Second Sculpt Finally!!! Arnie Double Bicep!!

[matt82]

Hi
i have been working on this sculpt now for about 2 years!! To cut a long story short i made it originally in sculpey had it ready to cast and done and instead of washing in ethanol i washed in acetone and rotted the hole thingA stupid newbie mistake, so i started again in chavant to see what this clay was like to work with. Anyway here is were i am upto now with it. however this time i dont have an armature and the legs keep braking because of the weight of the thing so thats another lesson i have learned

Details
Arnold Schwarzenegger (to practice human anatomy)
1:4 Scale approx 19"

my first sculpt was a copy of smellybugs (pete konigs) sculpture of conceptart forum.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/matt82_2008/Schwarzenegger%20Statue/DSC02576.jpg

most up to date pic, if anyone wants to see progress shots let me know. i fist wanted to do it with the arms separate but have decided to do it as one. As you can see i haven't started the head yet as i am to scared becuause it will probably end up a complete mess but as soon as i have some more pics i will upload them. Please be honest and critical about anything that seems wrong and any advise you have would be greatly appreciated.

here is my first sculpt which like i say was a copy of smellybugs tutorial which inspired and taught me so much!! thanks for all the advice pete and help pete! i have broke this thing about 10 times as you can see from the pic and i also started to paint it but havent finished it yet.

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/matt82_2008/Schwarzenegger%20Statue/DSC02585.jpg

[matt82]

http://i304.photobucket.com/albums/nn168/matt82_2008/Schwarzenegger%20Statue/mg115.jpg

this is the reference pic i have doing the sculpt from. thanks again

[DMN Creative]

I'm Lovin' the Arnie Sculpt!! i've used pictures of bodybuilders for years to practice anatomy for illustration and sculpture and i've looked at this pose of arnies hundreds of times, you've nailed it! the slight lean back that he does is spot on and the work on the veins is great, very subtle (how-to guide on this would be appreciated ;) ) looking forward to some more pics and the head sculpt!

[One Eyed Terror]

Love the Arnold. Great work. Very realistic.

Isn't it amazing how small he looks from his era, when compared to how big the bodybuiders today get?

[kab]

Love both sculpts, Arnold is looking great, the veins are really good. The only crits I have are that when you compare with the ref it seems your rendition has slightly more fat around the lower stomach area. Also, his armpits are shallower in your sculpt than they appear in the photo.

One Eyed Terror: he might be smaller, but his proporsions are really impressive...

[Equality72521]

i dont post here much since im a 2D artist, but, damn! that is a great sculpture! I kind of like the "no-head" aspect of it. Makes it seem like a more fine art piece than just practice. would love to see this painted!

[fattkid]

Wow. Great job. Instantly recognizable. This thing is great.

My crits would be that the musculature at the top of the ribcage, between the abs and the pecs, is overly pronounced. Maybe tone that down a little bit. If I were to get even pickier, I'd say that the forearms look a little smooth. Could maybe use a little more flexor definition and development there, although perhaps the lighting is throwing me off a little. Perhaps the muscles on the quads could be fuller. The proportions etc are all good, just could be a bit rounder/bulgier. Also, where the tricep attaches to the elbow, below the forearm, could maybe use a little more definition. MAybe a few thicker veins on the arms as well. The knees look a little simplified but it looks like you're still working on the lower legs.

I suppose with something like this, you might walk a bit of a fine line between accuracy and slight exaggeration, in that slight exaggerations might look more "correct" and "arnold like" than an actual, anatomically correct Arnold. Know what I mean? Particularly in key, recognozable areas. Don't know what my point is exactly, just kind of food for thought.

Hope I don't come across as being overly critical, as this is excellent work. You are obviously a very talented artist so I just figure I don't need to sugarcoat anything. Keep it up and I'm looking forward to seeing the progress.

[matt82]

thnaks for all the great comment guys and very constructive criticism, its funny im looking at the pics myself now and im spotting minor things that i would never have done by looking at the sculpt, thats what makes places like this amazingly helpful. i suppose taking a step back and looking at it from a diferent perspective also helps.

dmn creative - thanks mate im glad you like it and yeah one of the hardest things was capturing his suttle twist and slight lean back and especially as you never see this pose from any other angle.

one eyed terror - yeah but you will never find a more perfectly proportioned physique again, todays bodybuilders are far more developed but are too big in my opinion. the growth hormone belly doesnt help either.

equality - thanks mate im glad you like it will be posting progress shots soon. cheers mate

kab and fattkid - thanks for the crits guy this is extremely helpful, i have had a look at the suggestions and agree hole heartedly with a lot of them. i will see what i can do. i know what you mean fattkid, i want this to be as realistic as poss but like you say unrealistic sometimes looks more realistic if that makes sense. the only thing i need to keep in mind though is that i have look at hundreds of pics of arnie and this pose and in them you find that different body parts look different in each one as they will have perfect lighting etc to emphasis what they want, which is why i tried to find a middle ground from all the pics, and not me misled by clever lighting.
your also right about not needing to sugarcoat everything, i would hate for people to not tell me whats wrong or could be better and then me finish the statue and people not to like it, that would be a complete waste of time.

Thanks again guys
matt

[troyboy]

Wow, I think this looks fantastic Matt! Really excellent,
excellent work. I'm very anxious now to see his head
and face which I'm sure you'll do a bang-up job on. ;)

[matt82]

thank you so much troyboy, this mean so much coming from such an amazing sculptor im honored and flattered. ill be posting some progress shots as soon as i have some updates to show. thanks again mate