Have just been on a sculpture course - taught by a lecturer at The London
School of Art. She also does forensic work and approached it anatomically
as if dealing with a skull and hollow eye sockets. Equal balls of clay in
each socket etc and much the same as already stated. Great attention paid
to every muscle. Tips for photography were - use a tripod. Place lens
exactly level with subjects nose. Next, place level with each ear. From
then on, take shots from every angle, above, below etc. An absolute profile
shot is essential - don't forget to draw this as well. Get vital shots
blown up to life size. and get sculpting. Thoroughly recommend going on such
a 'course' - it was an amazing experience..
"annemarie" wrote in message
...

"Diego" noone@nowhere wrote in message ...
Yes, I too would like to see your work!

I've always loved to paint the human figure, but wondered what it
would be like to work in three dimensions. Something magical
happens when the clay takes on such human like quality. There
is nothing more thrilling than when you apply that last dab of clay
to the cheek and you are holding the person's face in your hand.
Much more fulfilling than that two dimensional canvas.

What I do with eyes is I take a digital picture of the model up close
or if working from a photo, scan it in to the computer. I can
then change the image from color to black and white so as to get
the well-defined shadows. When making the eyes, I pretend the
cornea isn't even there and model the iris like it is a concave dish.
The pupil is nothing more than just an additional deep concave
dish in the center of the iris. The overhanging eyelid is where
the drama comes in, casting a shadow over the top of the iris
and the pupil. Some, attempting for the first time, make the pupils
too deep. All you need is just the hint of the pupil and light and
shadow does the rest. Again, being able to see in black and
white allows you to capture those shadows. One of the most
amazing tricks is when you work with a lighter colored iris, make
the dish more shallow, a darker iris, dish deeper. I then attach
a little ball of clay right at corner of iris and pupil at a 10 or 2
o'clock position, depending on which direction the light source
will best come from for that sculpture. The best light source
direction may not be determined until the piece is nearly complete.

Forget about too much detail in the brow and lash, the viewers mind
will fill that in. One of the most beautiful people I ever met was a
woman
who was born with a "no hair" gene.

Diego



Thanks so much for your reply. I will spend a lot of time trying things
out
with your info. With the one I did I made the brow shape, raised for
shock. I had the hollow for the eyes and then put a blob of clay in and
shaped around for the lids, then pressed very lightly with the blunt end
of
a bamboo skewer for the iris, then lightly touched my needle tool into it
for the pupil. It sure does have a shocked look ) In this case that is
what I am after but heck it was difficult. Thanks for your time. You
have
both inspired me. I really should see about getting my website up and
running
A