Sculpture course with clay

Ignite your creativity with realist sculpture

The complete realist sculpture course is made up of 3 units (SC1, SC2, SC3) and has a duration of 12 weeks. Students are however welcome to attend specific parts of the course (minimum 4 weeks). For shorter courses you may consider our one-week and two-week sculpture workshops. Classes normally start every Monday.

• Intensive Sculpture courses (20 hours per week) take place from 11.30am to 1pm and from 1.30pm to 5pm, Monday through Thursday.
• General Sculpture courses (14 hours per week) take place either in the morning (10am-1pm Monday-Thursday and 10am-12pm on Friday) or in the afternoon (1.30pm-5pm, Monday-Thursday).

These courses can be combined to other art courses and therefore they can be part of a wider Art study program which also covers other techniques such as drawing, painting and fresco.

Classes are held either in Italian or in English. Each class group is normally made up of about 8 participants.

The programme.

Unit SC1: this first unit has been devised to introduce students to the art of clay. Students will start working with water-based clay on various bas-reliefs, which will give them the opportunity to become familiar with the method of building in 3D. Through a hand-on approach each student will learn practical techniques and will gradually develop observational skills that will allow her or him to judge proportions progressing from simple shapes to more complex forms. Participants will also start working on sculptures in the round and will be taught the basic principles of proportion, mass and volume.

Unit SC2: Students will be taught how to sculpt with clay:

• a realistically proportioned human figure;
• a realistic human head in the round.

Under the guidance of our experienced instructors each participant will explore the anatomy of the human body as well as of the human face by considering and evaluating proportions and features. They will also learn how to build armatures and hollow out the precise amount of clay (and no more!) in order to sculpt a full figure piece with an emphasis on achieving correct anatomical structure. Students may also practice with plastilina if they are interested in this medium.

Unit SC3: During this unit students will focus on accurate nude figure and portraiture from photographic reference and templates. They will discover the secrets for creating a true likeness in portraits. They will also be given the opportunity of working with a life model whilst observing and translating their observation into a clay artwork. At the end of this courses every sitter will have acquired a greater understanding of the underlying facial anatomy.

Part of the course can be dedicated to:

• sculpting proportioned animals. Students will create realistic animals to scale with special focus on the sequential breakdown of the shapes of the animal itself.
• working with plaster. Students will learn how to become familiar with the fluidity of this different medium, as well as how to build an armature for plasterwork, which will enable them to turn the plaster into a finished smooth piece.

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