Sculpting a Simplified Head - Part 1

Lesson by

Andrew Joseph Keith

inPortrait Sculpting

175K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 58

Downloads 1

Sculpting a Simplified Head - Part 1

Lesson by

Andrew Joseph Keith

in Portrait Sculpting

175K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 58

Downloads 1

Sculpt one of these head abstractions focusing on secondary forms, without getting too detailed.

Some student work may be featured in critique videos so if you want your work featured be sure to do the assignment and submit it.

Eric Lee

•

2mo

Sculpting head planes

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

1mo

Really nicely done! I like the planes you've highlighted around the cheeks and mouth. Great job!

Abi

•

2mo

This assignment was challenging.

@a_b

•

3mo

simplified head

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

3mo

Hey super fun! One thing that stands out is that the forehead might be too small (meaning the eye sockets are too high up on the face) so adding some clay to the top of the head might help. Other than that it looks like a great study! Exactly what I'm looking for from students keep it up!

@a_b

•

3mo

I lowered the brow. It's still a bit too high. The ears are too high up as well, making this problem look worse. Oh well, better next time :)

@justwings

•

5mo

Here is my head with simplified forms. It’s difficult finding profile pics as I want to improve on sculpting children. I have this view and a front view. I’m trying some others as well.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

5mo

Nicely done! The first thing that jumps out is that the brow ridge might be too high. Children have a larger cranial mass compared to the facial mass. The nose also looks too large for the same reason I suspect. Great study so keep up the good work!

carla toms

•

6mo

Yeah i need to go make an armature but i was so excited i could make a head that looks like a head!

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

5mo

Hey great job! really fun study. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing your progression throughout the course!

DANI DIKMAN

•

6mo

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

6mo

hey great study! I like the muscles of the cheeks showing through. Keep it up!

Bill Boyer

•

7mo

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

7mo

Looking good! the structure of the head feels like its working. On this simplified version I wouldn't worry about the eyeballs or the lips but just the eye sockets and the mound of the mouth. The details can distract from the secondary forms that this specific assignment focuses on. Keep up the great work!

SilverbackCT

•

11mo

my submission for part one. Twice as large as I planned. Ate up a lot of time and clay ;) . Anterior skull asymmetry to be addressed in part 2.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

10mo

looking good! remember to add enough mass in the back of the skull. It looks like the facial mass is too large compared to the back of the head. Keep it up!

SilverbackCT

•

11mo

3D Viewer: https://skfb.ly/oOM8P

DANI DIKMAN

•

11mo

my submission . thank you for the instructions

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

10mo

Nicely done! It could use a little more clay in the cranial mass at the back of the head but I'm really liking the style and features. Keep it up!

SilverbackCT

•

11mo

The head looks great. It would be more helpful from the student perspective if it were front-lit to some degree to reveal more of the detail. It looks like you've already put some effort into how to light and display. I'd be interested in learning more about what you've tried and liked.

João Vitor M. R.

•

1yr

Gratidão!

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

1yr

great job!

@lisaann

•

1yr

Again, I can see where I need to improve. If you recall (because I know you have a lot of students), I am a total beginner. I know I have parts of the scalp that are caved in a bit, but the clay I’m working with is really hard to work with. I am working with Super Sculpy medium.

carla toms

•

6mo

Is it okay if i kind of love it? It is super fun to look at

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

1yr

Yeah super sculpted can be tricky. Remember that the widest point is towards the back of the head (when viewing the head from above) in your image the brow ridge is the widest point. There is also the mistake of not enough mass in the back of the skull in general compared to the large facial features. I would reduce the size of the chin, nose, and bring the brow ridge down a bit to lengthen the forehead. Keep it up! You're doing great! I know it can be tricky but every sculpt you will improve.

@gulnask

•

2yr

Did this a while ago, but didn't have time to upload, unfortunately.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

2yr

This is looking great! one thing I might change is tilting the neck a bit more forward. The simplification of the features look good. good job!

@mdm206

•

2yr

I thought it took ages, but it was only a few hours. Are there any notable mistakes that I should adress?

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

2yr

This is looking great! The angle of the jawline might be a little close to 90 degrees but for the most part I really like what I'm seeing with this simplified head! Keep it up!

Richard Husky

•

2yr

I was inspired to take a stab at planar head. Completed in Blender.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

2yr

Really awesome! I love the comic book like stylization of the features. the cheekbones might be a little wide in comparison with the back of the head. remember the widest point of the head is above and behind the ears when looking at the head from the front view. Keep it up and I look forward to seeing more!

Scott Camazine

•

2yr

This was a fun exercise. I got a bit carried away making an armature since I have a woodshop, but it probably was not worth the effort to try to use less clay by making a fuller armature. I included a few shots of the earlier part of the process. It took me a while to figure out why the front view in the initial stages looked so weird (the top of the head being too wide and large). I am not finished with this yet, so please send me LOTS of criticisms and suggestions. I think I will mold this in silicone (using cheap hardware store 100% silicone. It works well for me) But I do hope that Andrew will give us some instruction on mold-making as well

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

2yr

Hey looking really good! I like the wood cut out idea. From the front view it looks like the back of the head might need some more mass so it’s a bit wider from side to side but that also might be the distortion of the camera but I would check that and make sure its wider than the jaw. Keep it up Scott!

Roy Nottage

•

2yr

Did you find the armature shape informed your proportions in a useful way, once you were starting to apply clay? I guess if you get it correct from the beginning, it could be useful - I think I'd be worried I wouldn't have much flexibility (but probably because my previous attempt with a 'fuller' armature was poor - my proportions were so off that I had to cut sections of my armature off...😆). Result looks cool though!

Scott Camazine

•

2yr

Also, I forgot to mention that I got carried away a bit with the details and could not resist putting in a suggestion of the eyes and lips. But if I do make a mold, I can then re-use this same sculpt, either making it more abstract and simplified, or perhaps trying to make the head more feminine.

Roy Nottage

•

2yr

I've got a bit behind schedule, oops. Will catch up. Started this assigment with the boden method (which I've decided I Iike a lot), and blocked out from there. Used my previous ref (and the early pancake... bit risky?) to help with the profile. In hindsight, I should've taken photos early and flipped them horizontally once the main shapes were in. Having flipped the front/back photos now, I feel like the symmetry is pretty off. For the smoothing I used a loop tool I made a while back, by clamping loops of nickel wound guitar string into each end of a narrow copper pipe. Then cleaned that up a tissue that has been dabbed with isopropyl myristrate.

Scott Camazine

•

2yr

Very nice! and helpful to see your starting stage.

Ray Manning

•

2yr

The pictures aren’t the best, we are remodeling our kitchen. My usual spot is no longer available until that is finished.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

1yr

This is looking great! ears might be a little large for the average person but the shape of the head and other features is looking good! Keep it up!

Scott Camazine

•

2yr

Hi Ray. It would be helpful if you took photos that were at eye level instead of the angles you used. Maybe you can send a new set of photos when your kitchen is done! I think some of your proportions are off. I took photos of my attempt and brought them into Photoshop and overlaid them on Andrew's simplified head. In photoshop you can overlay two images and adjust the transparency. This is a good way to see if your proportions are right, and where they are off.

@sscottie

•

2yr

Hope I am on the right track here. I think I jumped into the features to much, but just got so excited about sculpting that I skated right past the more basic forms.

Manthiravel M

•

2yr

Just finished this assignment. Any feedback and critique would be great. I sculpted digitally instead of traditional method. These knowledge can be transferred to methods. Thank you for the lesson Andrew.

Richard Husky

•

2yr

I have been a slacker to Proko, and really need to sign up for this course. However, after leaning toward more sculpting in digital thought I would give a shout out to Manthiravel M. I like what you have here. Everything looks smooth and crisp. The one thing that stands out to me most is in regards to ear of this bust. If you would draw a line or even hold a straight edge, in profile, from brow to back of head then you would see what I am talking about. Your ear is above that line. Also, from profile, the ear is typically center of the head yours appears to be floating toward the back of skull because of it's size. I feel like narrowing it a bit and moving forward slightly would help that. One minor comment would be to have a concave depression between lower lip and chin. Other than that I think you have an excellent grasp on this lesson...well done!

Manthiravel M

•

2yr

No, I'm using blender for sculpting. Thanks

Scott Camazine

•

2yr

Very nice. Are you sculpting in zBrush? The thing I like about digital sculpture is that you can turn on bilateral symmetry and thus do not have to spend so much time making sure the right and left sides are symmetrical!

@yaranicol

•

2yr

I made it?? This is my first sculpture, well… But i really Have fun. Thanks for the video and your amazing work ✨

Stephen Rapp

•

2yr

Forehead seems to slope to sharp.

Andrew Joseph Keith

•

2yr

awesome! congrats on being the first student to finish and upload the assignment! a few more pictures of different angles might help for critiquing. looks like it might need some more mass added to the bottom of the chin, feels like the whole head as been squished from top to bottom so it could use be longer of a face. keep it up!

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Andrew Joseph Keith

Proko sculpting instructor. Sculpting takes drawing to a whole new dimension.