Polymer Clay Fan

Starting to sculpt the arm

OK, we have a good start on the face, made pretty good progress on the torso and sculpted the fiddle and a hand.  Now it is time to start making the Fiddler look like an actual fiddler.  I’ve been wanting to attach the fiddle to my sculpture for some time now but in order to do so I need to first build out the arm.

Now I started the beginning stages of the arm some time ago so the torso in some of the images isn’t as far along as it is in some of the more recent tutorials.  The first two images in this tutorial were taken quite awhile back while the rest of the images were taken recently.  I had plans to do the arm earlier in this series but decided it would be best to put it together after the fiddle was completed.

* This sculpture is created with Super Sculpey.

	My first step is to map out the length of the arm with my armature wire.  I leave my wire a little long on the end (where the hand will go) for now but I want to make sure the that length from the shoulder to the elbow is accurate.  Clay will be applied to all areas of the wire so I plan out that my arm will be a little longer then what the bent wire indicates. Tip: Think of the wire as part to the skeletal system in that it gives support the the overall piece.
	Sometimes I like to use just regular Sculpey to bulk out my clay.  The regular Sculpey is cheaper then the Super Sculpey that I use.  Another advantage is that it is pretty squishy so I can quickly bulk out the piece.  I’ll add Super Sculpey to the top of the bulked out arm once I get ready to start sculpting.Note: I’m not a fan of using regular Sculpey for detail work since it is a little tacky and just too soft of a sculpting medium for me.
	I’m still bulking out the arm but now I am working with Super Sculpey.  I’ve already looked at different muscular arms on the internet to get an idea on how the individual muscles fit together. In this picture you can start to see that I have etched out where the individual muscles of the arm will go. Doesn’t look like much yet but it will all make sense in a few lessons down the road.
	The muscles in the arm form different shapes as they are extended and flexed.  The biceps (front of the arm) bulge forwards and peak near the center of the muscle as the hand is brought towards the shoulder.  The triceps (three muscles in the back of the arm) also bulge out towards the back and sides when the hand is pulled towards the shoulder. The best way to get an understanding of the anatomy of the arm is to just look up as many images as possible on the internet.  I’ve already written a tutorial on using Google Images to help improve your sculpting and if you have missed the article then you can read it here.
	Still bulking out my arm….  I know, I know it looks like a big mess right now but stick with me and it will all make sense in the near future.
	While I work on the arm I also like to work on bulking the shoulder too.  This helps my keep the tie in where the should meets the arm more fluid.

Next lesson –  Sculpting the Forearm

Previous lesson Attaching Hand To Fiddle

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