Portrait Painting Class #8
Today we took a fresh look at our sculptures of noses from last class. Looking again I could see contours I had not recognized before, the bevel of the underside of the tip of the nose, the roller coaster curl of the wing of the nose as it spirals down and back into the nostril, the delicate transition of nose to filtrum! looking so closely, so intently, I have a solid memory of the model's nose and how its cartilage unfurls like a double rose!
After some time to make corrections to our nose studies, we began sculpting the mouth. We had to move fairly quickly because this model would not be back. Blocking in the basic shape of the mouth I had to remember the structure under the lips - how the teeth inform the shape of the mouth, where the eyeteeth are and how swiftly the form of the mouth turns to the back at the location of the eye teeth. I also had to look carefully to capture the shape of the chin, the width and the curves in profile. But the most challenging part was the corners of the mouth! The soft and delicate curves that have so much to do with the personality of the face. The forms were so intricate that I had difficulty modeling the clay with my fingers or even the sculpting tool!
After some time to make corrections to our nose studies, we began sculpting the mouth. We had to move fairly quickly because this model would not be back. Blocking in the basic shape of the mouth I had to remember the structure under the lips - how the teeth inform the shape of the mouth, where the eyeteeth are and how swiftly the form of the mouth turns to the back at the location of the eye teeth. I also had to look carefully to capture the shape of the chin, the width and the curves in profile. But the most challenging part was the corners of the mouth! The soft and delicate curves that have so much to do with the personality of the face. The forms were so intricate that I had difficulty modeling the clay with my fingers or even the sculpting tool!
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