Hi, I'm Andrew Joseph Keith. This is the Proko
Figure Sculpting Fundamentals course and in this lesson, we're gonna go over how to build
your own anatomically correct wire armatures for sculpture. It will help if you've already
seen the Proko video on the Robert Beverly Hale Cranial Unit measuring system because
that's the system that we will be using throughout the course. As for materials, we'll only be using some
fourteen gauge aluminum wire, some pliers with wire cutters, and a ruler. That's it.
You might wonder what's the purpose of an armature. Well, you don't want your sculptures
to look like they were made by little kids. You wanna make sure they are mature. Sculpture
pot. The armature is the support, it's the structure,
it's the skeleton. It's what keeps our sculptures from slumping over like limp spineless noodles.
The armature is one of the most important parts of the sculpture. It not only serves
as support but it also serves as an internal measuring system that make sure that all of
the proportions are already in place before we ever begin adding clay. Think of the armature as the foundation and
the frame of the house. If we don't have those correct, then there will be some serious problems
later on. So let's make sure we get the armature right from the beginning. If we do it right,
then we'll have all of those proportions that we all struggle with neatly in place and we're
on our way to making an anatomically correct sculpture. An important construction principle that applies
to sculpture is that if you take your time to accurately fulfill each stage of the process
before moving to the next stage, you'll save yourself a lot of time later on. You won't
have to redo parts of the process if you get them right from the begining. In drawing, the first step is usually lightly
capturing the gesture, proportions, and composition of the figure on the page. When sculpting,
the armature is the foundation upon which the sculpture is built. I've studied many
methods for building wire armatures for sculpture and in this video, we're gonna go over the
best method... In my opinion. It's simple, it's quick, it doesn't require
a lot of supplies, there's no extra wire that you need to cut off at the end and it's easy
to remember. Once you've practiced it a few times. Now, there's a lot of cool tricks and
tips to improve the armature that we will go over in the premium course but in this
video, the most important thing is to be able to build a simple wire skeleton for your sculpture. If we build this armature correctly, we'll
only need to cut the wire once and we won't need tape, glue, string, or fairy dust to
keep it all together once we're finished. Robert Beverly Hale cranial units align with
the bony landmarks of the body. This means they are more consistent from person to person
as opposed to the fleshy marks that the more common head unit system uses. I understand that this measuring system will
be an adjustment for some of you but it's worth learning, just so you know how the units
compare - one head unit is about one and one half cranial units. Making the average figure
eleven and a half cranial units tall. It is more important to understand these proportions
when you're sculpting than when you're drawing. This is because when we're drawing in 2D,
for shortening will almost always shorten some measurements of the body. When we're sculpting, we don't have to worry
about this. Okay, let's make the armature. For this method, we will start at the top
of the head, move down the neck, and over to the right arm of the sculpture, back up
to the pit of the neck, then down the spine and over to the right leg of the sculpture,
then back up to the bottom of the spine, and continue over to the left leg, then back up
the spine and over to the left arm and finish up at the head. As you unwind the wire, be sure to roll it
out as opposed to pulling the wire out of the spool. Pulling it will cause it to bunch
up and make a mess of your wire. For this armature, our cranial unit will be one inch,
which will make our armature about eleven and a half inches tall. We will start at the
top of the head, move down two cranial units to the super sternal notch then bend the wire
90° outwards toward the shoulder. When bending the wire, we may need to pinch
the wire with the pliers as we bend in order to make a sharp angle. We can also use our
thumbnail to press against the wire as we bend it. If the angle is not sharp enough,
it will be difficult to know exactly where the joint is and this could mess up the next
measurement. The clavicle is one cranial unit. So let's out one unit to the shoulder joint. After measuring and making the joint for each
section of the body, take time to remeasure and make sure that the length didn't change
as you bend the wire. This is especially important for your first few armatures. Bend the wire
90° downward to create the upper arm. As we make this armature, let's try to keep in
mind which side is the front of the body. We travel down from the shoulder joint two
units and make a slight bend forward for the elbow. Another two units down and we at the
knuckles where the fingers begin. Here, we will make a loop that ends at the two unit
mark and then retrace our steps back up to the sternum. We can do this by holding the end of the loop
between the thumb and forefinger and twisting while feeding the wire with the thumb and
forefinger of our other hand. By wrapping the wire around the first section of wire,
we avoid shortening the measurements we've already made. If we twisted the wires together,
we risk changing those previous measurements. When wrapping the wire back up the armature,
try to wrap it as tightly as possible. As we bend and pose the armature, it will usually
loosen up, so let's make sure it's wrapped tightly. This is especially important near
the joints. Once we get back to the joint of the neck, we twist it tightly and head
down the spine. The next bend will be at the bottom of the
sacrum at the same level as the greater trochanter. The distance is technically three and a half
units down from the shoulders. Sometimes, I like to go down four units so that I can
add the curve of the spine to the armature. Adding this curve tends to shorten the spine
back to three and a half units. But if you wanna make sure that the spine isn't too long,
just go for those three and a half units. Then we bend the wire 90° out to the greater
trochanter which is one unit out from the middle of the spine. Make another 90° joint
to move down the femur to the knee. The femur is three cranial units. Bend the knee back
slightly as we did for the forearm at about a 45° angle. Then, three more units down
to the bottom of the foot. Bend the wire towards the back of the foot
and make a loop that is about one third of one unit long. This will represent the bone
at the heel of your foot called the calcaneus. This will help us remember that the foot extends
back behind the ankle as well as in front. Next, run the wire to the front of the foot
which is one cranial unit from the ankle joint to the tips of the toes. Make a U-turn and bring the wire back and
wrap it tightly around the ankle. Then twist the wire back up to the bottom of the spine
and make sure that the wire is wrapped extra tight. Continue the wire over to the other
leg and then repeat the measurements for the first leg. And one unit from the ankle to
the toes. Wrap around the ankle and back up to the bottom of the spine. Now, you can wrap the wire around the spine
all the way back up to the sternum. Wrap the wire once tightly around the neck and then
out to the missing arm. One unit to the shoulder, bend ninety degrees, two units down to the
elbow, bend forty-five degrees, two units down to the beginning of the fingers, make
a loop, and back up. Then twist the wire around at the top of the head and there you have
it. The more you practice, the faster you will
get at building armatures. To summarize, it's two units from the head to the neck over one
unit to the shoulder, two units to the elbow, two more units to the knuckles, and back up
to the pit of the neck, three and a half units down the spine, one unit over to the hips,
three units down to the knee, three more units down to the bottom of the foot, the back of
the foot is one third of a unit, and the front is one unit, then back up and over to the
other leg, one, three, three, one, and back up to the bottom of the spine then over to
the other arm, one, two, two and back up to the head and you're done. And if you ever forget, you can just come
back and look at this image of Skelly measured out in cranial units. Something to keep in
mind is that we don't want the shoulders or the hips to be too wide. Remember that we
will be adding clay. So, it's better for the shoulders and the hips to be a little too
narrow because we'll be adding clay to those areas and we don't wanna run into the wire
armature later on. So, if you err, err on the side of tall and
thin. By changing the size of the cranial unit we start with, we can make the armature
any size we want. This armature is about one sixth life size scale but if we were to use
thicker wire, we could easily use this same method to go up to one half life size which
would be about thirty-five inches tall. You can also make small armatures using thin
twenty gauge wire. I've made armatures as small as three inches tall. These smaller
armatures work great for gesture studies. Assignment: Your assignment is to do three
wire armatures and check your proportions to make sure that you've done it right. We
will be using these armatures to study gesture throughout the course. For these armatures,
we're gonna be using them without a stand, so I recommend four to twelve inches tall. There are affiliate links below on where you
can purchase wire or you can just search Amazon or eBay for fourteen gauge soft aluminum wire.
In the premium course, we'll go many variations so that you can modify your amateurs to better
fit your needs. There will also be 3D models, additional demos,
critics, and more. So go check that out at Proko.com/sculpture. You can use the #ProkoSculpture
to share what you create on social media. If you found this video helpful, please share
it with your friends so that you can all build armatures together, you can have an armature
building party. I think I - I think that would be fun. I think, you know, some chips and
dip and aluminum wire and just spend the day building armatures. Sounds like a good - good
time to me. If you found this video helpful, please share it with your friends and I'll
see you in the next lesson.
