NEWBIE questions.. :)

[Sjohnson]

First off - you all are amazingly talented people.

I'm a 30'something year old guy that would love to learn to develop this talent, I have just started to pick up supplies, and tried a few "test" sculpts to see what it was like....

I have read most of the tutorials here, and everywhere else I could find them (Although there seems to be a lack of tutorials for a VERY new person - if you know if any urls, please share!) My daughter is very interested in Fairy's, so I figured that would be a great place to start to learn what I'm doing -- I figured I could make some very simple sculpts with not a LOT of detail, and still have a decent looking fairy...

I have NO artistic talent to draw - I have tried a few times, but just cant seem to grasp that skill - I have in my HEAD what I want to try to make, but without a visual reference, I'm finding it more difficult to visualize what I want (I hope this makes sense) -- I decided to do some ROUGH schetches of what I was trying, and that seems to help - do any of y'all have any advice on weither this helps, or hurts? I mean, not being able to draw, should I try to draw out a rough copy?

I want the fairy to be sitting on a stump - so I was working on figuring out how to make the "stump" he is sitting on. I want to make an armature of the stump, but I'm kinda drawing a blank on how to make one - For the fairy I was just going to make a rough stick figure from a few cut up clothes hangers (technical, eh? :) ) Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I'm VERY sorry if this is not in the correct area, I looked all around and did not see another one that was suited (I could have just missed it!)

[Ghostbrush]

Hello,

I dunno how much I can help but I will give it a go.

I personally find that having a visual reference, whether I have drawn it myself or am working from already existing images is very helpful when sculpting, Not only for details but for making sure you have correct proportions.
When I make a sculpt of my own I generally create some concept art/design for the piece, as a visual reference for the sculpt, I personally find it helps me to stay focused and also helps me to realize the design more fully, which makes the sculpting a much easier and enjoyable task.
If drawing is not something you are comfortable with, but have an idea of what you want in your head, i suggest doing a rough sketch of your piece, just so you can visualize the pose and get a feel for what you are going to make, then I would collect reference images of (in this case) fairies from the internet and books, and just try and build up a library of design elements and things you want to include, get familiar with the subject matter.
When it comes to sculpting have these images easily available and look at them as reference, this will help to get more realistic details and textures, it also leaves your mind free to think about the sculpt, rather than focusing on trying to remeber everything you want to include.

As for the armature, really make sure that it is strong and sturdy, as they do receive alot of pushing and pulling when worked over, and last thing you want is to have the armature moving underneath the clay.
I use Milliput to hold my armature joints together, it dries solid and is workable for a while when first mixed, this generally is strong enough I find.
For the stump, I would guess that I would make it from a solid lump of clay, depending on size, but I am guessing this will be about 10 - 15 inches high (guess), Any bigger and i may suggest crumpled aluminum foil to make up the bulk and then skin that in clay.

I hope this helps, any questions about what I have said I will happily answer

Good luck

Alex

[Mariahc]

Hi Sjohnson,

Don't worry for your age, I'm almost 30 years old too, although I have sculpted and drawn during years, but I continue learning a lot of stuff. Alex is right in everything that he told you, the base structure must be solid, I used too epoxy putty but not milliput because I found it with difficulty in my country and I prefer using domestic putty, it's used for repair the pipes, I use this putty for join the structure's wires and aluminum paper es useful to padding. If you use Super sculpey or Sculpey III or fimo, this putties need being baked, and the structure must be metallic with only a little epoxy joins. Epoxy putty is be able to suffer until 120ºC but if you use a little of it you can baked to 130º for the hardening of the figure. It's important that you have references as told you alex, look for pictures with good details or look for a tree in a park to see the surface, the details and you can touch and explore them. One trick is to print a photograph in paper, put it over acetate and cut the silhoutte, in this way you can work with a surface guide to create the base form. To make details is necessary dentist burins but you can start wetting toothpicks in loctite to obtain a soft tip, it's necessary too use tools to plane the surface but it's a very cheap if you buy the basic tools.

It's not really necessary to draw the figure but it help very much. Don't worry if you don't advance as quick as you want, don't demand yourself so much. The best work was created after obtaining the experience that it provide all the mistakes of previous works. The most important thing is to have a good time with your work and to satisfy some possible expectations with the level that you have. If you are constant you will improve before what you hope. Simply begin...

Every doubts will be responded by us, we will try to help you as well as we can.

[maxblack]

Hey there;
Try this site,they have a dvd on building Fairies and a bunch of other dvd's on sculpting. You can try a sample of the lesson in the link. Good luck!! Keep going.
http://www.thegnomonworkshop.com/dvds/wfr01.html

[CastorFiber]

Send me a PM with any questions you got and I'll help you to the best of my abillity - I can recommend some books, dvds and where to get tools and materials. Your name looks swedish so if youre a swede feel free to send your message in swedish.

//34-year old new sculptor ;)

[KingUnicorn]

All of these posts are great suggestions and tips for starting out, but it sounds like you're looking for something more akin to a walkthrough - steps to follow from start to finish that will provide something you can learn from and apply to your own projects.

MaxBlack nailed it if you're looking for a (Wendy) Froud-style fairy. I have a copy of this DVD in my resources and it will provide a fairly easy-to-follow walkthrough.

As for really developing your sculpting chops, I'd recommend visiting this forum and reading through the recommendations in this thread (especially from a chap named BlackIrish): Shiflett Brother's Forum Thread for New Sculptors... (http://shiflettbrothers.com/forum/index.cfm?page=topic&topicID=1911) That will give you more than enough information to work with.

Good luck.

~KU

[maddmaestro]

HI,
First of all welcome to the wonderful world of sculpture. Secondly there are a plethora of tutorials out there, however as far as fairies goes I belive this is one of the best I've come across. And if you need any furthere help follow King Unicorn's advice and visit the Shiflett's site.Good luck!!

http://www.goddess-dreams.com/tutorials.html

Maddmaestro:afroboy:

[MurphAI]

Couple tips:
Do a "turn around" sheet. this is a front, side, back and sometimes 3/4ths view of what you're making. It helps you define where everything needs to be in space.
Also, the key is in the armature. A strong foundation and skeleton made with wire and bulked out in body core or deep areas with aluminum foil helps everything in the end.

[MASSAKRE]

NUNCA TE RINDAS! NEVER GIVE UP! Yo tambien estoy comenzando, y he encontrado esta pagina web , excelente.

Saludos.