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Beginning Figure Sculpting DVD by AdamReederSculptor Beginning Figure Sculpting DVD :iconadamreedersculptor:AdamReederSculptor 4 0
Someone posted this review about my head sculpting DVD on Amazon. Very awesome. Very in depth. Thanks Stephen

4.0 out of 5 stars A Step By Step Procedure For Sculpting A Generic Head,May 24, 2010

By Stephen Tashiro "sometimes reliable" (Las Cruces, NM United States) - See all my reviews(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Sculpting The Head and Face (DVD)
The two DVD set "Sculpting The Head And Face" by Adam Reeder teaches a systematic method of sculpting a generic human head. The demonstration is not about making a portrait of a particular person. The finished head is realistic sculpture, but it does not have the level of detail that one would want in movie special effects or a wax museum. It is a roughly 3/4 life size head of a young man done in water based clay. Adam mentions that his method can be used for sculpting a particular person, but this is not taught. The point of the DVDs is to teach a method that lets a sculptor quickly remember and reproduce the landmark shapes on a typical human head and face.

It is amazing that these DVDs actually do teach a step by step method. Although many other art instruction DVDs advertise "step by step" instruction, this is the first one I've seen that delivers it. Adam's method is unusual and it may not be to every sculptor's taste. He begins by making a profile of the head on a thin slab of clay. Then he builds up the width of the head in stages while preserving the ridge of clay in the middle of the sculpture that formed the initial profile. (You can find many short videos on the web that demonstrate sculpting the head. Another sculptor who begins with a relatively thin block of clay is Michael Weir. Both Adam Reeder and Michael Weir describe themselves as self-taught sculptors.)

Adam does not use technical anatomical terms; his approach is along the lines of "you take a lump of clay about this size, put it here and pull it this way". This is a good course for students who aren't ready to delve into anatomy. The generic head has some rather subtle landmarks. For example, one step of the process is to put a small lump of clay near each corner of the mouth. When sculpting a portrait of a particular person, the student will know to observe this part of the face. The raised areas may not be distinct on a person with chubby jowls and they may be deformed on a person making a certain expression. A student will know that he is observing something that will contribute to the individuality of his sculpture and distinguish it from the generic face. He may be able to duplicate what he sees by putting the lumps there and partially covering them with other clay or deforming them.

Adam does not do highly detailed sculpting of features such as ears, lips etc.. He does not put detail such as wrinkles, pores, raised veins etc. on the head. For the eyes, he demonstrates doing the eyelids, but not bags under the eyes or wrinkles around them. He doesn't put any fine texture on the lips. He leaves the ears in a rudimentary shape.

This two DVD set is a low budget production. It definitely has a "homemade" quality about it. Fortunately it is homemade with the technology of 2010 instead of looking like a transfer of some VHS tape from the 1990's. The only glitch I found when playing the DVDs in Windows Media Player was that Disk 2, track 8 ( titled "16 Finishing The Form Part 3") hung when it finished and did not automatically go to the next track. It didn't hang the program and I was able to navigate to the next track. When I tried playing the DVDs on my four year old DVD player, I couldn't figure out how to make complete use of the track selection menu. The menu shows only the first six tracks. At the bottom there is an arrow that you must select if you want to move to the next menu. I didn't find any combination of keys on my control that would let me highlight the arrow or take me to next menu.

Adam Reeder narrates in an earnest tone of voice using simple declarative sentences. If you didn't know he was an adult, you might think that that your were being taught by an enthusiastic teenager. He speaks spontaneously. His narration is organized, but not entirely smooth. There are a few places where he hesitates while finding the right words. There are a couple of times when he says "hair line" and by his gestures you see that he really means "brow" or "line of the eyebrows". The design of the camera work is simple and excellent. For almost all of the video, we see a view of the head sitting on a turntable. Adam is effective at rotating it to views that make his teaching clear. There are a few places where the camera makes some small unnecessary movements as if its auto-tracking feature had been turned on.

You might be slightly bothered by the sound of the turntable rotating. There is one segment where you can hear the faint sounds of a child fussing. I'm glad to have this type of audio instead of the meandering background music that infests art instruction videos marketed to school boards.

The teaching is step by step but there is no introductory section about "materials and supplies that you will need". You'll have to view the DVDs and notice the tools as they are introduced. There aren't many. His favorite tool is the blade of a roughly 8 inch long kitchen knife. He has dulled the edge with a file and removed the blade from its handle. He uses a few small wooden sculpting tools. He does smoothing with a "kidney", which we see is a small kidney shaped piece of rubber or plastic. Once we see him wet the clay with a spray bottle. (I don't recall ever seeing him use the wire loop type of tool that many sculptors use for cutting out clay.) He does smoothing with the type of brushes used by oil painters. They appear to be about half an inch wide.

Contents and A Few Notes:

DVD 1

You don't see an option you play the entire DVD. To do that, pick track 2. If you pick track 1 then track 1 plays in an endless loop.

1. Overview This is the entire sculpting process sped up and shown in a few minutes.

2. Introduction This selection shows you the material on track 1 and continues by introducing Adam and the finished sculpture.

3. Chapter I Getting started

His explains his armature. It is a length of steel pipe screwed into a flange which is mounted on a circular wooden base. On the bottom of the base is the hardware for a "lazy susan", available at most hardware stores. He doesn't put any additional structure on the top of the pipe. (Some other sculptors put a ball of wires there.) He has formed a column of clay over the pipe and he let the clay harden for awhile so it will support the rest of the sculpture.

4. Chapter II Laying Out The Face

He forms the approximate profile and introduces us to his kitchen knife blade. He pulls back flaps of clay to form the inner part of the eye sockets. ( It is an interesting question how much detail one would put in the profile when doing a portrait of a particular person. Adam's profile in this demonstration is rough. Although he emphasizes leaving the initial profile undisturbed, he is willing to modify it. Later, he changes the slope of the forehead and adds clay to the point of the chin.)

5. Chapter III Developing Facial Features 6. Chapter IV Filling Out The Face 7. Chapter V Building Up The Head 8. Chapter VI Smoothing And Forming The Neck

DVD 2

9. Chapter VII Refining Facial Features 10. Chapter VIII Facial Features 2 (There is no chapter IX) 11. Chapter X Eyes and Ears 12. Chapter XI Balancing Features 13. Chapter XII More Eyes And Ears 14. Chapter XIII Part 1 Finishing The Form Part 1 15. Chapter XIII Part 2 Finishing The Form Part 2 16. Chapter XIII Part 3 Finishing The Form Part 3 On my copy of the DVD, this track hangs when finished 17. Chapter XIV Final Touches

I rate this DVD set as four stars out of five to indicate that it is a good explanation of how to sculpt a generic head and learn its important landmarks. Whether Adam Reeder's method will suit a given student, I cannot say. Potential buyers can get a preview of the method by looking at Adam's demonstrations on the web.
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:iconbaileyjames:
baileyjames Featured By Owner Jun 10, 2015  Professional Filmographer
tried joining also!
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:iconzenme2:
zenme2 Featured By Owner Feb 28, 2014
COOL!!!
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:icondeanjeno--art:
DEANJENO--art Featured By Owner Mar 14, 2012  Hobbyist General Artist
i tried joining but it said join requests are closed.:(

when will they be open:?:)
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:icondancingvulture:
DancingVulture Featured By Owner May 8, 2011  Professional Traditional Artist
What I wonderful group!!! I'd love to learn how to sculpt with different clays <3
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:iconlabyrinthcreations:
LabyrinthCreations Featured By Owner Feb 7, 2011
this is a great idea for a group! :thumbsup:
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