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My first sculpt


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Took a class from Patrick Keith at ReaperCon 2012. Picked up his sculpting kit this year. I wanted to give it a shot. Here is what I came up with. It is a female figure, not safe for work, simply because I have no idea how make clothes. I started at the legs and worked my way up. The arms gave me no end of trouble so I decided to take a break. I really like the procreate but I think I sculpt slow and it hardened on me while working. As you can see I have a lot of layers that I struggled to get smooth. I'm seriously considering burning off my fingerprints as well. Lol. No idea how to do a head, hands, feet, or pretty much anything else. I think Ill take some classes at GenCon and at Reapercon next year. I had fun with this and I think its pretty good for a first. Please let me know what you think. Constructive criticism welcome!

 

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h359/Shawna_Hogan/SculptFront_zps25a581a8.jpg

 

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h359/Shawna_Hogan/SculptBack1_zps25a6c456.jpg

 

http://i1105.photobucket.com/albums/h359/Shawna_Hogan/SculptBack2_zps0a358559.jpg

Edited by Shogan
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There is some green stuff on the torso and upper leg but mostly its procreate from Patrick's sculpting kit. I'd never used it before but it wasn't much different. I'm always amazed at how little it takes. I would tear off a part to add and realize it was way too big, half it and still need to half it again. That's why her but is a little on the robust side. Lol.

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Ok. Well. Here are my first attempts at creating heads. This part is maddening, Lol. They look like aliens. If anyone knows of any good threads or sites that I should be using to help me out here I would be eternally grateful! The mouths especially give me trouble. They have the biggest lips I have ever seen. I attempted to sculpt the green stuff right after mixing it but this was too difficult at it was too soft. I let it sit for a bit but then it was much too hard to work with and would heal its self when I tried to put any indentations for the eyes or shape the face more. I am trying to layer to add shape but I'm starting to wonder if I'm making the original too large and not giving myself enough space to add. But I'm flying blind so I don't know. I gave it two tries before wrapping up for the night. The first one is supposed to be more male, the second female with higher cheekbones and thinner face. I think I'm getting a slightly better handle for the tools but the green stuff and procreate are still giving me a hard time. It also moves all over the place on me since its just sitting on the wire. I dont want to attach it to my body until Im a little happier with it. Oh well. I'm sure its like that for everyone in the beginning. Please let me know what you think. I would take any advice at this point.

 

Head One:

 

Head1_zpsb73162f6.jpg

 

 

Head Two:

 

Head2_zps8383f95a.jpg

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The one thing I've managed to pick up with sculpting is that you want to add bulk first, and details later. Also, don't try to do too much at once. It sucks to have to put the tools down when you're on a roll, but if you try to do it all at once you're just going to frustrate yourself.

 

For heads - start with a blob a little smaller than your final size. Let that cure on the wire. Then get the basic shape of the head - eye sockets, general location of ears, nose, mouth. Let that cure. Then start adding noses, lips, cheekbones, etc.

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. It sucks to have to put the tools down when you're on a roll,

 

make several sculpts one after another,

 

This. I've got seven in the works right now (though only three are REALLY active, trying to get them done quickly so I can get to a commission).

 

Faces are hard. It took me 13 tries on my first human to get her looking right. I did that one piecemeal as Trystangst suggests. Since then, I took the Expressive Faces class from Bobby J. at ReaperCon where he taught us how to sculpt faces in one shot. Mine were actually passable. You do want a base 1-2 mm under the face that is hard. I need to practice the technique a lot more before I try to show it off to others.

 

Just don't be afraid to scrap that which isn't perfect and try again. The scalpel is your friend. I don't think I have sculpted anything that I haven't had to cut of some feature of anatomy and try again, either because of my own standards or my client's.

 

Also, get and follow good anatomy references. I recommend Classic Human Anatomy. It is very good.

 

Andy

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Thanks guys! I will definitely be picking up that book. I made a ton of armatures last night and heads to be able to work with. Really glad I took that class last year from Patrick.

 

Can I ask how you all sculpt lips? Did you add pieces or cut into the existing face? They just look so puffy and weird.

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I've used two methods.

 

For my first, I sculpted the face without the mouth and let it harden. Then I added very, VERY fine threads of putty for the lips (one for each) and blended them in. Took about 10 tries to get lips I liked. It is amazing how small the amount of putty one needs for this is. You can see the result below:

 

post-140-0-35265000-1368476125.jpg post-140-0-16310000-1368476127.jpg

 

I believe I did the top lip first and got it right and then added a shorter bottom lip while the top was still soft and blended that in. When I tried to do them all at once it didn't turn out so well (hence the 10 tries).

 

 

During Bobby's class, he showed us how to pull out the lip bulge while the whole face is uncured and cut them in with a light, inverted, wide V. This worked very well, but will require more practice to get it down pat. I'll be doing the faces on my current sculpts this week, so I may have more insights on this technique for you then.

 

Andy

Edited by TaleSpinner
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Couple tips for sculpting faces.

 

I like to use small finish nails for practice heads. They have a nice "ball" shape on top that's the right size for a skull armature. Just remember to add more putty to one side than the other. Use the side with the most putty as the front of the face. As you sculpt you'll be pushing the putty back. Go easy. If you push too hard you'll hit your armature.

 

Put the putty on your armature while its still fresh. Let it sit for about 10 minutes or so. Then you've got about an hour to get the face done. Sculpt it all in one go. Youll get a cleaner, better looking face. Eventually (with PRACTICE) you'll be able to sculpt a face in about 30 minutes. Focus on sculpting from the general to the specific. Don't worry about the details until you have a pleasing head shape.

 

PM me off list and I'll send you a copy of my head sculpting class handout full of all kinds of tips and tricks. I'm too lazy to type them all out again... :)

 

Gene

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