My first bust

[Automata]

I have dabbled with sculpting before, but this is my first complete bust. I intend for it to be a 3rd Continental Light Dragoon. I still have some tweaking on the face here and there and the ears ar roughed in for now. I'll go back in and detail them after the next bake. It is Sculpey III, by the way.

I was hoping to get some opinions about small changes that might improve the sculpture.

Thanks,
Barry

 

[Anders Heintz]

That is looking excellent so far. The anatomy looks spot on. Keep up the great work!

 

[Jason W.]

Wow Barry! Your on your way. Looks great!

 

[garyjd]

Barry, Very nice so far, I like the subject. the two horizontal lines (one under the chin, the other around the chest) represent 1 head height. The two smaller horizontal lines represent the collar bones, and the two rounded ones the chest. If you compare this with your frontal view I've brought the shoulders up, so they do not appear as if the guy is slouching. The green outlines represent the area you could carve away. This is to just leave out extra work you have to do unless there would be some sort of insignia on the sleeves (which Dragoos of this time did not have), and to give the bust some interesting lines. This way the viewer will be able to focus more on the face/headgear rather than almost half of two arms which really does not add to the piece. Any more questions feel free to ask.~Gary

 

[Patrick Kirk]

Gotta love this site!

Gary,
You are a GOD!

All the best my friend

Patrick

 

[slaj]

Barry , that is a great start.You're going places. I'd check the nostrils.They do not seem aligned.But then aagin you still have to finish up.

Gary that is one hell of a critique !!!

Stephen Mallia

 

[Automata]

Thanks for the encouraging comments guys!

Gary, that's exactly what I was hoping for. I sure appreciate you taking the time to help me out. He did look a bit too much like a weight-lifter, but I was just going to live with it. I will take your advice though and make the changes you drew. I think that will make a big improvement.

Stephen, I agree about the nose. Now that you mention it, the bottom of the nose also looks a little strange from the side. I'll try to fix those things on the next round.

Thanks again,
Barry

 

[slaj]

Barry ,you're very welcome

Stephen Mallia

 

[Automata]

Corrections, round 1:

I brought the shoulders up and cut quite a bit off the bottom. I do think it looks a lot better. There is something I don't like about the eyes, and I can't quite put my finger on it. I think maybe the sides of the nose hit the brow with too sharp of an angle? Maybe there should be more of a "fillet" in there?

I forgot to mention that this guy is about 1/10 scale.

Thanks again guys, Hopefully I can keep progressing on this one and post as I go.

Barry

 

[garyjd]

Barry, Very nice, what a difference. Here is a page from one of my anatomy books, Atlas of human anatomy for the artist by Stephen Rogers Peck.

I think the upper lid is too exposed, refer to the drawing.~Gary

P.S. If you need any uniform info let me know.

 

[slaj]

Barry,that is a very positive difference. I agree with Gary regarding the eyes.
BTW , Gary , What's that book you mentioned.Is it still available?

Stephen Mallia

 

[garyjd]

Barry, I would go with a medium blue leaning a bit more towards the light side.
Here are some line drawings of helmets.

Stephen, I believe the book is still available.~Gary

 

[Pete_H]

Perhaps widening the nose a bit would help. But then again, what do I know?

 

[JP PRAJOUX]

I myself think that the eyes are a little bit too high on the overall mass of the skull.
They should be around the middle line between the top of the skull and the bottom.
The picture below is part of a SBS I wrote in the Etendard Occitan Website (in french sorry) : SBS head , perhaps it can help !
Bye
Jean-Philippe

 

[Automata]

Thanks for the advice guys. All the suggestions have been helpful. I have learned a lot on this project.

Gary-Thanks for the scan. I bought the Steffen book based on your advice in a different thread. It's a great book. I just happened to find a book yesterday in a local used book store called "Weapons of the American Revolution and Accoutrements". It has some pretty good black and white photos of those very helmets plus one more that has a very odd shape. Let me know if you'd like a scan.

Leigh-I think you're right about the eyes being a bit too far forward. I don't think I want to re-do the eyes completely on this one, but I'll keep that in mind on the next one.

Jean-Philippe - You're probably right about the position of the eyes. I may have the chin projecting down a bit too far. I also have the top of the head a little shallow, which might account for some of it. I'll watch for that on the next one.

Pete - I agree about the nose. I did change it quite a bit and I think it looks better.

These photos show my attempt at correcting the upper eye lids and nose. This is a learning experience for me, so please do not hesitate to give me your thoughts.

Thanks,
Barry

 

[LCoote]

What a difference, well done Barry!

 

[garyjd]

Barry, What a difference. I think your ready to start the uniform.~Gary

 

[Pete_H]

Looking good, Barry. Looking really good.