Hinton

Hinton

New member
Well, a little late getting this up (sorry!), but I'm here to, hopefully, learn how to sculpt.

Other than a few minor things, I've never really pushed putty, so I'm really looking forward to giving this a try.
 

Hinton

New member
Okay, got the basics down on the armature. Looks terrible, but it's all good, considering this is my first time really trying to do any sculpting.

Practice, practice, practice.

picture.php
 

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
lol! everything I do looks terrible, at least to my eyes! have faith, it'll work out ok...plus when it's cured you can always sand away the bits you don't like and re-do them. It's impossible to 'ruin' a sculpt :)

EDIt: I just replied without realising that my machine hadn't shown me your pics yet. Very clear photography btw! It doesn't look bad at all - the proportions seem to be broadly good (maybe the legs are a little short right now, half a millimetre would do it if you just gently lifted the armature up a fraction from the cork). Do you have clay shapers or some sort of lubricant or both? With the next installment, where you bulk up the armaure, try to use them to get rid of any 'rough bits' and try to use as much putty as you need at once rather than adding little bits as you go - its easier to pinch a little putty off between your nails (or tweezers if you don't have nails) than it is to smooth a little on. However, you'vegot the butt marked on, so that gives him a little form, and you've got the arms to just the right length as far as I can tell, so that's excellent! Looking foward to seeing how you find the next installment!
James
 
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Onemonk

New member
I feel the same about mine as well. I am counting on the fact that that these will be easier once they start taking shape.
JIM
 

Hinton

New member
@cyber: unfortunately I don't have any clay shapers at the moment. I do have some dental picks, but the local craft/hobby shop doesn't carry shapers and probably won't get them any time soon. I'm planning on either picking some up from Dick Blick or, taking a page from cajur's book, making my own.

I also use a lubricant to help keep the putty from sticking to my fingers.

Good advice you've given me and I do appreciate it!

@JIM: Glad I'm not the only one thinking that.
 

Hinton

New member
Got the next step completed. I tried to get the basic musculature roughed out, but it looks kind of weird to me. Think I'll get a book on human anatomy or something and definitely practice things like proportion and scale.

Also need to work on smoothing things out. I still don't have "actual" clay-shapers, but I did make some like cajur did and they seem to work pretty well. Just need to practice things like pressure and speed when I'm working with the putty.

Do have to say that I'm having fun with this, though. I never really thought about sculpting since it seems my artistic talents were pretty much non-existent, but I'm learning quite a bit as we go along and I'm really looking forward to completing this.

Thanks for doing the sculpt-along, James; it's really presenting some interesting opportunities for me to expand.

Anyway, here's a photo of what I've done so far:

picture.php
 

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
Yeah, getting an eye for this is simply a matter of studying anatomy, and practicing. In the mean time, let me tell you what I see, and maybe that'll help. Are you using pure greenstuff? If so it doesn't sand/grind/file away too easily, but at this stage that's fine. Here's what I suggest:
1. you've got the muscle groups marked out just fine. He's a little 'lifesize' right now - that is his limbs are about as thick as they would be on a 28mm model. That's going to make putting a 'skin' over it tricky without him looking like his limbs are a little thick. Another thing that comes with time is an undersanding of putty quantity - you can see it in the legs - the leading one is a different width from the back one, you can see this most clearly just above the knee. Apart from the knee cap which is rather pronounced, that front leg is pretty much spot on. Maybe you could take a little off the rear one in line with it?

2. A view from the side would be handy here - how is his chest/stomach looking from the side? If that bulge is intended to be a slightly larger than ordinary belly, then its an easy mistake to make, but it's a little low - it needs to sit higher to give him room to keep his bits and pieces :)

3. The left forearm seems a little long in comparison to the bicep section - maybe move the elbow down the arm. Likewise, the left forearm looks a little 'bent' - maybe getting a file on the outside edge of that forearm would sort that out.

4. Lastly, and i'm sorry to do this to you matey, but I think the other thing that makes this a little off (at the moment) is the comparative width of the shoulders - one is 'wider' than the other...no easy answer to this I'm afraid, move the head sideways on the shoulders, or shorten/lengthen one of them by cutting it off and re-pinning it.

Having said all that, don't lose heart dude, it's looking pretty good, better than some people with a lot more experience do...don't sweat it - Make any changes you want to, then settle on your laurels, chill out and have a go at the trousers next week :) It'll all feed into the next project!

James
 

Hinton

New member
Are you using pure greenstuff? If so it doesn't sand/grind/file away too easily, but at this stage that's fine.

Yep, pure green stuff, although I do have some Milliput. I have thought about mixing the two, though.

1. you can see it in the legs - the leading one is a different width from the back one, you can see this most clearly just above the knee. Maybe you could take a little off the rear one in line with it?

I can always try. Worse comes to worse, I can just start over.

2. A view from the side would be handy here - how is his chest/stomach looking from the side?

Here's a side view (apologies for the errant cat hairs):

picture.php


3. The left forearm seems a little long in comparison to the bicep section - maybe move the elbow down the arm. Likewise, the left forearm looks a little 'bent' - maybe getting a file on the outside edge of that forearm would sort that out.

4. Lastly, and i'm sorry to do this to you matey, but I think the other thing that makes this a little off (at the moment) is the comparative width of the shoulders - one is 'wider' than the other...no easy answer to this I'm afraid, move the head sideways on the shoulders, or shorten/lengthen one of them by cutting it off and re-pinning it.

That's probably what was looking so weird to me. Now that you mention it and I look at it a bit closer, the left shoulder/arm does seem to be sticking waaaay out. In fact, the whole left arm looks wrong to me. I'll work on it.

Having said all that, don't lose heart dude

I won't; figured my first attempt was going to be pretty shoddy, but had to start somewhere.

Thanks for the feedback!
 

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
you're welcome :) Yup, with the side view I think my comment about the stomach is about right. That left leg thing looks really good from the side btw
 

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
One other thing - I get on much better with a mix of gs and milliput than purely one or the other, and when it's cured it sands down a dream :) give it a shot, you might like it!

James
 

Hinton

New member
Removed the putty from the legs and the left arm so I could try it again. I did use a mixture of GS and Milliput for them, so hopefully it'll be easier to sand and shape later on.

picture.php
 

uberdark

New member
speaking anatomically. you need to pronounce the back more by pushing in at the bottom of the back. the spine generally goes in more towards the butt. the shoulders then would need to go out more to accentuate the back.

hips wise: slim the left leg down on the first pic on your last post. you should not have the hips going more than halfway the width of the shoulders. remember these little things when going.

a woman is 7-7 1/2 heads tall and a man is 7 1/2 -8 heads tall. also look into contraposto. this is very important to mantain during your sculpt. contrapasto is the balancing of the weight on one hip and shifting to the other side on the shoulders. if you do not do this, then your pose will look unnatural..

just trying to give some friendly advice since i studied anatomy for 3 semesters in college. hell of a lot more guts than i have. break a leg buddy.
 

cybersquig

Dangerous when wet
Those legs are looking a darn sight better now buddy! You've got the knees marked out in the right place (watch the bones aren't bent, as a little on the second picture down, left upper leg). much better though, sweet!
 

exilesjjb

New member
wish I had started this now looks fun.
Just one thing I have to say on your last side view it looks like he has a very impressive metal thingy:dont-know:
 

Hinton

New member
Just wanted to post that I haven't lost interest in this or given up or anything. The chess set that I'm working on for the Little Angels charity is taking center stage at the moment since there weren't enough people signing up to paint pieces.

Basically, I need 8 minis finished by next Friday; 2 are almost done. So, my time has been filled up with finishing the board and painting the minis.

As soon as that's out of the way, I'll be right back to sculpting along.
 
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