Choosing a skull

AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
in Sculpture
Hi there, following Jordu Schell’s advice I’m looking into getting a resin skull to study.
 I’mnew to sculpting and plan on making mostly Buddhist statues of the 1:6 scale. In the future probably some 1:4 scale statues.
my question is, should I get a skull in 1:6 because that’s the size I’ll be mostly sculpting or would a 1:4 scale allow better ‘studying’ of the details of the skull? Any bigger than those would not be convenient for me.
thanks for the help
Adhi

Best Answer

  • Matt WinstonMatt Winston Admin
    Answer ✓
    Hey Adhimutto,

    Yes, if you think you'll eventually be sculpting in 1:2 scale, I would definitely purchase the larger of the two skulls you're considering. Thanks for sharing your first sculpture by the way!! You should be proud of your efforts. We look forward to seeing your progress as you begin to use more anatomical reference in your work. All the best from your creative family at SWSCA, Matt

Answers

  • Matt WinstonMatt Winston Admin
    Hi Adhimutto, Your instincts are correct. It will be best for you to purchase the larger 1:4 scale reference skull as it will be easier to study the details then if you were to purchase the 1:6 scale skull. We wish you good luck with your Buddhist statues. Please share them here on our Forums! We'd love to see the results. Wishing you all the best, Matt
  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    Thanks for the answer Matt! 
    On further investigation, the size I’ll be mostly sculpting will be 1:4, with probably doing some 1:2 scale in the future.
    i was initially trying to decide between 4” tall skull from proko (I assume that would be 1:2) https://www.proko.com/skull/
    and the 1:4 scale from bone clones https://boneclones.com/product/human-skull-1-4-scale-KO-S02

    Following your advice Matt, i should get the 1:2 model then right?
     Thanks a lot for the advice!
    Adhi
  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    Also here’s my first sculpture, misshaped proportions but it’s start!
  • Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    That's a great start! 

    In terms of the reference skull, I usually go in favor of larger.  Personally, I find translating the scale of a detail easier than struggling to see a detail in a smaller reference.  Having a pair of sculpture calipers is also handy, as they let you measure a feature in one scale and directly convert it to the size you need.  

    /Chris

  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    Thanks Chris,
    on further reflection, most of the sculptures I create will be 1:6 and 1:4. Would you  recommend a 1:2 skull over a 1:4? Even if most of sculptures are 1:6 and 1:4?...Calipers are a good idea too, thanks!
  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    Here’s my second statue in the works (heads probably a little big, but I think the disproportion looks cool)
  • Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    It does look cool, nothing wrong with an artistic or stylized interpretation!  

    /Chris
  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    @Chris Ellerby @Matt Winston
    hey Chris and Matt, I’d like to extend a thank to both of you and the Stan Winston team for putting me in the right direction with sculpting, and also to jordu schell 😃
    here are some pictures of my latest sculpture.
    do you guys see anything that I need to work on, in terms of basic skills? I’ve never studied art, just watched some videos here at Stan winston.
    regards
    joel


  • AdhimuttoAdhimutto ✭
    This is Indra by the way
    a Buddhist/Hindu deity
  • Matt WinstonMatt Winston Admin
    Thank you for sharing this picture of your Indra sculpture @Adhimutto
    I think it's wonderful. The anatomy is a bit stylized, which works well for this sculpture. But if you were working on an ultra-realistic human form, you might want to finesse the anatomy a bit more. Please keep sharing your work. We are fans!
  • Chris EllerbyChris Ellerby Admin
    edited February 2022
    Beautiful work on the new sculpture!  Very impressed by all the crisp details on his adornments.  Elements like those require a lot of focus on balancing the size, detail, and symmetry of design features, and you have done great there.

    As Matt suggested, I would continue to focus on anatomy.  Having a reference model (like the poseable desktop kind) can help a great deal as well, especially if you use calipers to measure proportional relationships.  Like how long a forearm and upper arm are in relation to a torso, etc.  But that's just a guide, there is always room for stylization or artistic interpretation. 

    Keep up the awesome work!

    /Chris
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