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Sculpting Torso

Posted by goregt On April - 2 - 2007

Blocking out the body

If you have been following this series from the beginning then I think it is pretty obvious that I like to jump around a lot when sculpting. The last lesson was on starting the fiddle and this one is jumping into blocking out the body. The reason why I jump around during the sculpting process is because it keeps everything fresh. I like to go with the flow and I really enjoy the process when I work this way. In the past I have experimented with my sculpting processes and have focused on completing one area before moving onto another but found that the final art really doesn’t work out they way I envisioned it.

All right, now onto the torso. Again, the polymer clay I am using for this particular piece is Super Sculpey.


Sculpting a torso in polymer clay The first step is to start blocking out the torso with aluminum foil. You don’t have to do this step but it really cuts down on the clay needed for the sculpture. Keep in mind that you should avoid using too much aluminum foil since it can cause a problem later on when you start working on the detail work. As a general rule I like to make sure that I am adding around a half to a full inch of clay on top of the aluminum foil. This gives me plenty of room to sculpt.
   
Sculpting a torso in polymer clay Starting to add the clay to the aluminum foil. The goal at this stage is to basically just cover the aluminum foil with clay.
   
Sculpting a torso in polymer clay Now I want to work on laying out the design. I roll two tubes or snakes and use them to represent where the upper chest and collar bones will be located. Note: I didn’t extend the torso, with aluminum foil, that far yet but you can do so if you are more comfortable sculpting that way. Right now I’m just trying to think about my design and block the different body parts out as I move along in the process (you will see what I am talking about a in minute)
   
Sculpting a torso in polymer clay Nothing too technical here, I just blend the snakes of clay into my torso and start adding clay underneath to build out the chest.The hardest part so far is just coming up with the design. Other than that all we are doing is adding a few mounds of clay here and there to build out our rough shape.
   
Sculpting a torso in polymer clay I have extended my torso a bit and have started blocking out where I want the abdominal muscles to be placed. It doesn’t have to be perfect at this stage, the goal is to get an idea of the shapes.
   
Sculpting a torso in polymer clay All, right, the abs have been blended into the rest of the clay and I am starting to build out the rest of the shapes. I still need to add more clay to the chest and waist. I pretty much just add clay, step back, look things over and add clay again. It doesn’t look like much yet but in a lesson or two you will really start to see the torso coming together.

Next lesson Filling out the Torso

Previous lesson Starting the fiddle

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3 Responses to “Sculpting Torso”

  1. julio says:

    could you plz make a tutorial on how to sculpt muscles

  2. goregt says:

    Julio,

    When sculpting muscles I find that it is important to first block out the individual shapes. For example if I am sculpting the arms I will block out the biceps and tricep muscles individually. From there you will simply blend everything together. It helps to have a stong understanding on how the anatomy works as well so I highly recommend looking at picutes on how the individual mucles fit together.

    I’ll work on putting a togehter a picture tutorial in the future.

    All the best,
    Gerald

  3. julio says:

    thx i am new to this

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