Project 3: Life Modelling [Skull]

In preparation for the sculpting a model's head, we were tasked with creating a half-scale, plastecine piece of a skull. Hopefully, this will give me a better understanding of what lies beneath the skin and how this informs the structure of the muscles of the model's face. Below is the chosen skull for scaling down and a few studies diagramming the different parts to the structure.

Above: Chosen skull for referencing.

Above: Quick study of the skull.

Above: Reference diagram of a skull's anatomy.

I've noted in my sketchbook how to create the required armature shown below, however when it came to padding out the piece we realised as a class that the wire structure for the skull was too large. With the use of a hammer and smaller metal tools, I was able to reduce it's scale, but I now know to correct the sizing in future. Once the armature was of the correct dimensions, I wrapped it with metal wire and created the first layer of plastecine which gripped onto the wire and acted as a base for the sculpt.

Above: Preparing the armature for sculpting.

To begin sculpting, the following tools were required: tape measure, calipers, ruler, pins, metal sculpting tools, loop tools and pliers for manipulating the metal wire. From here, I began the process of measurement taking and halving down figures to develop the plastecine sculpt. Below are some images from my workbook displaying the main measurements taken.

Above: Skull measurement taking.

Above: The full process of sculpting the skull.

This project was a lot harder than I expected, not having the skull at eye-level made the process even more challenging. In total, it took about 10 hours to complete the sculpt, with the teeth being the most complicated of all components. Below is the final product, with extra detailing of the fusion lines between different plates of the skull. Although the skull is successful in its aesthetics, it is unsuccessful in its scaling down proportions. For next time, I need to make sure I'm working at eye level to the piece and referring the measurements much more acurately and consistently. This is sometime I'm definitely going to work on over the next few sculpts.