Sculpting SBS,,,possibly how not to do it !!!

[stu]

Hi andrew

Sculpting is like painting.....practice...practice...practice.

I could tell you everything i know but you may not achieve the same results because i have been practising for over 20 years...the same for carl and moz and a lot of the other sculptors.

You have to keep doing and trying...but importantly looking ....looking at faces..creases..folds in clothing...looking at how we stand and move ...then you can learn to sculpt.

One thing i have learnt is just do it...dont try to think about it and dont over exagerate features...folds etc.

I will try to show some things as i go along.

Hope you get something out of this and it encourages you to keep moving forward

Stuart

 

[ChaosCossack]

I'm following this quite closely.
I have a number of ideas banging around I'd like to take a shot at... some I've even started, and restarted... and restarted The anatomy is not too, too bad (hands and shoes/boots kick the ***** outta me), it's getting the drapery and even more so, uniform details down properly.
I've been using Bill Horan's book as a base... hoping a deeper SBS will shed some light on some of my stumbling blocks.
I know practice is the key but it's hard when the figs keep flying out the window

For subject matter, I have some Napoleonic themes in mind but of late, I'm on a Franco-Prussian kick... I'm seeing a Prussian Uhlan or a Prussian artillery crew in action.

I've got some JMD manniquins all lined up, ready to rock.

Colin

 

[Mookie]

Nice of Stu to show his sculpting process.Im starting to do a few sculpts and figure conversions.Im watching with interest.
Good on ya Stu.
Cheers from Richard

 

[Funky50]

Hi andrew

Sculpting is like painting.....practice...practice...practice.

I could tell you everything i know but you may not achieve the same results because i have been practising for over 20 years...the same for carl and moz and a lot of the other sculptors.

You have to keep doing and trying...but importantly looking ....looking at faces..creases..folds in clothing...looking at how we stand and move ...then you can learn to sculpt.

One thing i have learnt is just do it...dont try to think about it and dont over exagerate features...folds etc.

I will try to show some things as i go along.

Hope you get something out of this and it encourages you to keep moving forward

Stuart

One of my problems you've hit on I always over emphasise folds And creases what I think looks good as I work doesn't look so good when the Miliput has dried and end up having to start again which is why I like sculpting in wax to get the main shape And when you come back to it you can always rework if you want and then cast and add detail with Miliput then For me and my lack of skill it works better but becomes a lot more long winded and expensive....Kevin

 

[ChaosCossack]

Hey stu
I took your advice and started observing faces and folds and so on.
Looking in the mirror, I noticed that before, there were lots of folds in my shirt but none on my face... today I see NO folds in my shirt (in fact its stretched pretty damn snug in some areas) while my face is full of folds and creases....

WTF happened there??!?!?!

Thanks for bringing this little revelation into the light for me

Colin

 

[stu]

Sorry for the delay,,,,work,,life yadda yadda

Taking your wire cut a neck and 2 arms as shown.

If you have made wholes whilst your putty was soft your done otherwise make holes.

I use activator and superglue to speed things up and glue the parts as shown.

As the figure is wearing plimsoles I made 2 rough formers as shoes from resin. You can use putty or plastic card or whatever you want.

I use Xuron cutters as snippers,,,they are definitely the best.

Next phase will start to pose the skeleton.

 

[stu]

I first start to rough the posture of the figure using the artwork as a guide.

Take a piece of plastic card. The front foot is flat so glue this lightly to it so it will come off easily,,,with acelorator it should.

Then start to bend the wires so that the rough outline is firmed up. When happy with the back foots position , glue this.

You can then start to really balance and tweak the skeleton.

Remember the head must always be above the weight bearing foot, unless the movement is extreme. As humans we also don't walk with a wide gait,,,feet apart.

I haven't put the head on but you get the idea from the pictures.

Some pointers....

1 If the pelvis rotates one way the shoulders will go the other way

2 If the bodies weight is on one leg ie the left the lumbar spine ie the bit between the pelvis and chest will bend to the left also. this forces the hip out slightly but remember the head must remain above the ankle.

I hope the pictures show some of these things

I have the next bit coming so time permitting it wont be too long off. Next bit is filling out the dummy.

Hope this is helpful and please fire away any Questions.

Stuart

 

[garyhiggins]

Hi Stu, this is interesting, are you doing this figure to cast in pieces or as a one off?
Best wishes, Gary.

 

[stu]

Hi Gary

Its going to be cast as a very limited release. I will not be detailing the breaking down of the figure only the sculpting.

To be honest it wont have many pieces anyway.

Stuart

 

[BarrieHynd]

Those pics have already made things much clearer for me. Think I will stay with a relaxed pose though, not ready for trying to do a moving figure.
Thanks for taking time out to do this Stu

Barrie.

 

[kidsbday7]

Thanks Stu. Will follow the lead and post up what I come up wih when I can. Is that what we are suppossed to do?

 

[ChaosCossack]

I like this approach to the boots by starting with flat soles. I was going at it bass ackwards and always ended up with two different sizes or (like myself) two left feet.

Following

Colin

 

[stu]

To everybody following this thread I must apologize but I need to spend some time out to resolve this recaster issue.

I was hoping to bring you an update but I am behind with everything.

Sorry

Stuart

 

[Nap]

We forgive you Stu ..hope the recaster issue is going down the right road

Nap

 

[stu]

To be honest I can see why nobody bothers with it.

It really has taken the interest out of the hobby business,,,,maybe its time for a break again.

stu

 

[smudger1960]

Just catching up with this,it looks very interesting,I've also started some sculpting but mainly just conversion work,the more I'm practising the more confident I'm getting

 

[stu]

Just catching up with this,it looks very interesting,I've also started some sculpting but mainly just conversion work,the more I'm practising the more confident I'm getting

i will try keep u all interested...i am still taking pics etc..just need the time to say what i'm doing etc

Carl still up for the bust sculpt and we will be doing it on facebook as well hopefully.

stuart

 

[smudger1960]

Look forward to that stu

 

[BarrieHynd]

No probs Stu, Rome wasn't built in a day. Gives me more time to tinker about with that bust I am doing.

Barrie.

 

[badger]

I couldn't sculpt a chip / badger