27 free lessons

Figure Sculpting Fundamentals

Lessons
63 Lessons
Skill Level
All Skill levels
Views
1.9M
Duration
11h 50m
1 / 5
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Full course
You will be given unexpiring access to watch the videos online .
$125
COMMENTS
Andrew Joseph Keith
In this course I teach you the fundamentals of sculpting the human figure. I designed the lessons to help beginners looking to get serious with sculpting while also covering fundamentals that more experienced sculptors will appreciate. If you've ever been curious about sculpting check it out.
Newest
Mike McCarthy
This was the first “Mechanical Head” I carved. The second one I did was a much better face. It was really tough to imagine the eyes without having the stone to actually carve them.
Andrew Joseph Keith
Very cool concept. and definitely quite a bit of improvement from this one and the later one you did. Keep it up!
Allen Haroldsen
This is a painted Hydrostone sculpture
Allen Haroldsen
One question I’ve never heard anyone address. I’m working on a sculpture now that has some deep undercuts. I ended up turning it upside down to get at the hard to reach places between the neck and hair and other such places. That meant having to redo a lot of the details where I was resting it. I thought about leaving it outside for a night so the clay was firmer but I didn’t. Would that work? Any other suggestions?
Andrew Joseph Keith
Really awesome! Looks just like a bronze sculpture. very cool!
@amanda06
2yr
Hi! Now im done with my second project but this time i made a whole dragon instead of just the head. sorry for the quality of the pictures though. The cameras on my phone dosen`t have the greatest quality. Anyway i use air drying clay. Do you have any suggestions how i can make the teeth when the size of the dragen is too small. i tried with tweesers but it only got stucked on th tweezer, and it only fell off when i first made it. I also struggled to make the balance perfect. Do you have any suggestion to how i can do this without making the iron thread appearing?
@stergios_biternas
Hi Andrew, I’ve got another question. I’ve tried to get into figure drawing in the past and it’s never stuck with me. I just don’t like the act of drawing like I do sculpting. I read somewhere that you need drawing skills to succeed as a sculptor and the very thought of having to dedicate a lot of time to a medium that I don’t really enjoy fills me with dread. Is there a way to achieve the same type quick and iterative practice in sculpting that you can get by sketching? Thank you
Andrew Joseph Keith
Well there are quick gesture studies with small wire armatures but even those usually take a little while. Sculpting just takes more time generally because you're moving around mass in space instead of lines on a paper. but removing the armature and using water based clay that's soft can speed things up quite a bit.
@stergios_biternas
hi, is this course friendly for people who are sculpting digitally? I don't really have a place in my living space that I can use clay on, but I do have a zbrush license. Also how in-depth do you go into anatomy in this course? thanks
Andrew Joseph Keith
Yeah this course can absolutely be applied to digital. You would just do the assignments in zbrush. In this course it's primarily an overview of figure sculpting in general and I will go more in depth on anatomy in upcoming courses. All of the anatomy principles from Stan's anatomy course can be applied to sculpting as well.
Ellen Deilkås
Hi Andrew, I have worked a while with this sculpture of Irina. Do you have any suggestions for how to finish it? My plan is to cast it afterwards.
Ellen Deilkås
Thanks for the very useful critique! I don't have experience with mold making, but have used a professional previously, which I will use again. Would love to learn how to mold, if not just the first steps.
Andrew Joseph Keith
it's looking good! yeah Fageras is an amazing sculptor. The head might be a little large making the figure look like a child so you might double check that. I'd also try for subtlety in the secondary forms and look for gesture in the limbs as well. while the gesture of the entire figure looks good the limbs feel a bit stiff so you might just double check if you can push the gesture of those a little. It really is coming along great! Do you have experience mold making?
Ellen Deilkås
I have now seen your lecture on texturing the surface, and build forward on that. Great to also become more familiar with Fagerås who you referred to.
@maturin
2yr
Hi Andrew, is there a chart or diagram document that can be referenced for cranial units that you recommend or that is available for the course? It would be handy to have until I have them by rote. Apologies if they are somewhere and I haven't found them.
Andrew Joseph Keith
yeah the cranial unit system I got from Stan's lesson on proportions. I think there is a download for that but idk if you have to have the premium course to download. https://www.proko.com/course-lesson/human-proportions-cranial-units/downloads
@amanda06
2yr
Hi! I don`t know where to post this so Im just sending this here Anyway. I saw your video about sculpting the Dragon on youtube and i wanted to give it a try. After bying the stuff i needed and after seeing your video several times i began. I had no experience about clay before i started this project and now im done. Im very satisfied myself but I want you to say what you think about it. What i should be better at to my next project and things like that:)
Andrew Joseph Keith
Hey great job for a first project! One thing that you might focus on in future projects is the gesture and adding curves to the sculpture. This one appears a little too straight and as beginners we usually want to make things more stiff than we should. Keep it up!
@prb
2yr
Do you review our sculptures progress virtually?
Andrew Joseph Keith
yes you can submit your sculpture assignments by posting photos of your sculptures underneath the video lessons.
Marian Rowling
So proportions, whether choosing Hale of Richer I wonder where that half head or half cranium goes. In short people who appear to have long torso's and short legs, is it the half way great trochanter that is lower and then in people with long legs its higher reducing the unit length of the torso. Is it the pelvic region that is varying between half and one head height? How does the less high and wider women's pelvis affect the unit proportions when working from life models or models who appear to have large heads compared to there torsos? Just wondering how others adjust the generic proportions to fit working from life models?
Charles Tryon
Speaking of the PoseSpace photo sets, here is a sculpt I did recently based on one of the models. I took some liberties with the gown, but hopefully the figure has the same energy...
Andrew Joseph Keith
Great job! This is looking great Charles!
José Lopes Júnior
any date to new lessons?
@jakeyboy123
Andrew. Sorry to keep after this but I am having trouble uploading my sculpture results. Can you help?
Andrew Joseph Keith
Hey because the holidays are so busy for the Proko team they’ve paused the editing but it will start up again in the new year! I have done some posts on my Patreon page in the meantime https://www.patreon.com/Andrewjosephkeith but that’s a separate thing where I do around 2 projects each month that show the full sculpting process so you can sculpt along.
@brandonstudio
Andrew, will you be covering or can you cover in the future reductive sculpting? I sure still have much to learn on sculpting using clay, but I would like to learn how to sculpt by removing matter as well. What are your thoughts?
Andrew Joseph Keith
I do love subtractive/reductive sculpting as well and I do have plans to do a course on stone sculpting/subtractive sculpture but that won't be until after the portrait course which is my next project.
Sa8th
3yr
Hello fellow sculptors! Is there any ongoing assignment?
Andrew Joseph Keith
So far we've just had the $5 sculpting assignment to start sculpting cheap, and the armature building assignment. The Aluminum wire armatures will be used in upcoming lessons for gesture studies.
Wayne Lam
3yr
Would like to see all the lessons in one link, now it is not organized. Anyone having that issue?
Andrew Joseph Keith
If you click on the "lessons" tab in the course it should allow you to see the lessons separated into their categories.
@heloohumuns
Hi all. I tried sculpting for my first time, and I think I made a okay sculpture. (You can at least tell what it is). I think the front is good, but the back is really bad. I think it is too big, and I didn’t do a good job clearly showing the muscles. Tips, anyone?
Andrew Joseph Keith
Great job! keep up the work and I look forward to seeing your progress.
@keisterderriere
How do you recommend warming the Chavant to make it easier to work with? My house is quite cool and it's very stiff at room temp. It also doesn't seem to warm up too well just in my hands, but they're also cold! Is it safe to microwave? Should I warm small chunks at a time and repeat as necessary? I also have a heat gun, but am not sure if I should just aim it at one end of the block or take off a chunk and warm in a bowl or something. Any advice would be appreciated! Loving the content so far, and thanks in advance!
Andrew Joseph Keith
yeah I'll often put it in the oven at a as low as the oven will go for a little while so that the clay is soft and malleable. once you've worked the clay a bit it isn't as hard as fresh out of the block.
Marena Kehl
Hi. I have the same issue. I've been cutting the Chavant into small pieces --less than one inch square--then using a hair dryer to warm the clay. I then massage the clay in my hand, attempting to keep it warm as I'm working. Hope this helps.
@heloohumuns
The container is made to be put in the oven. It will be at a good temperature to use at about 105 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember to take the plastic cover completely off or it will melt and release carbon monoxide (or some other toxic gas).
Kaiya Alisha Everitt
Hi, How long will the pre-sale be on for? Thank you
Andrew Joseph Keith
The presale is over but you still might be able to use the discount code “POSESPACE” for 15% off though that sale may also be over already or soon.
Wayne Lam
3yr
What is the best way to store the sculpture plus the Chavant materials? Thanks.
Andrew Joseph Keith
The clay won’t dry out but it can oxidized a little (so the surface of the sculpture becomes firmer and feels more waxy) so wrapping projects in a plastic bag can help with that though it’s not required. Then obviously making sure that its not left in a hot car or other places where the clay could get too soft and melt.
Sarah ElSergany
Hi! I was wondering if this course would be helpful for digital sculptors too when it comes to fundamentals like gesture, anatomy, or sculpting techniques? I use ZBrush.
Andrew Joseph Keith
Yes absolutely! I highly recommend that those that are interested in digital sculpting have experience with traditional sculpting because there is a tactile/muscle memory that is difficult to achieve using digital. It’s much easier for a traditional sculptor to transfer those skills to digital than the other way around. I hope you’ll give it a try! And I will probably do a digital sculpting course in the future as well but I’d still point people to this course to start.
Help!
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