verstandt
April 9th, 2012, 01:42 PM
I am brand spanking new to the world of sculpting and as I've stated in a previous post, I have found the experience to be quite pleasing. That being said, I have never been one that is very good at judging the quality of my own work. I would very much appreciate any pointers and/or comments.
This is my journey thus far...
http://imgur.com/WlSfw.jpg
For my first sculpture I decided to go with a bust using water based clay. You know the kind they sell in fifteen pound bricks at your local art store. This is my first picture and my first armature. My armature consisted of a wooden dinner tray in which i drilled a hole through the center and stuck part of an aluminum broom handle through. As you can see I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with the broom handle sticking out of the top of my sculptures head. I was more than a bit concerned about how I was going to rectify this situation once it came time to actually move the sculpture.
However, I set my fears aside and forged ahead.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/ip3f2.jpg
This was my first completed sculpture. As you can see I did somehow manage to remove the sculpture from the armature. I was fairly pleased with my completed first piece.
--------------------------------------
My next sculpture was also a bust done in water based clay. Unfortunately it was also a bust. I have no pictures of the sculpture, though I suppose I could take some, but the thing was never completed. I went through a move in the middle of working on the piece (long story) and it dried out during this time. I was fairly upset with this as I thought it was coming along quite nicely, better than my first. It still sits in my apartment all white and dried out. Perhaps someday I will attempt to recreate the piece some day.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/D9st4.jpg
After this I discovered these forums and the awesome use of polymer clay by the members of this forum and thought to myself, I want to do that! So sally forth once more I did. This was my first attempt at an armature. Looking back on it now I can see many rooms for improvement, the biggest I think being the use of tin foil to bulk it out more. As you can see I have now attached a lazy susan to my dinner tray and added a threaded steel rod with a couple of bolts to support the armature. I have since come to believe that the ability to turn your piece while working on it is absolutely essential.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/CjI77.jpg
Here I have actually added clay to the piece. At this point I was extremely trepidatious concerning my ability to pull off anything even remotely resembling a human figure. I still only had a vague notion of where I wanted the piece to go and very little confidence in my ability to get it there. I have never sculpted a figure before and have never done any drawing. I was wholly unfamiliar with the human figure from an artistic stand point. Fortunately my wife is an excellent painter and was able to help me out with some tips and pointers. Without her assistance I may never have achieved even this modest level of success.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/z5Ssx.jpg
Not much has changed here other than the definition of the midsection. It may not be the best midsection that has ever been done. Hell, it may not even be mediocre. Nonetheless I was more than a little pleased that I was able to pull this off. Remember, I have never attempted to formulate a human figure in any medium and even this modicum of success was exhilarating to me. I think I drank half a bottle of scotch and danced across the apartment in unrepentant glee to celebrate.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/CzoTe.jpg
With my new found confidence I have finally formulated a vision of what I want the piece to be (for the most part) once it is complete. You can see that I have begun to form some legs and a base.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/k3mrP.jpg
A shot of the front.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/liMsx.jpg
A shot of the back.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/kWKOx.jpg
Whabam! It had been quite a while since I had taken any pictures of the piece. This is basically where it sits at today. The piece is not quite done, but it's definitely getting there.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/hqIp1.jpg
The other side.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/86gjs.jpg
At this point I decided to take some pictures of it without the distracting background.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/mYsrR.jpg
Here is another side view.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/tXE5K.jpg
Sorry, I couldn't decide which side view pic to choose from, so I used both of them.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/SRHpE.jpg
And, the back. You can see I added some overly exaggerated definition.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/NELOx.jpg
And the other side.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/jkPlL.jpg
The front.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/MOXPF.jpg
Ooh, look! I have tentacles!
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/6yPqb.jpg
This was by far the most difficult portion of this piece. Hands are hard!
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/sacce.jpg
The arm.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/vr8dV.jpg
The underside of the tentacles. I like this shot, nice and creepy.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/KOUDk.jpg
And one more shot of the tentacles. Forgive me. I spent a fair amount of time working on this.
--------------------------------------
And that is it. That’s where I’m at today. I would be absolutely ecstatic with any thoughts, tips, criticisms, praises or really any type of comments at all. I’ll just be waiting here under this rock for the bombs to fall.
This is my journey thus far...
http://imgur.com/WlSfw.jpg
For my first sculpture I decided to go with a bust using water based clay. You know the kind they sell in fifteen pound bricks at your local art store. This is my first picture and my first armature. My armature consisted of a wooden dinner tray in which i drilled a hole through the center and stuck part of an aluminum broom handle through. As you can see I had no idea what I was doing and ended up with the broom handle sticking out of the top of my sculptures head. I was more than a bit concerned about how I was going to rectify this situation once it came time to actually move the sculpture.
However, I set my fears aside and forged ahead.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/ip3f2.jpg
This was my first completed sculpture. As you can see I did somehow manage to remove the sculpture from the armature. I was fairly pleased with my completed first piece.
--------------------------------------
My next sculpture was also a bust done in water based clay. Unfortunately it was also a bust. I have no pictures of the sculpture, though I suppose I could take some, but the thing was never completed. I went through a move in the middle of working on the piece (long story) and it dried out during this time. I was fairly upset with this as I thought it was coming along quite nicely, better than my first. It still sits in my apartment all white and dried out. Perhaps someday I will attempt to recreate the piece some day.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/D9st4.jpg
After this I discovered these forums and the awesome use of polymer clay by the members of this forum and thought to myself, I want to do that! So sally forth once more I did. This was my first attempt at an armature. Looking back on it now I can see many rooms for improvement, the biggest I think being the use of tin foil to bulk it out more. As you can see I have now attached a lazy susan to my dinner tray and added a threaded steel rod with a couple of bolts to support the armature. I have since come to believe that the ability to turn your piece while working on it is absolutely essential.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/CjI77.jpg
Here I have actually added clay to the piece. At this point I was extremely trepidatious concerning my ability to pull off anything even remotely resembling a human figure. I still only had a vague notion of where I wanted the piece to go and very little confidence in my ability to get it there. I have never sculpted a figure before and have never done any drawing. I was wholly unfamiliar with the human figure from an artistic stand point. Fortunately my wife is an excellent painter and was able to help me out with some tips and pointers. Without her assistance I may never have achieved even this modest level of success.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/z5Ssx.jpg
Not much has changed here other than the definition of the midsection. It may not be the best midsection that has ever been done. Hell, it may not even be mediocre. Nonetheless I was more than a little pleased that I was able to pull this off. Remember, I have never attempted to formulate a human figure in any medium and even this modicum of success was exhilarating to me. I think I drank half a bottle of scotch and danced across the apartment in unrepentant glee to celebrate.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/CzoTe.jpg
With my new found confidence I have finally formulated a vision of what I want the piece to be (for the most part) once it is complete. You can see that I have begun to form some legs and a base.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/k3mrP.jpg
A shot of the front.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/liMsx.jpg
A shot of the back.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/kWKOx.jpg
Whabam! It had been quite a while since I had taken any pictures of the piece. This is basically where it sits at today. The piece is not quite done, but it's definitely getting there.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/hqIp1.jpg
The other side.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/86gjs.jpg
At this point I decided to take some pictures of it without the distracting background.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/mYsrR.jpg
Here is another side view.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/tXE5K.jpg
Sorry, I couldn't decide which side view pic to choose from, so I used both of them.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/SRHpE.jpg
And, the back. You can see I added some overly exaggerated definition.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/NELOx.jpg
And the other side.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/jkPlL.jpg
The front.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/MOXPF.jpg
Ooh, look! I have tentacles!
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/6yPqb.jpg
This was by far the most difficult portion of this piece. Hands are hard!
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/sacce.jpg
The arm.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/vr8dV.jpg
The underside of the tentacles. I like this shot, nice and creepy.
--------------------------------------
http://imgur.com/KOUDk.jpg
And one more shot of the tentacles. Forgive me. I spent a fair amount of time working on this.
--------------------------------------
And that is it. That’s where I’m at today. I would be absolutely ecstatic with any thoughts, tips, criticisms, praises or really any type of comments at all. I’ll just be waiting here under this rock for the bombs to fall.