Newbie Sculpting Question

[Djonma]

I\'ve done a fair bit of conversion work and I always find that I there are different ways of doing it.
There are the people who sit down, work out exactly what they want the model to look like, do drawings, and then find the bitz they need and do it.

Then there are the people who just sit down and start building and make it up as they go along (lots of ork transport builders!)

Then there are people like me - in the middle, who have a vague idea of what they want it to look like, or rather a feeling, and just kind of make it as they go along, but working towards this kind of idea of what it will sort of be like. I don\'t have images, just a feeling.

What about actual sculpting though?
Is it better to draw out what you want the model to look like?
Or can you make it up as you go along?
I\'m thinking of a total resculpt of torso and arms for a model I\'m about to start work on, but I\'ve never done a full sculpt of bits before, just added green stuffed bits to existing models as enhancements.
And I\'m a bit worried that if I have a vague clue, it\'ll turn out awful, whereas if I draw it down it should come out like what I\'ve drawn.

But then, the reason I work in the middle on conversions is because I like the flexibility to suddenly look at what I\'ve just done and go \"oooh, now wouldn\'t it look cool if I did THIS as well...\" that wasn\'t in the original plan at all.

I\'ve read tons of tutorials on scuplting, but none really talk about the planning process.
Of course, I\'m expecting my first proper sculpt to come out looking awful anyway. It\'ll take quite a few times before I get the hang of things. Also, I\'ve not got decent sculpting tools, only the one from GW that has a kind of knife on one end and a splodge on the other. I need some of the more dentisty looking tools, but lack of cash hehe.

Thanks,

Nicola

 

[cybersquig]

I work rather like you do (you can see my first ever sculpting wip here:http://www.platoonbritannica.org.uk/forum/showthread.php?t=131 ), having an idea of what i want, but not 100% mapped out. I think it\'s due to a decent imagination and abstract manipulation ability. Anyway, I find my sculpting comes out muuuuch better if I use some sort of source material - I always have a pile of magazines with pics in (mainly white dwarf - I take a lot of inspiration from the artwork if I\'m doing something gw, and to see how someone else has stylised a particular thing), but also real world pictures. I rarely end up with exactly what I was after, but it tends to slightly resemble what I had in my head

I\'d love to see your results when you\'re done, post \'em up!

Cybersquig

 

[Djonma]

Heh, I read your post on here recently about the flooded place.
I\'m meant to be moving to a new house asap, but frozen pipes flooded the whole place, so the council\'s working on fixing it quickly!

So conversions / painting is a bit limited at the moment with so much of my stuff in boxes, and I\'m planning on a much bigger desk for stuff at the new place.
I also just discovered a total lack of super glue.
I\'m sure I had some... maybe my bf nabbed it for his case when he went to GT, in case of breakages.
So that kind of stumps me on the work I was about to do.
And I\'ve managed to put my camera in a \'safe place\'.
*Sigh*
Maybe some painting today then instead!

I tend to work with a lot of reference material as well - I love browsing CMON and other sites for pics of great examples of things, and coming up with ideas and new techniques.
It really helps when painting, so I\'m guessing it\'ll help a lot when sculpting. Also, I\'ll have anatomical things around when sculpting.


Nicola

 

[cybersquig]

lol! trust me, you don\'t want to be in there when it is in the process of drying out! yeuch!

heh, sounds like it\'s painting time for the near future eh?

 

[Djonma]

Fortunately the council are getting the industrial dehumidifyers in tomorrow to dry it out properly. So hopefully it\'ll all be done soon and they can redecorate for me

Fortunately I\'d not moved anything in there, so nothing damaged that was mine, only carpets, walls, ceilings and the pipe with 3 massive cracks in it.
Just hope they can sort it out quickly so I have time to move!

I\'m going to clear mold lines and do some filing on the chaos lord on the horse that is the one I want to resculpt the torso and arms for, since the horse is a terrible fit, I\'ve just about got it to go together now, and was going to put in pins and green stuff and then realised the lack of super glue hehe.
So probably some more filing and slicing, and then maybe look at those flamers that are still sitting in a box.

You know the WIP posts... are you allowed a post per project? Or should it just be a post with everything on?
I tend to work on many things at once, very slowly, so I don\'t get all red\'d out like happened when we did my bf\'s Blood Angels in about a day for the whole army cos he\'d left it took late. Ugh Red!!!

Hmm wonder when my bf\'s next off work... I might have to beg him to take me to hobby craft to get some milliput and better sculpting tools, and a ton of blue tac to work out positioning

Nicola

 

[Einion]

Originally posted by Djonma
Then there are people like me - in the middle, who have a vague idea of what they want it to look like, or rather a feeling, and just kind of make it as they go along, but working towards this kind of idea of what it will sort of be like. I don\'t have images, just a feeling.

Nothing wrong with working this way if you like to and you get the results you\'re after. If you find you\'re not getting quite what you were looking for then it is time to try something new.

Originally posted by Djonma
What about actual sculpting though?
Is it better to draw out what you want the model to look like?
Or can you make it up as you go along?

Either. Both. You can even take different approaches for different projects; no need to work in only one way if you don\'t want to.

Originally posted by Djonma
And I\'m a bit worried that if I have a vague clue, it\'ll turn out awful, whereas if I draw it down it should come out like what I\'ve drawn.

This is natural (worrying about the outcome) but with experience you should find you need to worry less and less. So, like with a lot of things, the old practice mantra really does help.

Originally posted by Djonma
But then, the reason I work in the middle on conversions is because I like the flexibility to suddenly look at what I\'ve just done and go \"oooh, now wouldn\'t it look cool if I did THIS as well...\" that wasn\'t in the original plan at all.

You can still do this if you plan ahead, the plan doesn\'t have to be stuck to like glue.

There\'s an old military saying, that no plan survives contact with the enemy. You can take the same approach to work you do for yourself - if something occurs to you during the process then by all means go for it. There\'s nobody holding a gun to your head forcing you to stay to the original design.

Originally posted by Djonma
Of course, I\'m expecting my first proper sculpt to come out looking awful anyway. It\'ll take quite a few times before I get the hang of things.

Good to be realistic like this so as not to get discouraged IF your work doesn\'t turn out as well as you\'d like.

Originally posted by Djonma
I need some of the more dentisty looking tools, but lack of cash hehe.

Last set I got on eBay were less than a fiver.

But you can sculpt nearly everything you need with a couple of sharpened cocktail sticks! After shaping the ends you coat them in superglue (or if you\'re a bit anal you coat them down their entire length) then smooth off with fine paper, maybe steel wool, polish on your jeans and you\'re good to go. Add in a couple of needles, a craft knife or two and that\'s pretty much the entire kit for some pros.

I do highly recommend trying the steel wax-carving tools at some point - you don\'t know what suits until you give them a shot - but they\'re not essential.

Einion

 

[junior elf]

I\'m not sure but this article might help you out:
http://www.miez.nl/putty-n-paint/tutes/sculpting_tut01.pdf

 

[Prophet]

I find that generally, the better something is planned out/thought out, the less revision has to be done due to unforseen issues. Good planning leads to greater efficiency in my experience.