Skull Sculpt

I have began a sculpt, in wax of a human skull which I’ll document through the sculpting, moulding and casting process.

 

The first duty was gathering reference. I scanned the below image from ‘Atlas of Human Anatomy for the Artist’ by Stephen Rogers Peck. An excellent book which I highly recommend as one of THE anatomy books worth buying.

I arranged the scans in Photoshop and printed out, in correct scale, as a template for my sculpt.

Using my Verniers (below) I can take measurements direct from the drawing to check against the sculpt. This helps keep to scale and check accuracy faster than using the eye.

 

The sculpt was begun by applying ‘wet’ wax to a component which broke from an old camera tripod. The handle sticking from the base of the skull can be unscrewed from the broken part which is buried inside the sculpt. Handy for holding up the skull during sculpting and removable for photographing and when it comes to casting.

The lower jawbone (mandible) is a separate component which I’ll make so that it can be hinged onto the cast and swung open/closed.

One annoyance I now have, having worked digitally is the fact I have to work on both sides of the model! In ZBrush you work with symmetry switched on so you can happily work away on one side of the head, for instance, and the other side is automatically replicated as you work. No such joy with wax. It takes twice as long and you have to match the symmetry of the work as you go. Huh.

I find I progress one side more rapidly than the other and replicate the work across when I’m happy with what I’ve done.

to be continued…

I’m Back!

Wahey – a new post!

 

Thought I should get back into this blogging malarky as I’ve been hiding for last four months. I started this blog to document my journey into digital sculpture but many other things have taken my time over the year and the digital side of my work and learning ground somewhat to a halt.

So what have I been doing?

I went to see Radiohead in Glasgow, then again in Amsterdam. I went to Paris with my better half, drank wine and collected conkers! I designed a range of Cats for ENESCO (which ended up ‘too cartoony’) I was offered a contract at a Games Company but had too much other work on to take up the offer (doh!) I have been perpetually busy translating Pete Underhill’s Bad Taste Bears from sketch to 3D and any other spare moments I have used to sample the delights of Yo Sushi!’s culinary conveyor belt.

 

Anyway, check this beauty out…

 

La Maine Des Maitres (The Hand of Master)

Mixing Mucha, Mamoru Oshii and Katsuhiro Otomo into a steampunked short - a majestic achievement of design, atmosphere and lighting. I love it.

The French keep delivery the most interesting Animations (and this a student film!!!), I pray these guys are working on a full length movie.

 

 

Check out the Original website here:

http://www.lamaindesmaitres.com/

an interview here for anyone who can read Francais otherwise happy translating :

http://www.3dvf.com/modules/publish/_2138_1.html

 

 

Beth Cavener Stichter

I thought I would share some images from Beth Cavener Stichter's website http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/.

The animalistic sculptures capture both an emotional personality and psychological tension in their proportions and gesture. A view into the human condition frozen within animal form.

The sculptures create an empathy with the viewer. You feel responsible for them - want to help them...

I couldn't possibly do them justice with words. So here they are...

 

Her Artists Statement reads:

"There are primitive animal instincts lurking in our own depths, waiting for the chance to slide past a conscious moment. The sculptures I create focus on human psychology, stripped of context and rationalization, and articulated through animal and human forms. On the surface, these figures are simply feral and domestic individuals suspended in a moment of tension. Beneath the surface they embody the impacts of aggression, territorial desires, isolation, and pack mentality.

          Both human and animal interactions show patterns of intricate, subliminal gestures that betray intent and motivation. The things we leave unsaid are far more important than the words we speak out-loud to one another. I have learned to read meaning in the subtler signs; a look, the way one holds one's hands, the tightening of muscles in the shoulders, the incline of the head, the rhythm of a walk, and the slightest unconscious gestures. I rely on animal body language in my work as a metaphor for these underlying patterns, transforming the animal subjects into human psychological portraits.

          I want to pry at those uncomfortable, awkward edges between animal and human. The figures are feral and uneasy, expressing frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and lack of understanding. Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures are engaged with the subjects of fear, apathy, violence and powerlessness.

Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke."

 

 

 

All information & images gathered from Beth's website here:

http://www.followtheblackrabbit.com/index_main.htm