Nothing quite like finishing a teaching day then having to come home and carry on working on sculptures until the wee hours. That was on the agenda yesterday. But I really enjoyed the teaching session – a great group of people that are also becoming obsessed by portrait sculpture. Dave is our model tasked with turning every five minutes. Day one was focused on getting back into working with clay, covering the armature and getting a feel for Dave’s head in particular his side profile. Getting a profile right, and which includes the back of the skull, means you are set up well for the rest of the five days. Fun to do a few quick exercises in hand-size lumps of clay – sculpting Dave with their non-dominant hand, sculpting his head without looking at their hands, and finally sculpting a small flat side-profile. Quite nice as no pressure, no expectations that anyone is going to be brilliant, so quite leveling. Some comparative looking helped to see Dave by comparing his profile against other students in the class. Always revealing. Then covering the armature with paper, then with clay, then setting up the composition and starting to build a life-size flat-profile in clay. I pushed them hard and fast but they rose to the challenge. Now for day two.
Hazel Reeves 