10.1 using photographs when sculpting to a smooth …...when sculpting a highly finished, smooth/...

10.1Usingphotographswhensculptingtoasmoothfinish 1.

© sculptingmasterclass.com 2017

10.1 Using photographs and applying clay when sculpting to

a smooth finish

These notes accompany the video Applying clay for a smooth finish, part of Strong

Foundations, sculptingmasterclass.com

When sculpting a highly finished, smooth/ skin-surfaced portrait, it is best to apply the

clay in a densely-packed way. By this, I mean by either smearing it on, or really pressing

in, when you are building up the fullnesses. As I mentioned in the last section, it doesn't

work so well to build up millions of little pea shapes, if you are only eventually going to

smooth out the surface anyway. It just means that there are lots of little air pockets

within the clay, and weaknesses in the structure which will be hard to smooth out when

you are trying to achieve subtle curves, and dink-free forms.

The working process is exactly the same as with a more sketchy finish. Remember to

always compare your sculpture to the model whilst standing back to the line you have

marked on the floor, and make any decisions from this distance away.

Reading Shadows

Working from photographs is very different from working from life. Honestly, it is a bit

more difficult, because you haven’t got the real person in front of you, and it can be

hard to translate exactly what some forms are doing. Looking at the shapes of shadows

can really help to decipher what is going on, as a change in light usually indicates a

plane change.

A particularly challenging area can be the sides of the nose for example. Trying to work

out exactly how wide the front plane of the nose is, and how steeply it cuts back into the

front of the cheek area can be difficult to gauge sometimes. It is very important to get

these angles right, as when you are looking at the pictures of the head rotating, you are

often referencing the outline of the nose in relation to the rest of the face, to judge how

far round it has turned. If the nose is too skinny, it can feel like it needs to turn more in

relation to the inside of the further-away eye, when in fact it may just need a bit more

clay on that side on the nose. Try looking at the front-on picture, and focus on the exact

shape of the shadow down the side of the nose, and model your sculpture to match it.

Sometimes it helps to see shadow shapes by squinting your eyes. As a general rule, the

darker the shadow, the deeper the crevice. Search for shadow shapes in all your photos

to indicate plane-changes. Sometimes it can be helpful to print off your photos in black

and white, to totally focus on the forms.



Looking at your photos

As you are looking at the photos going around the head, try to keep an overview of the

entire head. The silhouette is very useful to look at, particularly the side furthest away

from you, but don’t lose sight of the overall structure. Always try to cross reference

what is going on one side with the other, and don’t neglect the back of the head. Look

for shapes. Look at the shape made by the edge of the nose as it runs across the

eyebrow, down through the eye socket and around the cheek, as I describe in the video.

Beingableto

interpretshadow

shapesisan

importantskillto

developwhen

workingfrom

photographs.They

canindicateaplane

changeoradepth.

Trytolookforthesilhouetteofthe

entireportraitfromeveryangle.

Includingthebackofthehead,neck

andchestareas.

Alwayslookattheoutlineofthe

sideofthefacethatisfurthest

awayfromyou.



Another important shape to get right is the funnel-shaped area of the brow between

the eyes. Getting this the correct width will help you to judge how far back in the head

the eyes are. Look at the shape of this plane. It usually has a flat bottom at the top of

the nose, funnelled sides and the ‘Bony M’ skull shape (as I described when blocking out

the skull) along the top.

Now look from the three-quarter angle, and see how getting this width right is crucial

when trying to judge how much of the further away eye is seen, and therefore if it may

need to come further forward or back. You can also look at the relationship between

the tear duct on the closer eye, to the plane change at the top of the nose, to see if that

feels if it is the right depth.

Lookingforshapesfromeveryangle

canbeveryhelpful.

Bony‘M’shape.

Funnelshapethat

showstheplane

change,asthebrow

cutsbackintotheeye

socket.



Usethefurthestawayedgeof

thefunnelshapetogaugethe

depthofbothinnereyecorners.

10.1 using photographs when sculpting to a smooth …...when sculpting a highly finished, smooth/...

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