Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure in Clay

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How to Sculpt a Head and Face in Clay

I love this book! There are many books out there about how to sculpt a bust or a human likeness in clay. As I study the human form, I find that this particular book, Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure by Anton Lanteri, to be the most helpful. The written information is clear and well stated. The photographs give excellent visual references.  

The busts I sculpted using this book as reference:s
As you can see, I am a new to sculpting and mostly self taught. However, I feel that I am off to a really good start! Mainly because Anton Lanteri uses traditional methods of teaching ceramic sculpture. 

Classic sculpture, in the past, was taught in art schools by instructors trained in traditional methods. Now, many artists will skip these methods and just go right to sculpting heads in clay. That is possible. However, knowing the underlying basics of technique gets you the skills quicker and more reliably. In other words, you can learn to work in the most efficient way to sculpt professionally. 

I often read sculpture books. I get them in libraries wherever I might be—Boston, NYC, Denver, etc. Of all the figurative sculpture books I have come across, I have found Modelling and Sculpting the Human Figure to be the best at presenting useful information that really moves practicing artists further along in their studies of figurative sculpture.