New sculptor with questions

Toys

New Member
I don't know if this is the right community or the right place on the board for this, but here goes.

I’ve never made a complete sculpture, though I do have some very limited experience with kneadatite (green stuff). I have always wanted to learn how to sculpt, and to that end I recently decided to give it a serious go.

My goal / desire is to make statues and busts of sci-fi/fantasy/comic book/videogame characters. I reviewed several mediums and selected Monster Clay hard and medium, because it is very reusable but also because I am already very experienced with resin casting using silicone molds and I intend to cast what I make.


Anyone have any advice for me on my path? Have I chosen a suitable medium? Any good artists for me to study? Any good sculpting videos, channels, books, or resources in general? Also, is Monster Clay Hard suitable for sculpting miniatures? Lastly, is it worth focusing on traditional sculpting for this sort of thing, or should I go with digital sculpting?


Thanks for your time.
 
A hard clay like Monster Makers will do for a miniature.

Anyway if you are new to sculpting I would (my personal opinion) start with bigger sizes and water based clay, which is cheap and let´s you move faster and easier. You can combine both miniatures (with the Monster clay, not water based for this of course) and life size sculpts, all will help. But I think it all starts lifesize.
Anatomy study books or images can be of much help, also books with drawings of expressions etc.... To know how things are in real life.
Take a look at the oldies´ drawings. Leonardo, Miguel Angel....they were thorough anatomists. And although you want to sculpt an alien for example, take in account all that comes from human´s imagination has some kind of nature basis.

And, again a very personal opinion, start traditional. For me 3D sculpting is just not sculpting. it´s something else (not better nor worse), closer to design, but not sculpting
.
Old school.
 
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Check out the Stan Winston School online. They have some great videos for sculpting both lifesize and smaller maquettes. All of these are done by industry professionals, so the quality is amazing
 
... also, pick a study source you like and put your blinders on. There are a ton of artists out there who would all sculpt the same thing a dozen different ways. In the end it'll all look the same, so you have to figure out what you like best and stick with it, master it and make it your own. If you spend time studying several methods you may end up confusing yourself and ultimately waste time, and time is money. As far as size goes, I would have to argue with the guy that commented first. Life-size doesn't need to be your starting point. I believe that if you prefer to sculpt small you should start small. After-all, practice makes perfect, and you won't have to worry about figuring out adjustments when you downsize. I sculpt small, myself. I don't think I have ever sculpted a figure larger than 1/3 scale, but most of my work is 1/6 scale or smaller. HOWEVER, to support his argument, life-size is the best for detail. It's big, but can be awesome once you master the details. until then, mistakes are bigger, too. If you do Stan Winston please post a review. I have always wanted to check it out, but was afraid to invest the money. Good luck, and I wish you the best success. In the end, the best path is the one you are most comfortable with.
 
... also, pick a study source you like and put your blinders on. There are a ton of artists out there who would all sculpt the same thing a dozen different ways. In the end it'll all look the same, so you have to figure out what you like best and stick with it, master it and make it your own. If you spend time studying several methods you may end up confusing yourself and ultimately waste time, and time is money. As far as size goes, I would have to argue with the guy that commented first. Life-size doesn't need to be your starting point. I believe that if you prefer to sculpt small you should start small. After-all, practice makes perfect, and you won't have to worry about figuring out adjustments when you downsize. I sculpt small, myself. I don't think I have ever sculpted a figure larger than 1/3 scale, but most of my work is 1/6 scale or smaller. HOWEVER, to support his argument, life-size is the best for detail. It's big, but can be awesome once you master the details. until then, mistakes are bigger, too. If you do Stan Winston please post a review. I have always wanted to check it out, but was afraid to invest the money. Good luck, and I wish you the best success. In the end, the best path is the one you are most comfortable with.

Thanks for taking the time to reply here. I'm still just a novice, and so far I've watched 4 or 5 sculptors make the same thing and seen 4 or 5 different ways to do it, so I realized you kind of just have to take the parts from each of them that work the best for you and do your own thing with them. I definitely appreciate the advice about what scale to start with, especially since just about everything I want to do is in the 1/6 neighborhood as well.

I started checking out Stan Winston after the poster before you mentioned it, and it looks like it has a ton of information I'm looking for. Learning things correctly the first time you learn them is a pretty big deal to me so honestly the odds that I'll try it after this summer semester ends are pretty high. I'll let you know how it goes when I do.
 
Of course, if you want to sculpt small, do it. Sculpture is about shapes and shapes exist small and big. That is why I suggested working on both,
As said here:
"life-size is the best for detail. It's big, but can be awesome once you master the details. until then, mistakes are bigger, too"
Thatś'what learning is about, spoting the mistakes and fixing them.
I think sculpting is a complete discipline, and it´s interesting that a sculptor can manage himself with any size. It will give a wider focus to it.. But not saying it´s a must or that there´is anything wrong with only sculpting in smaller scale. First it´ś important you enjoy what you do.

Good luck
 
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