WIP Critique New Year Resolution - Learn to Sculpt

[Dan Morton]

I work in 1/16th and haven't had to use brass rod except to reinforce rearing horse legs in places. One more small pointer following up Darko...don't be afraid to use china marker or crayon or something to mark anatomical features. Simple and effective.

Keep at it - you're doing fine!

All the best,
Dan

 

[Eludia]

I work in 1/16th and haven't had to use brass rod except to reinforce rearing horse legs in places. One more small pointer following up Darko...don't be afraid to use china marker or crayon or something to mark anatomical features. Simple and effective.

Keep at it - you're doing fine!

All the best,
Dan

Cheers Dan, thanks for the words of encouragement

 

[Dan Morton]

People on this forum were there to encourage me when I needed it! And we all need it sometimes.

All the best,
Dan

 

[Eludia]

I've set attempt No 1 aside for now. I was having some armature and glue compatibility issues which made working with the putty a bit of a PITA as everything kept moving when I needed a good solid base to push the putty around. The end result is that I'm now experimenting with different materials to come up with a more solid armature.

First off, I've abandoned the foil core in favour of one made from Super Sculpey with a stiff copper wire "spine" (I found some nice wire in my shed which, I hope, has a good balance of strength and flexibility.) So tonight I formed the spine and plopped a miniature Sculpey head on top before baking it. Tomorrow morning I'll crack on with the new torso core.

I've taken some WiP pics tonight but they're still on the camera so I'll get them posted tomorrow, probably along with progress on the torso.

Thanks again for tuning in

 

[Ybrossculpts]

Hi Billy,
You're a brave person to show your journey of becoming a better sculptor, I also wish you luck. By the looks you seem to have a fairly good idea already, so I think you'll definitely succeed. I'm no real sculptor but have dabbled here and there with different things. I feel something that helped me when I was starting was using things like plastacine as it was easy to work with and you could basically just get used to the feel of it, as it is similar to many clays etc it just doesn't set. Also try to get used to using one of the most important tools you have in your armory, your fingers. You'd be suprised how much you can do just by either using the finger as well as holding the tool with the right angle and pressure applied. These are things I found helped me to get a start in the right direction as it can feel a little complicated and frustrating if you try to take on to much at first. I wish you all the best and as you know there's plenty of fantastic sculptors here on this forum that will be only to glad to help with any information you may need.
Regards
Chris.

 

[Eludia]

Thanks Chris, I've been called many things in the past but "brave" doesn't immediately spring to mind. Thanks for the tips mate, I think the best one is not to try to do too much too soon. That's why I'm taking it nice and slow. I've already learnt my first major lesson - "Time spent getting the armature right is never wasted". My second attempt is looking a lot better and feels a bit more robust.

 

[Eludia]

Finally got some pics of Armature Mk II:

 

[pokrad]

Just a tip if you are making pre-baked armatures: make a little holes in armature so the clay can "grab" better and it wont slip down.
It also depends on how you sculpt, if you do much "pulling" of the clay it can detach from smooth surface. Sometimes it's not a problem, but sometimes detached clay hides air bubble underneath, and it can be real pain in the...

 

[Eludia]

Thanks for the heads up Darko, I'll make sure to key the surface before I put any more layers on

 

[Scotty]

Is it ok to add clay to unbaked base then, or should there always be a key? While I'm here, should you always sculpt a body then clothe it or is it fine to go straight into the clothing?
Thanks, and well done with the new sculpt, I hope this one goes better.
Scotty.

 

[pokrad]

It's OK to add unbaked clay to a baked piece - it is working just fine, but if You add a big chunk and handle it a lot (and that is the case with the layers added to the base "armature"), then it can slip down and make air pocket.
But if You are for examle adding a piece of clothing or the hair to the baked head, it will be just fine without holes or "keys". Hope I was clear enough, my English is not so good

 

[Eludia]

I'm certainly not qualified to answer any of these questions Scotty but I'm sure if you're adding unbaked clay to more unbaked clay then you would be fine. I'd maybe use a light brushing of IPA before smooshing (technical term) the new clay on just to be sure. As I've already baked the armature I'll probably just drill some random holes in it at different angles, hopefully this will provide a stable enough platform.

Regarding the clothing, I suppose it's just personal preference but I believe that SS is more prone to cracking when it is baked in thicker layers so, again to be on the safe side, I'll be building up fairly thin layers (max 6mm ish). This one will be nekkid anyway so it's a moot point for me at the minute but something to think about in the future.

One thing I can recommend if your making clothing though is a pasta machine. You can roll wafer thin sheets of clay with it very easily.


Edit: someone more qualified beat me to it. Thanks again Darko

 

[Scotty]

Thanks guys, sorry for jumping in. All the best.

 

[Eludia]

No worries Scotty, feel free to jump in as much as you want. Hopefully you're getting as much out of the thread as I am

I laminated all my charts tonight by the way, thanks for the tip

 

[MCPWilk]

I was having some armature and glue compatibility issues which made working with the putty a bit of a PITA as everything kept moving when I needed a good solid base to push the putty around

One way around this is to just 'prime' the armature with some roughly shaped putty. Once it has dried/set, you will have a much firmer base upon which to sculpt and detail your figure.

Good luck,

Mike

 

[Eludia]

All keyed up and ready to go



Next time I'll do this with a needle before baking the core.

 

[Eludia]

The main shapes are now (very) roughly done. The clay is getting a bit soft and unruly now through overwork so I'll call it a day and let it settle down a bit. I might get back on the case tomorrow night if I've got a bit of time after painting

Anyhoo, here's how our beefcake looks at the minute. Don't laugh too much, I did most of this without looking at any reference photos (just the 1/12 chart I printed). I'll get the photos out for the detailing......or just look in the mirror

 

[pokrad]

That is the way (at least for me), large volumes first, no sharp details, rotate it an look from all the sides (don't forget to look from bird and frog perspective) , compare with reference...sooner or later it will look right

 

[Eludia]

I've been doing a bit more training on Beefcake, Mk II; learning how the clay behaves and, perhaps more importantly, learning from mistakes.

This is how he looks at the minute. I tidied up my workspace especially for the photos, it's not usually this clean (you could probably deduce this anyway from the state of the clay on the sculpture):



I'm quite pleased with the torso and neck. It measures up quite nicely, anatomically and proportionally, to the charts I'm using.

Alas I took my eye off the ball when it came to the head though as it is too long and thin. When I get the dividers out I find the mouth is where the chin should be (when measured from the nipple line) and instead of 1 head length from the top of the head to the chin, it is about 1 and 1/8 head lengths.

For the moment I'm trying to decide whether to whip the head off and start again or just take what I've learnt from this one and start another. I'm inclined to go with the second option as I'd like to model the torso and head separately for the next one. I think this will make it a bit easier to push the clay around without worrying too much about trashing areas that have already been done. Also, for the same reason, I want to try and concentrate on smaller areas of the sculpt at a time and bake it off when I feel happy with a particular bit. I've had to do a lot of reworking on this one as I get one bit looking ok, then move on to the next before realizing I've just just flattened the previous area (and that makes me sad )

Things I've learnt so far:

1. Wash your hands and clean your workspace regularly and/or wear gloves. Every hair, crumb and speck of dust within 10ft of your bench will eventually end up in your clay.
2. You don't need loads of tools. I've whittled down my tool mountain already to what you see on the pics, and that could probably be reduced even more. The only other tools I've been using regularly are a pasta machine and an acrylic roller (both just out of shot).
3. Measure stuff....a lot......then measure it again.
4. Listen to the advice of people who know what they're talking about, have been there and have made the same mistakes (an important one this one).
5. Its OK (sometimes) to search for and study pictures of semi-naked men.
6. Noses are a proper PITA to sculpt (and keep straight).
7. Eyes are easier than I thought they'd be (2.5mm ball bearings )

and, perhaps the most important thing I've learnt so far:

8. This sculpting malarkey is actually a lot of fun (even when you can't sculpt for toffee)

 

[Vermis]

2. You don't need loads of tools. I've whittled down my tool mountain already to what you see on the pics, and that could probably be reduced even more.

Yup, that'll happen.

6. Noses are a proper PITA to sculpt (and keep straight).

Wait 'til you try to sculpt symmetrical earlobes.

Looking good so far. I can't see too many major hiccups, meself, that you haven't already picked up on. Keep it up!