A basic rule
SCULPTING A BUST OF AN AFRICAN WOMAN
It is a wonderful experience to sculpt the bust of a person; a process that moves me through a whole range of emotions from doubt and despair through excitement, exhilaration and triumph. My experience as a sculpture teacher has been that many people want to sculpt realistic busts and figures yet have the belief that it is beyond their capability. The result of this belief is an unwillingness to stay with the process long enough to go through the lows to the highs. We have learned culturally to reject, avoid and deny the lows, fearful that we will get stuck in them, and to put on a happy face while avoiding activities that might bring us to frustration and self doubt. We are culturally terrified of "failure". However, such a path of avoidance and denial leads us to dwell as shades in the mist of vague discomfort, all the while wearing masks of emotions unfelt. Doubt, fear, failure, sorrow, despair are the stones of the path and gateway to strength, self discovery, joy, and the expression of our wholeness, our Human Being. There is no wholeness without the assimilation of and openness to all possibilities.
Sculpting with clay is a process that, if entered into fully and with the commitment to persist, will open many doors to our essential Being, a way Home to the infinite and eternal home of the here and now. It is both simple and mystical, as we are simple and mystical. Usually, the most difficult step is the first one, stepping past the belief that we cannot do this, that we are somehow flawed and lacking what it takes to give form to a lump of clay(earth). It is my experience that it is here that a teacher can prove most useful by presenting a "Way to begin and a Way to go about the work" that is simple enough to prompt, for but a moment, the conviction (or at least the possibility) in the student that "I can do this." I have attempted to do this with my method of building the head, step-by-step, with clay. It is a method that assumes no special talent or knowledge from the person wishing to try and it is presented with certainty and faith that the student can and will succeed. I have been a delighted companion of inevitable Creative Expression and I invite you to surrender to Her guidance, joy and fullness, for She is in you and you in Her.
Thus do I offer this article on the process of sculpting the bust of an African Woman, with photos of all the steps, the "ugly" ones too, so that you will not feel like giving up because the head looks so bad that there is no chance for a happy outcome.
2. Make a mark towards the top of the head to indicate the hair line. You will know instinctively where it is. If you get it in the wrong place, your own forehead will begin to itch! If you get it right you will have a warm, soft feeling on your own hairline. Then measure from the hairline to the bottom of the chin and divide the face into three equal parts. You will be adding two lines, one for the eyebrows and one for the bottom of the nose. The general proportional rule is that the length of the forehead (hairline to eyebrow) Equals the length from eyebrow to bottom of nose, equals the length from bottom of nose to bottom of chin. Then divide the head in half vertically with a line down the middle of the face and divide the head horizontally with a line halfway from top of head to bottom of chin. The horizontal center line is the eyeline. With your thumbs, press in the eye sockets so that the top of the indent comes to the eyebrow line and the center falls on the eyeline. From the side view, the outside edge of the socket should be set back so that the center can be seen clearly. (Photos 3 & 4).
Posts
