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SCULPTING & DESIGN TUTORIALS
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Forewords and disclaimers
The sculpting and design philosophy / methods mentioned here are just what I do, it's not the only way to do creature sculpting
(and probably not the right way to do it either :), but it's just something that has worked for me, so try at your own risk.
THE FINGER OF BRUCE (Oct. 2, 2008)
Bruce Lee is one my all-times heroes. It's not because he's Chinese-American like myself,
and it's not because he's a great martial artist, but it's because to me his philosophy of martial arts training and self-development was ground breaking and way ahead of his times. Back in his days when most martial artists were bound by their schools or disciplines of trainings, Bruce Lee was advocating breaking down boundaries, researching and absorbing the best of any and all fighting systems (the kicks of Muey Thai & Tae Kwon Do, the grappling of wrestling and jujitsu, the footworks and punching abilities of boxing etc). In that sense, he's one of the first advocates of mixed martial arts. One of his movie quotes was: "it is like a finger pointing away to the moon - don't concentrate on the finger or you will miss all that heavenly glory." what does all this have to do with sculpting? I would say to people that are just starting out dont get too hung up on the means of becoming a "good" sculptor. there's no one type of clay that's more superior than the other, only difference. and no one way of sculpting is better than the other (i.e. raking vs pushing). again, there's only difference. Also, to beginners, research as much as you can - learn the traditional way of sculpting, attend a FX sculpting workshop, or maybe take up wood carving, and then absorb what's useful to you and discard what's not. In the end, what you're ultimately shaping is you, the unique and individual artist, and that is more important than any sculpting medium, methods, or tools for that matter.
MY DESIGN PROCESS (Oct. 14, 2007)
One method that has worked very well for me is this:
1. I would start a rough idea on a very small scale (let's call it a miniature-comp).
At this stage, my only focus is on the overall composition, the form, and the structure.
I do this because it gives me a 3D view of the compositional view very quickly - this is especially helpful when I intend to do a more complex design
2. If I get something that I like in step 1, I would sometimes take pictures of it and try different modifications in Photoshop (I also do pencil sketches, but nothing beats the speed and flexibility of the digital medium). I do this because a). it gives me a different perspective of the design compared to the actual 3D mode (if you have ever sculpted something, let it sit for a day, and then coming back a day later and feel completely different about the design - then you would know what I mean). I find it that my mind is able to get a different perspective about my design faster when I turn my focus from 2D to 3D. The second thing that I find this helpful is that I can quickly try out different surface combinations such as skin textures in Photoshop versus having to actually sculpt it in clay. This process actually lets me flush out more design ideas / revisions on the original design before jumping into the full scale sculpture. Any artwork created in this stage also gets me pumped for the full-scale sculpt and hey, it's a great 2D workout!
3. The artwork created in stage 2 is somewhat of the concept art for the project. Stage 3 is where the actual sculpting would begin. I also find the switch from 2D design to 3D sculpture would further expand my abilities to refine the design - I mean it's like your loop tool will trigger a different firing pattern in your creative mind than your Wacom tablet!
Here are some of the examples of my process. I don't do this with all of my designs, but I do find it very helpful with more complex designs.
| Grey Skull (completed project)
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Medusa's Dance (in-progress ideation)
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| Grey Skull stage 1 ideation in super sculpey ~ 1/20 scale
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Medusa's Dance stage 1 ideation in super sculpey ~ 1/20 scale
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| Grey Skull stage 1 ideation in super sculpey ~ 1/20 scale
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Medusa's Dance stage 1 ideation in super sculpey ~ 1/20 scale
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| Grey Skull stage 2 Photoshop ideation
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Medusa's Dance stage 2 Photoshop ideation
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Medusa's Dance stage 3 sculpture has yet to be started
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| Grey Skull stage 3 sculpture (finished resin casting shown)
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