Hello Odi, glad to help. Personally I never regard anything in a sculpting material as a finished master, I always make hand moulds and cast a metal master, that way you always have a safety back-up.
I think a good way to do faces, when you have the technical basics, is to study and use the real faces of the people around you. Is the face old or young, fat or thin, course or smooth, what is the expression? Faces are great fun, enjoy them!
Best wishes Gary.

 

[Rich Sculpts]

Hi Odi, anatomy for artists books most definitely for reference to improve your sculpting. Also check the out the work of other sculptors, you can pick up so many things by seeing other artists work. A couple to get you going are listed below...

David Lemon on YouTube - there is over a thousand videos of this master sculptor at work on YouTube, all of it close up views. Highly recommended - he now even produces instructional DVDs to purchase. Dig back into his catalogue of videos to get hours of free sculpting tutorials. Link => David Lemon

Lori Kiplinger - Her blog is a recent find of mine, this page in particular shows a brilliant example of how a good sculptor creates muscle structure before fleshing out the features. Link => Lori Kiplinger

Best advice to improving your sculpting is to study the structure of human anatomy, then use that knowledge to build that form beneath the final final layer of clay. Its the tried and test methods of many artists, in time you will start to get an intuitive feel for structure and eventually your will find that reference surfaces as second nature.

Hope this helps?

-Rich

 

[Odi.et.amo]

Gary: That is pretty useful information (metal master), but I'm afraid I will destroy the clay master while cutting it into pieces (like arms and head) because it never really hardens. But I might give it a try when I feel I'm ready. Thank you for this advice!

Rich: Thank you for your reply. I came across David's channel few weeks ago and I must say it's really awesome. So many videos and so much stuff to learn from! Also that blog you mention is pretty darn cool. I also found some videos from Phillipe Faraut on YouTube and I learned some things from it. I will try to get the human anatomy into my head so I can ímprove more as a sculptor. Now, I am more like a guy who puts some clay on a piece of wire, but I hope I will get good so I won't feel embarrased in front of you guys and I will become as I say "sculptmeister" (translated)

 

[garyhiggins]

Hi Odi theres nothing to be embarassed about in admitting that you need to learn, any help you need, just ask!
Re. cutting up masters, I do the engineering first and make my armatures to come apart in sections. That way all the breakdowns are done from the start.
Best wishes Gary.