Sculpting a Simplified Head - Part 1

Lesson by

Andrew Joseph Keith

inPortrait Sculpting

182K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 68

Downloads 1

Sculpting a Simplified Head - Part 1

Lesson by

Andrew Joseph Keith

in Portrait Sculpting

182K

Mark as Completed

Assignments 68

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.

Cesar Barcenas

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18d

Cesar Barcenas

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18d

the simplification of secondary forms is carried out by Burne Hogart and the masses. So Bridgman's head is a good format to which I can later add the more specific anatomy of the subject. For the anatomy I use the book "the human machine" and in the head muscles, fat and features... simplicity

Andrew Joseph Keith

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16d

Great job! I like that I'm starting to see your style with these assignments. With some of them you might want to take some time and clean up the forms and surface texture a little more and that will help you be more precise with the anatomy and surface details. Really nicely done!

JONGHAN PARK

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21d

I did a abstract head for womans

Andrew Joseph Keith

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20d

Nicely done! I can definitely tell the more feminine features of this abstraction. A critique I might give is that how the nose attaches to the mound of the mouth feels too deep of a cut in. That mound of the mouth makes the distance from the tip of the nose to the top of the upper lip shorter when observing the profile view. Does that make sense? Other than that it looks great! Keep it up!

Eric Lee

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3mo

Sculpting head planes

Andrew Joseph Keith

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2mo

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

Abi

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3mo

This assignment was challenging.

@a_b

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4mo

simplified head

Andrew Joseph Keith

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4mo

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

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4mo

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

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6mo

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

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6mo

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

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7mo

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

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7mo

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

DANI DIKMAN

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7mo

Andrew Joseph Keith

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7mo

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

Bill Boyer

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8mo

Andrew Joseph Keith

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8mo

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

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1yr

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

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1yr

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

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1yr

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

DANI DIKMAN

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1yr

my submission . thank you for the instructions

Andrew Joseph Keith

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1yr

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

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1yr

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.

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1yr

Gratidão!

Andrew Joseph Keith

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1yr

great job!

@lisaann

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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

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7mo

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

Andrew Joseph Keith

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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

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2yr

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

Andrew Joseph Keith

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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

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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

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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

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2yr

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

Andrew Joseph Keith

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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2yr

Very nice! and helpful to see your starting stage.

Ray Manning

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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

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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

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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.

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Andrew Joseph Keith

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