Maquette Sculpture Techniques for Character Design With Don Lanning
Crafting a maquette model of a big-screen monster is a lot of FUN – but it’s also a serious part of the business.
This lesson by veteran sculptor Don Lanning (whose credits run from the TV series NIP/TUCK to blockbusters like THE AVENGERS) focuses on the process of creating and revising a maquette as if the work were being presented to a particularly picky client. This is CHARACTER DESIGN - MAQUETTE SCULPTURE TECHNIQUES.
Jump To Section
- Essentials for Your Work Station
- Sculpting Your Character
- Experimenting With Your Character Design
- Embracing the Character Design Process
(Don regards the project as a serious undertaking. To him, these 'clients' are REAL.)
(The finished product? NOPE. Tomorrow morning, Don will CUT THIS BEAUTIFUL FACE OFF and start over.)Essentials for Your Work Station
In part one of the three-part series, Lanning introduces both veteran sculptors and students new to the form of some of the basic tools of the trade, most of them available in regular art supply stores. Although he carries around a huge toolbox (marveling at his sculptor colleagues who seem to travel so lightly), for the first part of the lesson, he uses a surprisingly small number of “favorite” tools, from wire-coated hooks to rubber-tipped molders to a modified popsicle stick that helps to craft scaly, reptilian skin.
(One of Don's favorite loop tools. No one is clearer at demonstrating how to use these tools.)
(A clean work station? Who cares!?)
(Don Lanning is GENEROUS and SKILLED. This is a technique you will always remember.)
Lanning also discusses in detail his work table, which rotates and can be adjusted in height so that the sculptor can look at his or her creation from every possible angle. Although using WED clay is not necessarily the most low-maintenance choice – WED clay has a relatively short shelf life and needs to be wet and covered every night to prevent premature drying and cracking – Lanning says it is ideal for the purposes of creating a maquette. After all, the sculpture is going to change from day to day as the client (a filmmaker or producer) is often apt to change their mind. The speed, flexibility, and relatively low cost of WED clay make it ideal for such an exercise.
(The SWORD of the Center Line has Don's back the whole week.)
Sculpting Your Character
After discussing the practical, Lanning moves on to craft the basic humanoid features of his creature – eyes, nose, lips, chin – demonstrating how small worms and balls of clay can be added to create contours and shadows that give the maquette a lifelike form. More important than the fascinating technique is Lanning’s attitude toward the work, as he continually reminds students to remain open-minded, free, and entertained by the process. “This is your chance to hang out in the world of an alien,” he says at the outset. “You can try on a bunch of different emotional clothing.”
(Using a blank he made the night before, Don jumps into improvising a design.)
(Gills? Extra fleshy, watery elements? GO!)
Experimenting With Your Character Design
“You want a situation where the director says, ‘This is the character from the script, and he’s looking at me!” clarifies Lanning. “Or else, we want the reverse - ‘This is completely wrong!’ Either way is a success because they’ve entered into a conversation with you.”
(The artist keeps reminding himself that the director and producer will come into the room and meet this being for the first time.)
As such, perhaps the most valuable part of the lesson is just watching Lanning delight in responding to the maquette as if it is communicating with him. Making a choice about how to angle the eyebrows – arched outward – suggests a glaring frown and, therefore, dictates a slightly modified shape to the skull above and the mouth below. Lanning keeps looking for the “moment of performance” that defines the character but urges students not to get too hung up on a single detail or idea. “There are no mistakes at this stage – it’s a selfish time, an indulgent time to sift and search. It’s not a time to say ‘I didn’t do that right,’ but a time to relax and open your psyche to the potential of what is unfolding in front of you.”
Embracing the Character Design Process
Whether the techniques are practical (cheekbones curve downward, not upward) or philosophical (“Leave it clunky, leave it rough”), Lanning’s MASTER CLASS on maquette construction is a must for any creature artist who wants to work in clay. Lanning admits that his greatest lesson was watching master sculptor’s attitudes as they approached their work – and if that’s the case, the lesson here is invaluable.
(Don experiments with textures and patterns that will echo through the three different creatures.)
(Closing in, the essence of the first character is speaking to him.)
After all, how can you not delight in a lesson from someone who says in a closing moment of sincerity gazing on a day’s work: “Of all the things you can do as a human, to be able to do this is just awesome.”
Jason Scott
To check out the FULL LESSON, just click HERE: CHARACTER DESIGN: MAQUETTE SCULPTURE TECHNIQUES