The content and format of Andrew's Portrait Sculpting course has been a really great way to break down a complex subject. It's made me feel a lot more confident in approaching the portrait, and shown me new ways to tackle areas that I've previously struggled with. Getting feedback from Andrew himself has been really beneficial - highlighting those areas for improvement that I hadn't noticed. Very happy with the premium course content, and I look forward to progressing with it!

Hey Andrew, thanks for all the great feedback! And for covering so many. It does seem like a great exercise to try as a warm up / to familiarise with a person's face, before tackling a larger likeness of that person. Out of interest, do you ever do much in the way of 'front view' pancakes? Appreciate the profile probably offers more information as a basis for establishing the main proportions for likeness, but wondered if there was anything unique to learn from doing the front (or if it just presents more challenges). Perhaps an insight into a person's a-symmetry.

Finally finished up the skull assignment. For reference imagery I was predominantly focusing on skull that I found on Pinterest. Although, the reference teeth didn't appear to be correct (?) - so looked at other reference for those. The teeth also took way longer than I was anticipating. There was a lot of quite heavy revising, even late on, but overall I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Re feedback on amount of information, I thought it was a good length and pace. Was able to sculpt alongside the demo without missing stuff or having to pause, etc.

I've prematurely got quite far through my 'realistic skull' - I wasn't totally sure if the Anatomy of the Skull lessons were the sum of lessons for that (and I wanted to keep with the pace of the lessons). Awesome that there's more - @Andrew Joseph Keith roughly how many weeks do you think will cover sculpting the 'realistic skull'? I should've used a metal rod as per your suggestion in the video. I tightly wound loads of stiff paper around a big nail. I thought it'd be fine, but it's become quite precarious under the weight of the clay... and on a wood block that is definitely too small...

Not sure if you still need an answer for this - but kind of clay did you buy? If it's oil based clay like Monster Clay and you want it more malleable, I just put a fresh/mostly full tub in the microwave for 2 minutes (maybe just a minute for half-full tub). Depends how soft you want it. If you overcook it in microwave (I often do...), you might find it goes to hot liquid in the middle. If that's the case, I usually just set it aside for a few minutes and try to resist the temptation to stick my fingers in it.

This was a fun exercise. I got a bit carried away making an armature since I have a woodshop, but it probably was not worth the effort to try to use less clay by making a fuller armature. I included a few shots of the earlier part of the process. It took me a while to figure out why the front view in the initial stages looked so weird (the top of the head being too wide and large). I am not finished with this yet, so please send me LOTS of criticisms and suggestions. I think I will mold this in silicone (using cheap hardware store 100% silicone. It works well for me) But I do hope that Andrew will give us some instruction on mold-making as well

I've got a bit behind schedule, oops. Will catch up. Started this assigment with the boden method (which I've decided I Iike a lot), and blocked out from there. Used my previous ref (and the early pancake... bit risky?) to help with the profile. In hindsight, I should've taken photos early and flipped them horizontally once the main shapes were in. Having flipped the front/back photos now, I feel like the symmetry is pretty off. For the smoothing I used a loop tool I made a while back, by clamping loops of nickel wound guitar string into each end of a narrow copper pipe. Then cleaned that up a tissue that has been dabbed with isopropyl myristrate.

Loomis head quick block-in. Think I might have back of head too large again. Will keep working on that. Enjoying the process. Scottie

Did Loomis first, then Bridgman and finally Bodem. Loomis felt like it went ok, I had some familiarity with the Loomis head on paper and always thought it seemed like it could be a good starting point in 3D. Didn’t really get on with my Bridgman, perhaps because I made the head too blocky / big for the neck. Of the three, it’s the one I kept having to tweak because it felt off. Think I came at it all wrong - it just wasn’t vibing at all. In Bridgman’s illustrations and when Andrew uses it, it looks a lot more natural / organic, so maybe I overdid it with the angles. Should've gone more curved triangle? Enjoyed having a go at Bodem. Found it easier than the other two to visualise how I could ‘work into it’ and use it as a starting point. More adding, less removing. Also it reminds me of Gray Fox’s helmet from Metal Gear, so hard not to like. For my preference of the three, I guess I’d have to try starting a portrait with each to know. But I reckon it’d be somewhere between Bodem and Loomis.

I keep posting in the wrong area🙃! Anyway hope this is the right spot for this and certainly hope I understood the assignment!!

Hi fellow students, What could be improved to achieve more likeness? I'm looking forward to your feedback. Best wishes, Julia

Hey guys! Got some pancakes. I spent about 1.5 hrs on first two (myself, then friend), then limited myself to 1 hour on the last (my son). Felt like I learnt a lot on each - and I did get quicker. I think improving my pace to some degree, is definitely something I'd like to develop over this course. I stuck to just using my hands/fingers for these - which felt incredibly tricky for the eyes/lids.