WIP Critique New Year Resolution - Learn to Sculpt

[Scotty]

Hi Billy,
I just ran into your thread. Brave and pretty good attempts so far!
Allow me one comment based on your last pictures: the neck should be tilted forward and not straight up. I remember this from a brilliant series of articles in Military Modelling once and many sculpt get this wrong, resulting in that stiff look. From the side, the spine is like an S curve, with the neck tlted forward.
Good luck on this brave journey!

Cheers,
Adrian

Is there maybe a PDF of this anywhere?

 

[Eludia]

The full-figure landmarks were a bit off so I corrected them tonight. I widened the shoulders and moved the elbows and knees (down and up respectively)so the proportions look a bit more humanoid now. See, I am learning...."time spent on the armature is never wasted"

I also got him posed and fixed the pose in place with an initial layer of putty. I started covering the arms too then realised that it might be a better idea to leave them till after the body was done so that they could be moved into their final positions a bit easier (at the minute I'm thinking of having his hands stuffed into the pockets of a pair of baggy jeans)

Here are some more crappy iPad pics, let me know what you think

The bare armature:



And with a layer of putty on:

 

[pokrad]

This is classical contrapposto, but to get the balance, one shoulder should be lower than other, and the "contra" hip should be lower:

http://emptyeasel.com/2007/12/18/wh...res-an-explanation-of-classical-contrapposto/

Hope this helps

 

[Eludia]

Thanks Darko, its probably too late to make anything more than minor changes to the pose on this one as the Apoxie Sculpt has now fixed it solid, but ill have another go at getting it right for the next one (maybe in 54mm or 75mm this time, 1/16 scale uses LOTS of putty).

Thanks again for keeping me on the right track

 

[pokrad]

That is why I use putty only to make armature strong, and like aluminum foil for filling larger volumes- which can be bent easy together with armature wire, and even cut out with sharp blade if I put too much...
But everyone has it's own way and You have to find the way that works for You

 

[Eludia]

I added a bit more bulk and shape to the torso of the bust tonight. I also had a go at another couple of armatures, 54mm and 75mm this time. I think you can just about see them lurking in the background of the photos (iPad again, sorry)

 

[pokrad]

To be helpful, here is "my fav" view on the planes of the neck. Much exaggerated but very clear:

 

[Eludia]

Another weekend, and more putty-pushing practice. I've still been concentrating on getting my armatures right, both in 54mm and 75mm (many have gone in the bin). I've also posed and started roughing out a 54mm version of the 120mm figure (post #62) paying a bit more attention to the angles of the hips and shoulders. I still don't think I'm quite there yet but (I think) it's an improvement, critique is welcomed, as always

 

[pokrad]

Wohooo, that's promising, not stiff, S shape of the spine is here, contraposto is here, still rough but anatomically correct - It took me two years to get something like this !
Maybe just a little adjustment - bend the neck a bit forward - the neck should not be vertical.
Now just rotate and adjust until all volumes feel right And please, bring this one tho the end...

BTW: one tip when photographing (photos can help You also to see the piece "in different light" - and You will see errors that You do not see by "naked eye").
Put the piece in front of some mono background (blue and green works good with gray clay - at least for me), You can even put it in front of computer monitor as I do because I'm lazy to prepare other type of background.

Regards !

 

[Eludia]

Thanks Darko, high praise indeed

I know the photos are a bit naff, they're only like that because I was too lazy to get out of my armchair to set up and take proper photos.

 

[Eludia]

I bulked out the 54mm dolly a bit more last night. When I woke this morning I decided to test how strong the arms were, turns out they weren't strong enough (to be fair though, it did take quite a bit of force to snap it off). So tonights sculpting class ended up being a repair task. It'll soon be time to put some clothes (and a face.....and hands) on the dummy. Some pics - after the repair job



I had some putty left over last night so I've started following the excellent sculpting SBS by Igor Kordyukov in the latest (and equally excellent) Scale Model Handbook. I've only got as far as posing the armature and putting a bit of putty on the torso but its a start.



Thanks again for tuning in. Comments, critique, hint and tips are all most welcome

 

[Eludia]

I wanted to try something a little different today so, inspired by Serhan Oflas' recent work, I decided to have a go at a flat.

I needed something really simple so I downloaded a line drawing of one of my favourite childhood cartoon characters, printed it out and transferred it to some rolled out Super Sculpey using a ball stylus. I then just cut away the surplus clay with a scalpel. It was a very quick job and is still very rough but it was most enjoyable and if I spent a bit more time on it and took a bit more care I think it would be very rewarding too. A good hour of modelling fun

I think scale is irrelevant in this case, but its about 100mm tall and about 60mm wide.

If you're watching Serhan, many thanks for the inspiration

 

[SERHAN OFLAS]

Yees !! Please do try more harder in every step.. Its big fun when getting to have results..

Do not hesitate do wrong or bad something and share it freely. Many people wants to try but they afraid of what other people will say about it.. Simply dont care and just jump into !!!

I dont know how you will fell afterwards but its big fun for me to be honest.

I love it !!

Serhan-

 

[Eludia]

Back to sculpting now after another painting binge. My IPMS club show was yesterday so I took a small box of sculpting tools and materials just in case I got some downtime where I could retreat to a quiet corner. For portability, I decided to do some more work on my 54mm WiP. This is the result, all done a bit freeform as I didn't have any reference with me. I just smooshed the putty on and pushed it around a bit until I achieved something that looked close to OK. He's supposed to look like he's wearing a hoody and jeans, lots more refinement is needed methinks:



Comments and critique would be very helpful

 

[Blind Pew]

Nice work, I'd certainly say, keep at it, and go with what feels right. I'm enjoying this thread.

 

[Eludia]

Thanks Pew, I'm glad you're enjoying the thread

I'm certainly enjoying the journey and as it goes on I'm feeling more and more confident pushing the putty around. The biggest jump was switching to Aves Apoxie, it's a really nice material to work with. Everything still looks a bit rough at the minute but I think I'll improve with more practice.

I've been slowly building up the 54mm figure over the last few days whenever I get a free minute at work. The front of a van isn't the ideal environment for modelling but at least you don't need much kit or space; a bit of putty and a couple of tools. I'll try and get some decent progress pics later.

Thanks for tuning in

 

[Scotty]

He looks great, I assume the head is to be bulked out? I may take some putty in to work as well, I'm sure I could find some spare time somewhere.
Keep up the good work!
Scotty.

 

[Eludia]

Yeah Scotty, I'm leaving the head till last. What could possibly go wrong

 

[Eludia]

As promised, some progress pics:



It's quite hard to tell from the pics but his left leg is noticeably fatter than his right, especially the lower leg, so I'm going to have to try and correct that at some point. Other than that, I'm fairly happy with the way this one is going.

Comments and critique would be helpful

 

[Eludia]

Tonight I will be mostly......

turning cocktail sticks into baseball bats (hopefully)