Galleria Romanelli, Anatomy Study

After having difficulty with faces on the sculpture of the flayed man, the next sculpture selected is a plaster model of a skull. Understanding the underlying anatomy makes it easier in working on a regular human face as you become familiar with how different bones interact and their shapes under the skin of the face. This allows you to know what should be where on the human face generally although there is always variation.

The board is carefully aligned and the model skull positioned and marked on the board with tape. Then the board is wet down to help the new clay adhere to the board.

After 30 minutes, a rough shape is worked out.

The teeth were a challenge. Each one made individually, before realizing they were set too far forward on the jaw. All then had to be removed and redone after carving back into the jaw.

At this stage the jaw and teeth needed to be reduced in size

With the teeth corrected, I now notice the eye sockets are to straight, compared to the angled eye sockets of the original.

Once it is finished. the interior is hollowed out to prevent explosions. I reclaimed so much clay from the interior of this one it helped me build a second sculpture.

Once the interior is hollowed out, the sculpture is put in a cool dark place in the gallery to cure, to prevent cracking.