Learning to sculpt skulls

Decks

Hi there,

I'm looking for a little advice on learning to sculpt skulls - exercises to do, resources to learn from.

I started the below block out initially trying to copy the workflow in the preview images to Andrew Cawrse's sculpting the skull from memory dvd. I was supposed to make it a generic skull based on average proportions, all measured from the auditory meatus, but I decided to copy a skull on my desk instead. I was trying to eyeball the measurements onto it but I can see they're off and I'm probably going to have to caliper & draw them on to fix it. This Asian skull doesn't seem to follow a few of the "rules of thumb" like bottom of zygomatic = bottom of nasal cavity, so it's been tough!






My drawing is subzero - I can't really do perspective on an egg as is required for Scott's facial anatomy homework. But I am willing to put the time into whatever is going to beat the information into my head.

Incidentally, does anyone know if Andrew's dvd is worth it? The shipping to the UK is $40, just over the dvd cost.

I have the Faraut books and whatever else, I mainly looked at Bammes' planes & some of the "widest point of the head" diagrams from anatomy4sculptors for the mess you see so far (I do have 3d software, I just thought it'd be good to learn this way).

Any advice or pointing towards it would be greatly appreciated. I'm happy to stick at skulls until I've got them down pat before moving closer to surface anatomy.

Total experience so far is a 5 day workshop on facial anatomy in Oxford, some night classes in portrait sculpting from life & some meh drawing from books. The classes didn't teach planes/construction, it was mainly "measure things" and "step back and look at your work."

pior

Judging by the chips it looks like you are being hindered by a material that is probably way too stiff for your needs. This looks like Monster Clay, or maybe Chavant NSP right ? These are indeed a fantastic mediums, but better suited for thinner/smaller stuff.

I'd suggest to either work much smaller, or, getting your hands on a much more pliable material. Even simple kiln clay would do (white or red). Some other options include Klean Klay (or equivalent, as this specific brand seems unavailable now) - a very oily, soft material sold in medium sized blocks, originally intended for registration keys/mold walls but pretty fun to sculpt smallish/mediumish things with) ; or, the Rolls Royce of 1:1 mask making : WED clay, which will be perfectly suited for what you are doing here. Careful though, you definitely do *not* want to use that stuff by your desk - you'll be spraying water on it to make the surface soft, and so on. Garage, backyard or kitchen it is.

Also don't smooth surfaces with your fingers, you'll only end up moving mass around and this will result in Zbrushy lumps like on the forehead here. Instead use raking passes, as these will actually remove material and give you the curvature control you need.

(about the skull itself : the proportions are off at the moment, but I don't feel the need to point it out because you are probably well aware of it already. I think it is actually more important to first and foremost find a material that works well for your needs)

Good luck !

Decks

Wow, thanks for the helpful response Pior! I really appreciate it.

The rake tip is useful, I keep ruining bits of geometry when I try to change the planes, I can't believe this didn't occur to me. About working smaller - I'm gonna pick up some proportional calipers, so I'll work in half scale then. To be honest I had the bits for a life size armature about, but nothing else. Like you surmised I can see I've made a mess of the proportions, I just didn't want to rely on calipering everything in place of using my eyes. I'd rather make the mistake then correct it than follow a mathematical graph!

I'm actually already working in a water based clay. I've had the bag for a while (took a bit of a push to get going), so I'm not sure whether it's super firm or already part dried out. I used the same clay at the facial anatomy workshop and I remember it being softer, but I've given this a drink and it's still very firm. I think WED is what they use in some of the videos on Stan Winston's tutorial site, now you mention it! I'll have a look at how much a bag costs.

I have some plastic sheets to protect my screen, and my desk is actually a kitchen worktop that I've sealed with oil, so I'm safe to spray water and make mess in my bedroom. Thanks for the words of caution all the same!

I do want to play with oil based clays as I have no intention of keeping my study sculpts, I just want to break these down to reuse and start again once done so I don't spend too much of my free time building armatures!

I had a look around whilst at work and decided to bite the bullet and order Andrew's dvd, plus I noticed that Katagiri Hiroshi's anatomy sculpting book has a breakdown of constructional skull sculpting, and I figure even if I can't read it, it doesn't hurt for me to try another method to learn/remember this, right?

Again, thanks for the helpful response. I was a bit on the fence about registering and posting this to be honest!

Eric Chadwick

Pior knows!

Good luck with the scuplting. Just remember electronics and messy media usually don't mix well.

carvuliero

Yeah water base clay is probably best place to start [cheapest pottery clay you can find ] I will suggest to invest few hours in drawing basic shape of the skull and familiarize yourself with big features both Goldfinger and Bammes have great simplifications you can start there , also start with something small like ball of clay you can hold you your hand and then you get a proper shape impale it on something[stick or wire] that be enough for a fast study -> using your hands not a tool !

Is there any particular reason why start in clay , initially digital could be much more forgiving ?