Hello and thank you for watching Proko.
I'm your instructor Andrew Joseph Keith and this is the figure sculpting fundamentals
course.
In this lesson, we're going to be talking about how to sculpt the Loomis head.
It'll help if you've already watched the lesson on how to draw the Loomis head and if you
happen to have a Proko Skull that you can refer to as you sculpt, that'll come in handy
too.
Andrew Loomis created this method of removing the facial features to help students better
understand the primary forms of the head.
Sculpting the Loomis head will help us better understand the planes and forms of the head.
This simplification forces us to focus on the primary forms.
This is something that I'll keep coming back to throughout the course.
If the primary forms are not correct, then the secondary forms and the surface detail
will not be enough to save your sculpture from looking deformed, askew, misshapen, irregular
- whatever you want to call it, it just looks bad.
Probably the biggest problem that beginners have when sculpting the is not getting the
shape of the skull correct.
That means that when we put the eyes, ears, nose and mouth on things still look off.
So let's avoid this mistake by becoming familiar with the Loomis head.
The Loomis head starts with the ball that will make up the cranial mass.
While sculpting the head, let's keep in mind Robert Beverly Hales' cranial unit system.
That way we'll be able to create the right sized head for the armature.
This sphere that we start with will be slightly larger than one cranial unit in diameter.
About one and one fourth of a unit.
Once we our ball of clay as close to a sphere as we can manage with our hands, we will want
to use a knife to create the center line that separates the ball into two equal halves.
This will help guide the rest of the measurements.
So, take your time when making the center line.
We wanted to be as accurate as possible.
Now that we have a center line, we'll choose a spot along it and draw another line around
the sphere that is perpendicular to the first line.
If we were to cut the ball in half at these lines, it would create four equal section
like the sections of an orange.
This second line will represent the brow line of the head.
Now let's create the side plane of the head.
When we look at the head from above, it's not a perfect circle.
It's more like a circle with the side planes cut off.
Those planes taper slightly towards the front.
This means that the thickest point will be closer to the back of the skull.
To make things easier, let's look at the sphere from above with the brow line pointed towards
us as we remove those slices to create the side planes.
Remember that the plane that is created from cutting off this slice of the sphere will
create a circle that should be two thirds the diameter of the sphere.
It can be tricky to cut off the right amount, so don't stress if it isn't perfect your first
try.
You can always add the clay back on and try again.
Again, focus on the shape of the head from above.
Once we have removed these side planes, let's take some time to draw some additional lines
to help us place the facial features.
Start from the brow line and continue it all the way around the cranium on the flat planes
we just created.
This should again separate the sphere into two halves; a top half and a bottom half.
Then on each of the side planes, we can draw a line that is perpendicular to the line that
we just drew, separating the sphere into a front half and a back half.
We will use these guidelines to place the jaw.
As you're sculpting, some of the lines may be smudged or covered, so be sure to redraw
the lines when this happens so you don't lose the important points of reference.
Okay, now let's add on the facial mass so that the ball starts looking like a head.
Turn the ball to the side so that the brow line is pointing to the right.
We are looking straight on at the side plane that has now been divided into four equal
parts.
When looking at it from this angle, the facial mass will be attached to the bottom right
section of the sphere.
Start at the brow line and create a profile of the face with a thin strip of clay.
Add this clay the first centre line that we drew that divides the face from left to right.
From the side view, it will come down from the brow line relatively straight down to
the tip of the chin.
If we draw another line that starts at the bottom of the flat plane on the side of the
sphere and is parallel to the brow line that extends over to the facial mass, that will
give us an indication of where the bottom of the nose should be.
We can then double the distance from the brow to the nose to find the bottom of the chin.
Now let's extend the chin back to the bottom of the sphere where the line divides the head
from front to back.
Remember that the angle of the jawline extending back from the chin is not a right angle.
Though the angle varies from person to person, the angle is usually halfway between 45 and
90°.
What is that?
67.5°?
This means that the angle of the jaw is not a right angle either, it's more obtuse.
The male jaw be closer to 90° on both the angle from the front plane of the face to
the bottom of the jaw as well as the angle of the jaw itself, whereas females will usually
have a more acute angle from the front plane of the face to the bottom of the jaw and a
more obtuse angle of the jaw.
This is why men tend to have a more prominent jawline than women.
Now we have the front plane of the face, the angle of the bottom of the jaw and the angle
of the jaw.
The jaw ends at bottom centre of the flat plane on the side of the head.
We can then look at the head from the front view and redraw the center line of the face
on the facial mass.
Now, we begin to fill in the mass of the face.
Remember the rhythm that passes from either side of the chin up past the cheekbones to
the top of the ears.
We will indicate this rhythm by creating a plane change that will help us differentiate
the front plane of the face with the side plane.
Once all these features are in place, we can take some time to clean up the planes and
the lines of intersection.
We can draw some lines on the facial mask to indicate where the features are to be placed.
The separation of the lips would be one third the distance from the bottom of the nose to
the chin.
The face can be divided into three equal lengths; the hairline to the brow line, the brow line
to the bottom of the nose and the bottom of the nose to the bottom of the chin, and there
you have it.
This will make a great foundation that we can build the features on top of or is a reference
to help us draw the Loomis head.
Sculpting this yourself will help you keep in mind these primary forms of the head that
you should lay in before adding the features.
When I start building out the head on a sculpture, this is what I have in mind.
Though it doesn't have to be as smooth and perfect.
Your assignment is to sculpt the Loomis head.
It's easy to watch and feel like you've learned a lot but until you actually sculpt it yourself,
you haven't learned as much as you think.
As you sculpt, you'll build muscle memory and solidify the measurements that we talked
about in this lesson.
Share your assignments on social media using the #prokosculpture.
For this particular assignment, you could use the #loomisheadsculpture.
In the premium course, there are additional demos, lessons, 3D models, and much more.
So, I'll see you there at proko.com/sculpture.