Hey, I'm Andrew Joseph Keith.
I'm the instructor for the new Figure Sculpting Fundamentals course and in this video, I'm
gonna be showing you my process for sculpting this...
A female torso.
If you're interested in sculpting figures like this one, be sure to get the premium
figure sculpting course over at Proko.com/sculpture and you'll be shaping clay into masterpieces
of your own in no time.
Okay, let's get into it.
As far as supplies, I'll be using some aluminum foil as an armature, some Chavant Medium NSP
clay, a butter knife, and some of my favorite sculpting tools like this inexpensive lube
tool, this homemade lube tool, and my personal favorite is the stainless steel tool that
has these flat ends for detail work and texturing.
I also have a used wood board that's about four inches by four inches by half an inch
and I'll use that for a base.
As far as references, I'll be using these photos provided by PoseBase.com, which has
the full uncensored versions of these and other poses on their website.
So, be sure to check them out.
This pose is titled Felicia 004 and as you can see, I have twenty-four photos of a turnaround
of the pose so that I can observe it from many angles.
Okay, now that I have my references and my supplies, I can start to shape my armature.
In this case, it's just a simple crumpled up piece of aluminum foil.
The aluminum foil helps to fill in the inside of the armature so that I don't have to use
as much clay.
If I was doing the full figure, I would build out a wire armature that would give support
to the clay and that would help establish the measurements and the joints of the body
but for a torso study, this isn't really necessary.
If you would like to learn how to build a wire armature, be sure to check out this video
that goes over my process for building wire armatures for full figure studies.
You can find it on the Proko 3D YouTube channel.
Yes, Proko has its own 3D channel.
Whether you like digital or traditional sculpture, be sure to check out the Proko 3D YouTube
channel.
I hope to see you over there.
The form that I'm going for with this aluminum foil is basically a thin version of the bean.
Do you remember the bean from the figure drawing course where Stan teaches you how to draw
this simple form that helps you get the feeling of the torso?
That's basically what I'm going for.
I'm trying to capture the gesture of the torso from the front and the side view.
Also, this aluminum foil bean should be thin because we'll be adding clay onto it.
Once I'm happy with the aluminum foil armature, I'm going to add some clay on top.
I've warmed this clay up so it's nice and soft during this stage of the process.
I can press out these thick pancake-like bits of clay and then put them on top of the aluminum
foil armature.
Where the pieces of clay meet, I can spread the clay together so that it attaches nicely
without any gaps.
Here's what it looks like once the armature is covered with clay.
Another handy tool that I'll be using throughout this sculpt is the Da Vinci Eye app.
This helps me check my accuracy during different stages of the process.
I can check the armature to make sure that I've captured the gesture from the front and
the side view to make sure that I don't need to make any big changes before I add more
clay.
Don't be afraid to use like this to check yourself while sculpting.
With this instant visual feedback, your eye will start to improve and you'll get better
and better each time you sculpt.
I just like to think of it as an easy way to self critique.
I'll use it during a few crucial stages of the process and then I'll move on to using
the references.
Remember, we're not going for a 3D scan, we're going for a well-made sculpture that's interesting.
People won't see the tools you used or the references, they'll just see the finished
product.
Adding an indication of the arms and neck will give some helpful points of reference
that will make it easier to align the sculpture with the reference images and to check the
proportions.
Now, I'm going to try to create a more geometric robo bean type torso before I start adding
any of the details.
Sculpting in a way that's more blocky and geometric helps me to make sure that the primary
forms of the egg shape of the rib cage and the boxy shape of the pelvis are well established
and symmetrical before I start to add on the anatomy.
A lot of the errors that beginners make have to do with not establishing the primary forms
before they move on to the more detailed secondary forms.
In the premium course, I do have lessons that go in depth on the rib cage and the pelvis
and the head but for now, just keep in mind an egg shape for the rib cage and a box shape
for the pelvis.
Drawing in a center line on the front and back will also help keep things symmetrical
and help establish the gesture.
I like to try to Keep the center line fairly straight as it passes through the primary
forms of the rib cage and pelvis and have the bending or twisting take place mostly
in the space between the rib cage and pelvis.
I'll add on the legs by taking some pieces of clay and pinching them in place below the
pelvis so that there's a firm connection.
I'm just thinking of the legs as simple cylinders that are coming off the torso.
While I'm trying to keep things simple, I do want the angles to be correct.
One leg is fairly straight up and down but it's tilted slightly inward towards the center
line and the other leg is extended out and forward.
These angles are important to capture the pose and should coordinate with the tilt of
the pelvis and the gesture of the torso.
So far, I'm about 1 hour into the sculpting process.
Now, I'm gonna work on cleaning up the forms and making sure that the gesture is in place.
Take your time to redraw the guidelines as often as you need.
When I attached it to base, it was leaning too far back, so I'll need to make an adjustment
in the legs so that it feels more balanced.
Sometimes it's easier to sculpt when it's attached to the base and sometimes I'll remove
it so it's easier to work on some of the details.
Now, I'm going to drawing some guidelines for things like the muscles of the chest,
the clavicles, and the triangle of the sacrum.
These landmarks will help me establish anchor points for the anatomy.
Drawing in these guidelines is much easier and quicker than moving around pieces of clay.
So, be sure that the guidelines are accurate before you move on to adding the clay.
Now, I can start to build out the secondary forms like the anatomy of the chest and shoulders,
as well as the rib cage, the pelvis, and the backside.
If you've established a solid foundation when you've laid in the primary forms, it makes
adding on the secondary forms so much easier.
When sculpting, I wanna pay special attention to the silhouette of the figure.
It's easy to get distracted by all the interesting internal information inside the outline but
try to ignore it as much as possible and focus primarily on the shape of the outline and
the negative space around the figure.
It's much easier to accurately judge the shape of the outline than it is to judge the depth
of the forms on the inside of the outline.
This is especially true when you're working from photo references.
Here, I might be getting a little bit ahead of myself as I'm smoothing out the forms of
the breast and upper chest and adding the ribs with small pieces of clay.
You'll see what I mean later on.
Now, I'm working around the figure and starting to lay in more of the secondary forms of the
anatomy.
Some of it, I'm even starting to smooth out with a more subtle texture and the same on
the back of the torso.
Up to this point, the only tools I've used are my hands and the butter knife for drawing
in the guidelines and smoothing out the surface.
This is where I ended the first day of sculpting at around 3 hours of work.
Sometimes, it is good to take a break and then come back fresh.
When I came back to start sculpting again, I felt like I didn't do a good enough job
with the primary forms and I felt like the sculpture was becoming a little bit thicker
than what I wanted.
Usually, I'll try to sculpt very thin so that I can slowly build out the forms with little
pieces of clay but in this study, I felt like I rushed the build up.
So, I'm taking a pottery loop tool and I'm scraping away a layer of clay to reestablish
the primary forms and the pose.
This is something that I wrecked then being willing to do when you're unhappy with the
project.
Well I probably could have finished the sculpture the way it was, sometimes, it's better to
move back a stage of the process and make sure that the foundation is accurate.
You'll have to redo a lot of the work and the details that were already established
but this will give you some extra practice and it could make the sculpture much better
in the end.
Now I'm gonna come back and redo some of the secondary forms just like I did the first
time - drawing in guidelines and building out the forms one piece of clay at a time.
I'm using my homemade loop tool that has a more rounded tool bit that was actually made
from part of a paper clamp.
This helps to push the clay around instead of scraping the clay off like the pottery
loop tool would.
There's a lesson that goes over tools and I show you how I make tools like this one
in the figure sculpting course.
Drawing in some guidelines that represent the bones of the scapula will help us to know
where the muscles are.
Here you can see that when the rib cage and the pelvis are thinner, they're room to add
the anatomy without it becoming too thick.
I can take small, thin coils of clay and then almost draw in the ribs or the muscles of
the oblique without having to worry about the secondary forms overpowering the sculpture
and becoming too dominant.
Once the forms of the anatomy are in place, I can continue to smooth out the surface and
blend the forms.
The forms of the anatomy are usually softer than we realize.
And especially since this is a female torso, I want to err on the side of soft and pillowy
rather than ripped and blocky or muscular.
When sculpting areas like the breast, I try to pay attention to the transition between
the forms of the water balloon-like shape of the breast and the surrounding forms of
the upper chest and rib cage.
Where is the transition sharp and where is it soft?
For example, if we were to take a cross section that traveled from above to below the breast,
it would have a sharp angle.
Whereas, if we were to take one of the side where it transitions to the armpit, it's a
much softer transition.
Look for these differences all over and ask yourself whether the transitions between the
forms are abrupt or soft.
Is it a sharp angle or a rolling hill?
And sometimes, it will change from a soft transition to a hard transition and back to
a soft transition.
These subtle variations in the surface are what can take your sculpture from looking
amateur to professional and just like we did on the front side, we want to address the
anatomy on the back.
Obviously, if you're interested in anatomy, make sure that you study from the best anatomy
course for artists over at Proko.com/anatomy.
The less you know about anatomy, the more you have to focus on the references and make
sure that you're capturing the forms accurately.
And here's where we're at right now.
But it's not quite done yet.
I had my wife come in and look at the sculpture and she's got a great eye and pointed out
some areas that could still use some work.
For example, the shoulders and upper back were a little bit too broad and masculine
and the hips need a little bit more mass as well.
Having somebody that can give you an honest second opinion and critique can be a great
asset, especially if they're able to be specific when something looks off.
And finally, we can finish up the texture.
To do this, I'm using the same homemade loop tool again and I'm lightly brushing the surface
of the forms while I'm changing the direction of the strokes so that the surface texture
has a little bit more variety.
I think this looks a lot better than a sculpture where many of the strokes are following the
same direction or pattern.
This is something that I learned recently and it's a subtle difference but it's definitely
an improvement in my opinion.
Okay and there we have it - one female torso figure sculpture ready to be molded and cast.
Isn't she beautiful?
Okay, if you like this video, there's only one thing to do...
Well, there's a couple things.
The first is to grab some clay and try it yourself.
If you wanna get better, you gotta practice.
Also, be sure to subscribe to the Proko 3D YouTube channel.
That's where the vast majority of sculpture related content will be posted.
We're trying to grow that channel, so it'd really help us out if you subscribe.
And of course, go over to Proko.com/sculpture to get the full premium.
Oh, it's premium.
Figure Sculpting Fundamentals course.
The premium Proko courses have extra lessons, demos like this one, 3D models, and so much
more.
So, I hope to see you over there at Proko.com.
Stay productive, stay creative, and I'll see in the next lesson.