Stan: Hey, guys. Welcome to Proko.
My name is Stan Prokopenco and I'm super excited to announce our brand-new course.
We've kinda dabbled in sculpture for a little while now with our masterpiece demo by Zoe
Dufour, The Game of Thrones Dragon, and The Swamp Thing by Scott Flanders.
But now, we're ready to roll up our sleeves and dive elbow deep into a big pile of clay.
Let me introduce you to Andrew Joseph Keith.
Nosferatu?
Andrew: It was me.
I turned the lights out.
I'm Andrew Joseph Keith, a new instructor for a new course with a new look in a new
dimension.
Black is the new white.
It's like outer space without the stars, it's so black.
I'm Andrew Joseph Keith and this is the Figure Sculpting Fundamentals Course.
At some point, you've probably pushed around some Play Doh or taken an art class and had
to sculpt something in clay but it didn't turn out just as you imagined.
Maybe you already love sculpture and you're looking for some new techniques and tips to
take your sculpting to the next level or maybe you're a fan of drawing but you've never actually
tried sculpting...
Whatever your experience or lack thereof, this course will give you the knowledge and
tools to be able to sculpt this...
Well, not me specifically but the human figure, just people in general.
I'm here to guide you through a process that you can follow that will dramatically increase
your chances for success.
If you're willing to put in the work, follow the lessons, and do the assignments, you'd
be surprised just how fast you can improve.
This course will help you punch ignorance in the tooth.
Ignorance about sculpting the human figure at least.
I want to provide you all the information that I wish I would have had when I first
began sculpting.
Many of the things that we will go over in the course I didn't learn in college, I had
to do the research and learn them on my own but you won't have to, that's what this course
is for.
Having a formula with steps that you can follow will help you overcome analysis paralysis
- that's when you have so much to do that you don't know where to begin.
We will go over how to check yourself to make sure that you're on the right track through
each stage of the process.
We'll walk through how to start sculpting without breaking the bank, we'll go over materials
that are used by sculptors today and the advantages and disadvantages of various types of clay.
We'll make small armatures so that we can study balance and gesture and focus on how
to capture a pose.
Throughout the course, we will show how many of the principles from the drawing courses
can be applied to sculpture.
Things like gesture, balance, contours, anatomy, and much more.
We'll go over how to add clay to accurately build out the sculpture.
Wouldn't it be useful to know some of the top mistakes that beginners make and how to
avoid them?
Boom!
We'll cover it.
We'll show you how to use study boards to practice things like texture, the facial features,
and relief sculptures.
We'll even go over a few simple mold making techniques to mold and cast your sculptures
into other materials.
I'll share some helpful techniques for when you're sculpting from life which is the best
way to capture the most information directly from the model.
Often, a live model is not an option, so we'll go over how to sculpt from photo references.
We'll share with you some places that you can get references online and how to take
your own references.
Let me tell you just a little bit about myself...
I'm an artist and sculptor from Logan, Utah.
I've always loved drawing and painting but all it took was one sculpture class and I
fell in love with sculpture.
I graduated from Utah State University with my bachelor of fine arts in sculpture.
I've been a fan of Proko for years now and I've learned more about representing the human
figure from the Proko courses than I learned in all of my college courses combined.
I got in contact with Stan to show him some of my work and see what he thought about adding
a sculpture course to Proko.
He liked the idea so we started working on it and here we are today.
I'm super excited to be working with him and his team and we hope that this course will
convince some of you to try out sculpture.
As I've prepared this course, I realized just how much there is to learn and practice.
The more you know, the more you know you don't know - Aristotle.
So, you might be thinking, "Proko does drawing videos.
What does sculpture have to do with drawing?"
Well, sculpture is actually built on drawing.
In his book, Modeling and Sculpting the Human Figure, Edward Lanteri puts it this way - "As
drawing is the principal foundation of sculpture, a good sculptural work depends largely on
good drawing.
The students should draw as much as, if not more than a student of painting".
More than a student of painting?
That's a bold statement.
The principles taught in the figure drawing, portrait drawing, and anatomy for artists
courses can and should be applied to sculpture.
And the skills that you develop from sculpting can enhance your ability to represent the
figure through drawing and painting.
Sculpture can help you better visualize the forms that make up the figure and how those
forms exist in space.
If you've enjoyed the other Proko courses, you should give sculpture a try.
You might be like me and find sculpture just as enjoyable, just as mmm, mmm, just as good
as drawing.
Plus, being able to sculpt will set you apart from other artists and it's just fun.
Win, win, win.
If this course is successful and there's enough interest in sculpture, there might even be
future courses that go over portrait sculpting or anatomy for sculptors or stone sculpting
to name a few.
So, buckle up buttercup 'cuz it's gonna be an awesome ride.
I'll see you in the next video where we'll talk about how to start sculpting on a budget
with just a few dollars worth of materials.
There might even be a Proko Sculpture Challenge with some prizes.
So, you know, there definitely will be.
In the premium course, there will be separate lessons only available to premium members.
There are 3D models, assignment demos, and that warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing that you're
helping Proko create more free and premium content to share around the world.
For less than the cost of your average textbook, you can have more information than I received
in my entire BFA degree.
It's a good deal.
So, go sign up for the full course Proko.com/sculpture.
If you're interested, you can find me on Instagram @AndrewJosephKeith.
I'll see you in the next video.