Sculpting a Simplified Head Step by Step

hey welcome to this lesson where we're going to be going over the secondary forms of the head [Music] you might wonder what is the purpose of this type of abstraction good question as i've mentioned before it's best to move from the most simple and then add complexity as we progress through the sculpture jumping ahead to details or textures before we've built a solid foundation is a great way to make a terrible sculpture but building an accurate foundation is easier said than done let's begin by talking about planes no not airplanes these planes planes are a common principle in art because they are a simple way of representing complex organic forms the definition of a plane is a surface in which if any two points are chosen a straight line joining them lies wholly on that surface or more simply put a flat or level surface in digital sculpting planes are represented in polygons the more polygons the more planes and the more complex the design can become when thinking about the planes of the head we can imagine that we are reducing the polygons more and more when sculpting i sometimes like to imagine that planes are able to bend and curve and bow and twist in reality this would mean that they're no longer planes because they're no longer a flat surface but when sculpting i often find it easier and more natural to create what i like to call dynamic planes that have more flexibility but still give us the chance to incorporate sharp plane changes plane changes are the sharp transitions between dynamic planes or actual planes many of my abstracted stone sculptures are built up of these types of dynamic planes that are connected by sharp edges using this method i can create fluid lines with the plane changes that combine the organic forms of the body with a more geometric feel a great way to think about the planes of the head is with the bridgeman block in on top of the cylinder of the neck this is a simplification of the primary forms in this lesson we'll be adding another level of complexity to the abstraction by adding on the secondary forms of the face as a reference for this project i'll be using this echo shay sculpture cast that i purchased a while ago on ebay to start i'm going to make a super simple armature with just some newspaper and masking tape by crumpling the newspaper into a ball once i've got some mass in the ball i wrap another piece of newspaper around it to make a simple popsicle-like ball of paper then i'll add some masking tape to keep things in place then i'll take some warm chavant nsp medium clay and start to add the clay to the paper armature by smashing out some pancakes and adding them to the surface the softer the clay during this beginning stage the easier it is to add clay quickly to build up the forms as i'm adding on the clay i'm keeping in mind the primary form of the head and i'm going for a loomis head type block in i'll add some tape to the neck and then make a simple cylinder adding clay onto the paper armature i'm adding some clay to represent the shoulders and give more support to the base of the sculpture here you can see what it looks like at this stage a simple loomis head neck and an indication of the chin now i'll create a center line to help me build and maintain the symmetry as i continue to sculpt next let's add the nose onto this head adding it onto the center line with a very simple slice of clay i'm going to add in the eye sockets as well by pressing into the armature with my thumbs the nice thing about this simple paper armature is that the clay really gives way if you have to move things around and then as the clay cools down and hardens it becomes a firmer sculpture with less give let's take some time to clean up the forms by adding warm clay onto the surface and then spreading it out i'm starting to think about where the plane changes will take place as i work around the head you can look at the head from the back and from above to try to get a clear picture of what the high points are and if the shape of the head looks good from those angles remember to check and recheck the symmetry and try to build the head evenly on both sides of the center line add in some clay for the cheekbones and continue to build out the forms working around the sculpture here you can see on one side the cheekbone is more horizontal and on the other side i represented more of the plane change from the front plane to the side plane of the face these asymmetrical tests can help you decide which way of representing the features feels and looks better and then you can build the symmetry back by matching the sides don't forget to redraw the center line and guidelines often now i'll clean up the profile of the face a bit let's come over to the side of the face and i like to clean up the surface a bit by dragging my finger or thumb across the sculpture every once in a while i'll align the sculpture with the reference to make sure that the proportions look good especially from the side profile view if the reference is smaller than your sculpture you can hold the reference in front and close one eye to get a better look at the outline let's add a bit more of an angle to the eye sockets so we really get that downward tilt for those orbits of the skull now i can clean up the other cheek and jaw line and try to match one side to the other add some width to the nose and redraw the center line let's make sure that there's enough mass on the back of the head now it's just a matter of cleaning up these forms and making tiny adjustments to more accurately capture those secondary forms we've established i'll draw some additional guidelines the jawline up to the side so that i can see the angle of the ear the brow line over to the side of the head for the bottom of the nose so i can see whereabouts the ear should be now let's look at it from the front view to make sure that our widths from side to side are looking good and it looks like it's a bit too thin so i'll add some clay to either side of the widest point on the back of the head to make it look better once the outline looks good i'll make sure that the transition to the high points feels right by adding more clay around and smoothing out the transitions looks like we still need a bit more clay for the back of the skull remember that a classic beginner mistake is to make the back of the skull called the cranial mass too small in comparison to the face or facial mass let's add some thickness to the cheeks and jawline as well looking at it from above to make sure that it looks good now i'm going to add in the sternocleidomastoid muscle of the neck with some long strips of clay and let's add in the ear as well with a simple wedge shaped piece of clay that looks a lot like a small section of an orange or a slice of apple same thing on the other side i'm cleaning up the forms by dragging the flat of this butter knife blade across the forms to smooth the clay and here's what it looks like at this stage of the sculpting process for this assignment you could stop at this stage where there's an indication of the secondary forms as well as fairly clear plane changes and an indication of the profile of the face but if you want to continue to clean up the sculpture and smooth out the texture you can expect to spend several more hours on the sculpture to get to this stage it took me about three and a half hours then to finish the sculpture it took me another three and a half to four hours of sculpting in the next video we'll take it from this stage of the process to this stage by refining and defining the planes plane changes and surface texture your assignment is to sculpt one of these head abstractions that focuses on the secondary forms and don't get too detailed this can be done in whatever size or type of clay you like i recommend doing a smaller head study that will be quicker and a little bit easier to finish you don't have to use the same reference as i used and you don't have to abstract the features exactly the same way that i did but there should be an indication of the brow ridge the nose the mound of the mouth without the lips the chin and the ears the head should also be the right shape from the front side and top views and should look correct on the cylinder of the neck you might consider using an aluminum foil armature and polymer clay if you'd like to be able to bake this study to have a permanent sculpture reference without having to make a mold and cast it alright grab some clay and get to work i look forward to seeing your sculptures

Channel: Proko 3D

Views: 68,530

Keywords: how to sculpt, clay sculpting, cheap sculpting, quick sculpt, portrait sculpture, sculpting tutorial, sculpting lesson, anatomy for artists, artist, artistic anatomy, head sculpt, portrait, portraiture

Id: 42baeOL50Uw

Length: 9min 50sec (590 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 27 2022