How to Sculpt a Miniature Head With Jordu Schell
To watch the FREE lesson preview, simply click on the player above. Check out the Full Lesson page HERE.
On March 5, 2013, Jordu Schell went live. The experiment of our first ever live stream, Google Hangout, had begun. From the moment cameras rolled, there was no looking back. It was sheer magic.
Sometimes, artists seem to shy away from the camera, but Jordu feels like he was born to be in front of one. Half instructor, half game show host, Jordu is a hilariously unique individual that you honestly can’t take your eyes off of. And I haven’t even gotten to the absolutely jaw-dropping art he creates yet.
Jump To Section
- A Lesson From Jordu Schell
- A Live Sculpting Lesson Via WebCast
- Prepping Your Clay for a Natural Look
- Adding Detail to Your Miniature Human Head Sculpt
(Jordu's LIVE lesson in Realistic Sculpey Miniature Head Creation.)
A Lesson From Jordu Schell
The webinar lesson here focuses on creating a 1:6 scale, hyper-realistic, Sculpey human head. Fully painted, translucent, and incredibly lifelike, upon completion, you’d swear this miniature head is truly going to move and talk. It’s both an amazing how-to lesson as well as a showcase for Jordu’s skills.
Jordu is incredible at what he does. Even in some of our other lessons, fellow artists will speak of him as someone truly at the top of his game. His artistic skills are bar none. But as I mentioned, the thing that overflows the glass in Jordu’s favor is his personality. He is completely personable. He is a goofball. He is a comedian. He is unique. Combine Michelangelo with Jim Carrey, and you’ll come close to Jordu Schell.
(Matt Winston and Jordu gear up for a day of SCULPTING and WEBCASTING.)
A Live Sculpting Lesson Via WebCast
While it’s easy to get sidetracked talking about Jordu’s personality and antics, let me try and focus on his actual lesson. The art he creates in this video is astonishing. Watching his techniques and skills in action is a gift. And this video in particular, really pops because even for those who were part of the Google Hangout, the close-ups seen here through the HD cameras enable you to see details that couldn't be seen at the resolution of the earlier webcast.
(Google Hangouts! Look at all those artists riveted to the screen!)
Prepping Your Clay for a Natural Look
As with any sculpture, Jordu starts with a piece of clay. But right off the bat, he doesn’t start normally with it. The first thing he does is add colored flocking to the clay by using a pasta maker. I know, some of you may be furrowing your brow right now, but trust me, it’s a simple little technique that yields incredible results. It gives a bit of skin breakup that makes the sculpture appear more natural and humanlike, almost like it has fine vessels. But then, from here, the sculpting begins…
(Jordu massages the Sculpey with a secret ingredient to create tiny skin breakup.)
Watching each step of Jordu’s work is informative. From seeing him block in the larger forms to listening to him speak about anatomical landmarks, you’ll hang on to every word and movement. Plus, he takes live questions along the way from people watching so it really has the feel of a live demonstration.
After quickly blocking in the larger forms, Jordu immediately gets down to detail, and then more detail, and then even MORE detail. Watching the care and precision he works at in this smaller scale is similar to a surgeon operating on a tiny vessel. Then, just when you think he’s got it extremely detailed and there’s nowhere he could go from here, he puts on… the glasses. And it gets even MORE exact and detailed. It’s kind of nuts how lifelike it actually becomes. Just incredible stuff.
(A tiny loop tool gets into the finer details.)
Adding Detail to Your Miniature Human Head Sculpt
Once we get to the painting, the little figure absolutely pops to life. He explains many interesting bits, for example, which colors to use and which ones to stay away from when painting on pre-baked Sculpey. These are tips that most artists don't even know or consider when doing miniature figure painting. This painting section is incredibly informative, plus watching him use “the world’s finest brush” is pretty cool.
(Jordu's Japanese detail brush. Our macro lensed cameras can barely perceive the THREE bristles that make it up!)
All in all, watching Jordu create this miniature human head is quite a treat. With both the meticulous artwork involved and the comedy that comes along for the ride, this lesson is definitely one for the books. Thanks to all who came along with us for our first Google Hangout. We really hope you enjoy this one as much as we did.
(The finished piece!)
-- Jeff Dixon
Check out the Full Lesson HERE: Sculpture Techniques - Miniature Head Sculpting