[Liser Studios]

hello,
another artist here recommended that I sculpt to get a better idea of form. Which, I'm quite interested in. I'm up for anything that'll help me out
so, does anyone have an idea of how much sculpting materials cost, what all you need,...etc.
I MIGHT be able to just use my art teachers materials. BUT he has a class that is just a sculpting class (which i'm not in) and he pays for the majority of the stuff out of his own pocket. We don't get along very good either (so any arguments about Final Fantasy vs. Shrek.... me being on FF's side, of course. i'm a squaresoft freak) so he isn't gonna go out of his way for me.
As of today he started letting me use his life sized plastic skeleton for reference. So, if using a direct reference like that is as good as sculpting yourself (which i doubt) then could i just use the plastic model and do lots of sketches? Or actually do both.
Actually, I was thinking of sculpting my own skull, or maybe doing a mold of the plastic one (if that's possible) and use that for my studies?
So, whaddya think of all this?
thanks in advance

[Darkmoon]

sculpting is expensive depending on what you wanna make, and some materials are not forgiving, so....

personally i use polymer clay (about 3-5$ for a square that makes a torso and maybe hands for a 9" doll)

what type of anatomy are your trying to learn? specific muscles? or just basic proportions? i personally think a good book is a better investment and less messy...

i use uhm what was it... "anatomy for the artist" i forget the author but someone here has to know it...

also look on the net... vast free informations on anatomy and even some *cough* borrowed scanned books...

sculpture is one hard thing to do, especially if you plan on doing atomically correct models... but dont let anyone con you into buying a bunch of expensive tools or anything if you do start... forks, hat pins and butter knifes are your best friend

hope this kinda helped
-Lisa

[HawkOne]

When it comes to supplies and tools look here Sculpt.com they have it all. Modeling clay like SuperSculpey cost about 10$ per pound, less if you buy more, but be aware of other types of clay too since the different brands have different properties.

If you want to play around and experiment a lot, why not get some regular clay too ?? Although it is a lot more mess, it is so much cheaper. You'll get about 50 pounds for 15$ in a hobbyshop. Maybe you could get it via a lokal kindergarten or primary school, they usually mess around with clay a lot, and buy in bulk. I don't know how the supply scene is in Butler Pennsylvania. You could buy it online too from Kickwheel.com or Artclay.com

Making molds for copying a scull is a bit complex I think, since it has hollow shapes (eye, nasal, cheek, mandible and so on. Sure it can be done, but it is probably not the best project to start with. See the picture of a disarticulated scull to see how complex this could be. (image from Skullsunlimited.com They have economy replicas of sculls there from 35$ for a fetal skull, 78$ for a adult female scull. You can buy real ones too ... heheh for around 700$ ...

You will also need some tools, especially when making smaller models, you can make them yourself too if you like, you may have to do that anyway later, when you find out that none of your tools can fit into where you want it to go. You can buy a set like the one below for 75$.

Check out the new(ish) type of tool called Clayshaper with the silicone tip, they are almost like paintbrushes for the clay, almost like reducing the size of your fingertip. A set cost around 20-30$


More sculptinglink ..
Sculpting-stuff 1

Sculpting-stuff 2

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I think Darkmoon may mean this book by Jen� Barcsay based on the anatomy lectures of the Budapest Academy of Fine Art. It is a gorgeous book, showing non-perfect people rather than the boring superhero stuff. It is hard to match when it comes to skeleton and muscles/ligaments, but has something of a pinehead effect when drawing heads towards the end of the book.



Or it could be this one by Sarah Simblet and John Davis. Featuring gorgeous photography of young and fit people.(Check out sample pages here)

Hope that answered some questions ...

[Phileasfogg]

Personally, I am self taught. The way i learned to sculpt was by using plasticine as a kid.Just get some of those multi coloured packs and mix them up eventually they will turn the colour of clay. Regardless of what material you use the actual sculpting principles remain the same you're creating form. Plasticene is cheap and reuseable and if left for a while will go quite hard if your precious about anything you make. It's form you wanna learn about rather than techniques of using and setting different materials.
With regards to tools i don't use specific clay modelling tools i don't see the point. I use a set of watch screwdrivers my fingers and my nails and get decent enough results. As with everything practive practice practice. Anatomy books are invaluable reference.